ARARTE 2014 ~ Felting Workshop
Mongolian Felt Making
Felt-making is a very ancient process. The earliest surviving felt is 5000 years old, preserved by the permafrost of Siberia and now in The Hermitage Museum. It was made by nomadic tribes, probably in the same way that modern nomads in Mongolia make felt for their yurts and clothing.
It's an ideal way to make a textile if you're on the move, as you don't need a spinning wheel or a loom. Animal fibres (usually sheep, yak, camel or goat) are washed, pounded flat, then rolled up in a mat which can be towed by camels across the Steppe. The rolling process makes the fibres mat together, and after several hours, you have a piece of felt. It is thought that the process may have been discovered by people putting wool fleece into uncomfortable boots, and finding after a while that they had made a felt insole!
Felt-making is a very ancient process. The earliest surviving felt is 5000 years old, preserved by the permafrost of Siberia and now in The Hermitage Museum. It was made by nomadic tribes, probably in the same way that modern nomads in Mongolia make felt for their yurts and clothing.
It's an ideal way to make a textile if you're on the move, as you don't need a spinning wheel or a loom. Animal fibres (usually sheep, yak, camel or goat) are washed, pounded flat, then rolled up in a mat which can be towed by camels across the Steppe. The rolling process makes the fibres mat together, and after several hours, you have a piece of felt. It is thought that the process may have been discovered by people putting wool fleece into uncomfortable boots, and finding after a while that they had made a felt insole!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ0uojUHYdA
This video is an excellent introduction to felt making. It runs for 3.5 minutes, so is short and sweet and gets a beautiful message across.
This video is an excellent introduction to felt making. It runs for 3.5 minutes, so is short and sweet and gets a beautiful message across.
Modern Felt making process
Wet felting
True handmade felt is a non-woven piece of matted material made from sheep's wool, alpaca wool, angora goat or rabbit fur, llama hair, or another animal fiber. It is not the same as the acrylic craft sheets we commonly call "felt" that is found at most craft stores.
Felt is generally not woven before fulling, or shrinking, but rather is created directly from raw and/or processed dyed fibers through the felt making techniques of wet felting, needle felting, or a combination of both. Wet felting involves applying warm water, soap, rolling, massaging and throwing. The wool will eventually "felt" where the fibers interlock and shrink forming a durable piece of non-woven material.
Wet felting
True handmade felt is a non-woven piece of matted material made from sheep's wool, alpaca wool, angora goat or rabbit fur, llama hair, or another animal fiber. It is not the same as the acrylic craft sheets we commonly call "felt" that is found at most craft stores.
Felt is generally not woven before fulling, or shrinking, but rather is created directly from raw and/or processed dyed fibers through the felt making techniques of wet felting, needle felting, or a combination of both. Wet felting involves applying warm water, soap, rolling, massaging and throwing. The wool will eventually "felt" where the fibers interlock and shrink forming a durable piece of non-woven material.
For more info on traditional feltmaking
The Felting Forum - an entire forum dedicated to felting.
Feltmaker's List FAQ - a comprehensive list for feltmakers.
Craft Gossip's Felting Blog - felting news and reviews.
The Felting Forum - an entire forum dedicated to felting.
Feltmaker's List FAQ - a comprehensive list for feltmakers.
Craft Gossip's Felting Blog - felting news and reviews.
Felt balls
After making the "tumbleweed" balls of wool, dip your hands into soapy water and start giving round shape to your ball by rolling in the palms of your hands. Keep rolling it round until you get a perfectly round and dense felt ball. You will feel the ball getting denser as you keep rolling. Remember to keep the pressure fairly constant whilst rolling.
Felt ropes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbck2ur9dXo
A helpful video to watch.
After pulling 30cm of wool, dip your hands into soapy water and start giving round shape to your felt rope by rolling in the palms of your hands or rolling on a textured surface. Keep rolling it until you get a perfectly round and dense felt rope. You will feel the rope getting denser as you keep rolling. Remember to keep the pressure fairly constant whilst rolling.
A helpful video to watch.
After pulling 30cm of wool, dip your hands into soapy water and start giving round shape to your felt rope by rolling in the palms of your hands or rolling on a textured surface. Keep rolling it until you get a perfectly round and dense felt rope. You will feel the rope getting denser as you keep rolling. Remember to keep the pressure fairly constant whilst rolling.
Sushi rolls
To create 'sushi felt'; follow regular felt making process, but after rubbing your palm onto the soapy/warm water and screen, roll up the wool in a nice tight scroll. then roll onto a textured backing until firm. rinse out the soap and cut into small 'buttons'
Contemporary Felt Artists
Joseph Beuys hhtp:lukasarttech.blogspot.com/2012/11/joseph-beuys.html
Joseph Beuys was a German-born artist active in Europe and the United States from the 1950s through the early 1980s, who came to be loosely associated with that era's international, proto-Conceptual art movement, Fluxus. Beuys's diverse body of work ranges from traditional media of drawing, painting, and sculpture, to process-oriented, or time-based "action" art, the performance of which suggested how art may exercise a healing effect (on both the artist and the audience) when it takes up psychological, social, and/or political subjects. Beuys is especially famous for works incorporating animal fat and felt, two common materials - one organic, the other fabricated, or industrial - that had profound personal meaning to the artist. They were also recurring motifs in works suggesting that art, common materials, and one's "everyday life" were ultimately inseparable. www.theartstory.org/artist-beuys-joseph.htm
“Had it not been for the Tartars I would not be alive today. They were the nomads of the Crimea, in what was then no man's land between the Russian and German fronts, and favoured neither side. I had already struck up a good relationship with them, and often wandered off to sit with them. ‘Du nix njemcky’ they would say, ‘du Tartar,’ and try to persuade me to join their clan. Their nomadic ways attracted me of course, although by that time their movements had been restricted. Yet, it was they who discovered me in the snow after the crash, when the German search parties had given up. I was still unconscious then and only came round completely after twelve days or so, and by then I was back in a German field hospital. So the memories I have of that time are images that penetrated my consciousness. The last thing I remember was that it was too late to jump, too late for the parachutes to open. That must have been a couple of seconds before hitting the ground. Luckily I was not strapped in – I always preferred free movement to safety belts… My friend was strapped in and he was atomized on impact – there was almost nothing to be found of him afterwards. But I must have shot through the windscreen as it flew back at the same speed as the plane hit the ground and that saved me, though I had bad skull and jaw injuries. Then the tail flipped over and I was completely buried in the snow. That's how the Tartars found me days later. I remember voices saying ‘Voda’ (Water), then the felt of their tents, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Beuys#cite_note-8
“Had it not been for the Tartars I would not be alive today. They were the nomads of the Crimea, in what was then no man's land between the Russian and German fronts, and favoured neither side. I had already struck up a good relationship with them, and often wandered off to sit with them. ‘Du nix njemcky’ they would say, ‘du Tartar,’ and try to persuade me to join their clan. Their nomadic ways attracted me of course, although by that time their movements had been restricted. Yet, it was they who discovered me in the snow after the crash, when the German search parties had given up. I was still unconscious then and only came round completely after twelve days or so, and by then I was back in a German field hospital. So the memories I have of that time are images that penetrated my consciousness. The last thing I remember was that it was too late to jump, too late for the parachutes to open. That must have been a couple of seconds before hitting the ground. Luckily I was not strapped in – I always preferred free movement to safety belts… My friend was strapped in and he was atomized on impact – there was almost nothing to be found of him afterwards. But I must have shot through the windscreen as it flew back at the same speed as the plane hit the ground and that saved me, though I had bad skull and jaw injuries. Then the tail flipped over and I was completely buried in the snow. That's how the Tartars found me days later. I remember voices saying ‘Voda’ (Water), then the felt of their tents, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Beuys#cite_note-8
Andrea Graham www.andrea-graham.com
Andrea Graham is a multi media artist residing in rural Ontario, Canada. Andrea exhibits, teaches and lectures internationally and is recognized for her technical skill and innovation.
Andrea looks forward to the continued application of ancient techniques in contemporary work by combining handmade felt and unexpected materials in her organic three dimension form and installation. Click on http://bletheringcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/02/andrea-graham.html to read an inspiring interview she gave in 2011. |
My felt supplier: Fibre Fusion (Australia)