Felt
Felt is a type of cloth or textile. It is a complex network of threads or yarns. They are pressed together usually when wet. This is matting wool fibers, with water and soap. It may also be made by poking the fibers with barbed needles. Felt can be made by hand, or by machine.[1]
People have been making felt longer than any other kind of fabric.[2] Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size. Felt is used to make many things like clothing, hats, and rugs. Nomadic people in many countries live in tents made of felt.
Felt is used for many different things. Today people use felt for hat-making, insulating (making warm), sound-proofing, and cushioning.
Felt versus fabric
The difference between felt and most fabrics, like denim, is that most fabrics have a regular criss-cross, in-and-out weaving pattern, but felt is a messy jumble of fibers.
Most fabrics are woven for strength and smoothness: they need carding to straighten the fibers, spinning to turn fibers into long threads and weaving to make fabric.
Felt only needs a carding comb. Because of this, felt was often used by nomadic people.
Felt Media
Samples of felt in different colors
Faranji is a Kurdish vest worn by men in winter and early spring
Wooden rolling pin used during the wet felting process
Needle felting process to create small animal figurines
Felt in Maymand, Kerman Province, Iran
Russian valenki with attached waterproof sole
References
- ↑ Tellier-Loumagne, Françoise 2008. The art of felt : inspirational designs, textures and surfaces. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28731-6
- ↑ Barber E.J.W. 1991. Prehistoric Textiles: the development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, with special reference to the Aegean. Princeton: Princeton University Press.