What is the technique?

Felting is a process by which wool fibers are agitated (by hand or machine) to make fabric.

Felt is a non-woven textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres such as wool or synthetic fibres such as acrylic. There are many different types of felts for industrial, technical, designer and craft applications. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can vary in terms of fiber content, colour, size, thickness, density and more factors depending on the use of the felt.

There are 3 types of felting: (a) wet felting, (b) needle felting, and (c) nuno felting.

(a) Wet Felting

What is the technique?

Wet felt can be created by layering pre-carded and pre-dyed wool, or roving, so that each layer runs perpendicular to the one below to ensure that the fibers entangle.

The process of wet felting involves adding warm water and soap to wool fibres and rolling and rubbing them together. Each wool fibre has tiny scales and when water and soap are added the scales swell up and begin to move about. The friction caused by agitating the fibres encourages the fibres to lock together into the robust fabric called felt.

 

What are the materials needed?

• Wool (100%)
• Lukewarm water
• Soap
• Plastic sheets and towel (for workspace)
• Bubble wrap, and/or bamboo blind (optional, to roll)

 

How to achieve the technique?

1. Lay plastic sheets to cover workstation

2. Choose colours of 100% wool for the desired design

3. Layer the wool thinly following the design for the fibres to interlock easily.

4. Pour hot/warm water on the wool, making sure areas of the wool contacts with the water.

5. Rub the soap into the wet wool until it becomes thick = becoming felt.

 

(b) Needle Felting

What is the technique?

Needle felting, also known as dry felting, is the act of creating felt using only wool and a barbed needle that is moved through the surface of the wool into a foam board until the fibers begin to bond and tangle. There is no need for soap and water in this process, so it can be used to sculpt three-dimensional pieces and to create beautiful edge designs and open patterns.

 

What are the materials needed?

• Felting needles: single needles and/or multi-needle
• Foam board or sponge (general sponge or those designed for felting)
• Wool materials (fabric, roving, yarns, etc.)

 

How to achieve the technique?

1. Choose colours of 100% wool for the desired design

2. Shape the wool into the desired shape (in this case is a ball)

3. Place the shaped wool on the sponge

4. Poke the wool with the felting needle until firm.

5. Add more layers of wool (layer by layer) to the existing shape to make it bigger and thicker.

 

(c) Nuno Felting

What is the technique?

Nuno felting, also known as felting with natural fibers, was named by Polly Stirling and Sachiko Kotaka in 1994. They were looking for a way to make a lighter-weight felt for the warmer climates of Australia.

Nuno felting is the process by which the fibres of the wool move through the weave of the fabric to the back of the fabric, where it becomes entangled, often causing shrinkage in the fabric, creating inconsistent puckers.

 

What are the materials needed?

• Wool materials
• Natural fabric
• Lukewarm water
• Soap
• Plastic sheets and towels (for workspace)
• Bubble wrap and/or bamboo blind (to roll)

 

How to achieve the technique?

1. Lay plastic sheets to cover the workstation
2. Choice of fabrics: Organza
3. Place the wool on the fabric into the desired shape/design and onto the sponge

4. Poke the wool into the fabric with the felting needle until firm.

 

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

• Wearable items (jewellery, scarf, apparels, bags, etc.)
• Plush toys
• etc.

 

Photos of experimentation with technique

Results of wet felting

 

Results of needle felting

 

Results of nuno felting #1

 

Results of nuno felting #2

 

 

Own personal reflections

I feel that felting technique requires patience as the process is not an instant transformation. It takes time to form:

Wet felting – the rubbing of the wet wool with soap to become felt

Needle felting – keep poking to get the shape and firm piece

Nuno felting – keep poking to form the design onto the organza (back and front).

 

Out of these 3, I personally prefer the wet felting as it does not require poking constantly. The rubbing of wool allows both the effect of play in the design as some fibres may move off from the desired location (like in the design stage) creating the unpredictable surface outcome.