When is handmade felt felted enough?
Or in other words: what’s high quality felt?
This is probably THE most often asked QUESTION in my workshop.
The answer isn’t easy!
Wolfgang Goethe already pointed out: “we only can see what we know” and the first book I had to read in my architecture studies was “Apprendre à voir l'architecture” by Bruno Zevi, ( in English “Learning to see architecture”). It’s exactly the same with handmade felt. You have to learn to see (and feel) all the details that makes a good quality felt.
In a piece of high quality handmade felt
you can’t see a single fiber or distinct the layout direction anymore.
It’s impossible to pull out any fiber
It’s firm on touch and has a goose pimpled like surface
The ultimate test?
Cut into a handmade felt and check if it is firm through and through:
The picture above shows how a high quality felt looks like. There is no fraying, no fiber sticking out.
Why is it important to make “high quality” felt?
Well it’s not that important if you are doing a wall-hanging or a piece of art that won’t be manipulated. It’s a MUST for all kind of felt work that will be used like bags, hats, garments…
A high quality felt is non pilling and will keep the form it was made in for decades! If a low quality felt is regularly manipulated it will pill and the surface will open up over time, become looser and loser. It’ll lose it’s initial shape and all sculptural forms disappear.
Even so a wall-hanging might not need to be strongly felted, I still highly recommend it! Firm felted wool tableaux generally won’t be eaten by mites ( they prefer softer variations :)) ! And also - a dense felt will act like a filter and purify air. If the felt work isn’t dense enough dust can sit on it or even enter in the loose fiber connection.
Ho to make high quality felt?
The magic formula is - make thin layers and aim for a high shrinkage. In my classes 40% is the minima but one can easly go over 50%!
Want o learn more?
Check out my online workshop calendar. In each class I insiste on how to make high quality felt because this is how I love it!