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Ahhh felt... just saying it makes our hearts go fuzzy! Like us, we know that so many of you feel exactly the same way - so we thought we'd shed a little light on that very special fabric that we've all come to love so much!
Did you know felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any opaque color, and made into any two-dimensional shape, size or thickness.In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile.
Felt is the oldest form of fabric known to humankind. It predates weaving and knitting, although there is archaeological evidence from the British Museum that the first known thread was made by winding vegetable fibers on the thigh. In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,500 BC. Highly sophisticated felted artifacts were found preserved in permafrost in a tomb in Siberia and dated to 600 AD.Many cultures have legends as to the origins of feltmaking.
Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.
Felt is made by a process called wet felting, where the natural wool fiber is stimulated by friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water), and the fibers move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, in effect making little "tacking" stitches. Only 5% of the fibers are active at any one moment, but the process is continual, and so different 'sets' of fibers become activated and then deactivated in the continual process.
OTHER USES FOR FELT
Felt is used everywhere from the automotive industry, to children story telling, to musical instruments. It is often used as a dampner. In the automotive industry, for example, it dampens the vibrations between interior panels and also stops dirt entering into some ball/cup joints. A felt-covered board can be used in storytelling to small children. Small felt animals, people or other objects will adhere to a felt board, and in the process of telling the story, the storyteller also acts it out on the board with the animals or people [similar to the ones made by Heartfelt for the Africa Foundation].
Felt is used everywhere from the automotive industry, to children story telling, to musical instruments. It is often used as a dampner. In the automotive industry, for example, it dampens the vibrations between interior panels and also stops dirt entering into some ball/cup joints. A felt-covered board can be used in storytelling to small children. Small felt animals, people or other objects will adhere to a felt board, and in the process of telling the story, the storyteller also acts it out on the board with the animals or people [similar to the ones made by Heartfelt for the Africa Foundation].
Felt is used on professional or tournament billiards table to cover the slate surface. German artist Josef Beuys used felt in a number of works.Many musical instruments use felt. On drum cymbal stands it protects the cymbal from cracking and ensures a clean sound. It is used to wrap bass drum and timpani mallets. Piano hammers are made of wool felt around a wooden core. The density and springiness of the felt is a major part of what creates a piano's tone. As the felt becomes grooved and "packed" with use and age, the tone suffers. Though the ukulele is most commonly plucked, the pick, or plectrum, is made of felt.
Needle felting is a popular fiber arts craft conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles that are used in industrial felting machines are used by the artist as a sculpting tool. Using a single needle or a small group of needles (2-5) in a hand held tool, these needles are used to sculpt the wool fiber. The barbs catch the scales on the fiber and push them through the layers of wool tangling them and binding them together much like the wet felting process. Fine details can be achieved using this technique and it is popular for 3D felted work.Felt is also used in contemporary and traditional crafts to bring hope to a small community in a place called Makapanstad in South Africa!
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