needle felting

The tradition & historical record

Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood pulp–based rayon. Blended fibers are also common. Natural fiber felt has special properties that allow it to be used for a wide variety of purposes. It is "fire-retardant and self-extinguishing; it dampens vibration and absorbs sound; and it can hold large amounts of fluid without feeling wet..." ¹

Felt from wool is one of the oldest known textiles. Excavations at Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia have revealed possible evidence of felting about 6000 BCE; more definitely, felt hats found in the Mongolian Autonomous Region of China date to c. 1800 BCE. Many cultures have legends about the origin of felt-making. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher states that the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters while fleeing from persecution. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks. Most likely, the origin of felt was in east Asia, where there is evidence of feltmaking in Siberia (Altai mountains) in Northern Mongolia, and there is more recent evidence that dates back to the first century CE in Mongolia. Siberian tombs (7th to 2nd century BCE) show the broad uses of felt in that culture, including clothing, jewelry, wall-hangings, and elaborate horse blankets. Employing careful color use, stitching, and other techniques, these feltmakers were able to use felt as an illustrative and decorative medium upon which they could depict abstract designs and realistic scenes. Over time, these makers became known for the abstract patterns they used, which were derived from plant, animal, and other symbolic designs. From Siberia and Mongolia, feltmaking spread across the areas that were held by the Turkic-Mongolian tribes. Sheep and camel herds were central to the wealth and lifestyle of these tribes, both of which animals were critical to producing the fibers that were needed for felting. ¹

In the wet felting process, hot water is applied to layers of animal hairs, while repeated agitation and compression causes the fibers to hook together or weave together into a single piece of fabric. Wrapping the properly arranged fiber in a sturdy, textured material, such as a bamboo mat or burlap, will speed up the felting process. The felted material may be finished by fulling. Only certain types of fiber can be wet felted successfully. Most types of fleece, such as those taken from the alpaca or the Merino sheep, can be put through the wet felting process. One may also use mohair (goat), angora (rabbit), or hair from rodents such as beavers and muskrats. These types of fiber are covered in tiny scales, similar to the scales found on a strand of human hair. Heat, motion, and moisture of the fleece causes the scales to open, while agitating them causes them to latch onto each other, creating felt. Plant fibers and synthetic fibers will not wet felt. In order to make multi-colored designs, felters conduct a two-step process in which they create pre-felts of specialized colors—these semi-completed sheets of colored felt can then be cut with a sharp implement (knife or scissors) and the distinctive colors placed next to each other as in making a mosaic. The felting process is then resumed and the edges of the fabric attach to each other as the felting process is completed. Shyrdak carpets (Turkmenistan) use a form of this method wherein two pieces of contrasting color are cut out with the same pattern, the cut-outs are then switched, fitting one into the other, which makes a sharply defined and colorful patterned piece. ¹

Rather than using water as a medium for linking and aggregating felt fibers, needle felting employs specially designed needles. These have angled notches along the shaft that catch fibers and tangle them together to produce felt. These indented notches are sometimes called "barbs", but barbs are protrusions and would be too difficult to thrust into the wool and nearly impossible to pull out without bringing fibers with them. Felting needles are thin and sharp, with shafts of a variety of different gauges and shapes. Needle felting is used in industrial felt making as well as for individual art and craft applications. Felting needles are sometimes fitted in holders that allow the use of 2 or more needles at one time to sculpt wool objects and shapes. Individual needles are often used for detail while multiple needles that are paired together are used for larger areas or to form the base of the project. At any point in time a variety of fibers and fiber colors may be added, using needles to incorporate them into the project. ¹

Needle felting can be used to create both two and three dimensional artwork, including soft sculpture, dolls, figurines, jewellery, and two dimensional wool paintings. Needle felting is popular with artists and craftspeople worldwide. One example is Ikuyo Fujita (藤田育代 Fujita Ikuyo), a Japanese artist who works primarily in needle felt painting and mogol (pipe cleaner) art. Recently, needle felting machines have become popular for art or craft felters. Similar to a sewing machine, these tools have several needles that punch fibers together. These machines can be used to create felted products more efficiently. The embellishment machine allows the user to create unique combinations of fibers and designs. ¹

Invented in the mid-17th century and used until the mid-20th centuries, the "carroting" process was used in the manufacture of good quality felt for making men's hats. Beaver, rabbit or hare skins were treated with a dilute solution of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate. The skins were dried in an oven where the thin fur at the sides turned orange, the color of carrots. Pelts were stretched over a bar in a cutting machine, and the skin was sliced off in thin shreds, with the fleece coming away entirely. The fur was blown onto a cone-shaped colander and then treated with hot water to consolidate it. This cone of felt was then peeled off and passed through wet rollers, causing the fur to felt. These 'hoods' were then dyed and blocked to make hats. The toxic solutions from the carrot and the vapours it produced resulted in widespread cases of mercury poisoning among hatters. This is the origin of the phrase "mad as a hatter", which was used to humorous effect by Lewis Carroll in the chapter "A Mad Tea Party" of the novel Alice in Wonderland. ¹

As felting grew in importance to a society, so did the knowledge about its techniques and approaches. Amateur or community felting continued in many communities at the same time that felting specialists and felting centers began to develop. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Felt”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

needle felting is dry felting technique which employs one or more specially designed needles to manipulate wool fibers, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²