The Many Uses of Felt Around the World and the Fun Ways to Use it Everyday by Elaine Merrett

Felt is one of the most diverse mediums to work with. It is made by matting, condensing and pressing the fibers together to create either a very soft fabric for use in baby clothes or a fabric tough enough to build a felt yurt, which is a hut built by the nomadic people in Central Asia.
Felt has been around for centuries, some artifacts have been discovered from as far back as 6,500 BC.

There are several ways to produce felt one is the wet felting method where the fibers are manipulated using soap and water to mat the wool and other animal hairs which have scales and kinks in them which react to the aggravation and bond together to form a cloth. This cloth then can be used for clothing, felted purse, toys, air fresheners, appliance parts, drum beaters, door seals, craft felt, horse collars and an array of other items too many to mentions here today. Another method of felting wool is by a dry method using only barbed needles to push into the wool. This mats the wool so it becomes solid. This method is used by many talented artists and is known as needle felting. You can add pictures to other felt or create decorations like flowers or flat animals to decorate clothing or an item like a felted bag. Another way to use dry felting is to create 3D objects like dogs, cats and other animals or mushrooms, people, whatever your imagination can conjure up.

If creating your own felt seems like a lot of work you can always find a wool sweater or skirt etc, place it in a zippered pillow case and run it through the wash cycle of your washing machine. Use the least amount of hot water a little soap and soon your sweater will be much smaller and felted. This can now be cut up and used to create a new item such as mittens, hats, felted purse, to name just a few. So if you have a favorite sweater that accidentally got ruined in the wash, don't despair it can be recycled to make an endless array of items that will last for years to come.

My name Elaine Merrett, I live in Ontario, Canada and I enjoy creating felt of all kinds.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Elaine_Merrett/422161



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2926954