Felt 101

This month we released our very first wool felt textile! You can check out these embroidered French Knot Felt Pillow Covers here and learn all about how they were made here. But before the pillow covers came to be, we had to have felt. And I'll be honest, it's quickly growing to be my personal favorite medium for our textiles. The up and coming Zyaada Collection has our second felt piece (spoiler alert), a dusky pink embroidered fine art piece. I am confident that these pieces won't be the last of our felt textiles. Wool is versatile and unique and especially cozy during the fall and winter. I love felt for its texture and character. It seems to be a work of art before we even touch it!

Before joining the DABU team, I didn't know much about the world of textiles. It's one reason I enjoy writing these journal posts because I am often learning as I go! Felt has been no exception. So as usual, I sat down with our designer Analise and got the full scoop. 

Surprisingly, there's not much to it! Although a simple process, the outcome is beautiful and anything but simple. It's a mass of fibers, pushed, pulled and shrunk together to create a textile that has depth, interest and texture. 

Last year, Elizabeth and Analise had the chance to visit our wool felt manufacturer in Tonk, a town outside Jaipur, the capital of our state, Rajasthan. They got to spend the afternoon watching the process and capture these photos and videos. 

We can neither confirm nor deny that these exact sheep donated their wool to your textile.

But even before the manufacturer... there are sheep. The wool used is harvested from Rajasthani sheep, just like these!  Although not pictured, the shepherds range from young children to women to older men. Throughout the year you can see shepherds wearing beautiful, traditional attire like the red pagri (a turban worn by older men), taking their sheep to graze. Sometimes there will be hundreds of sheep just strolling down the road being guided by their shepherds. It's my favorite type of traffic jam. Because of the desert climate of the area, the sheep's wool is coarse which means it doesn't make great sweaters, but it's perfect for felt! 

Have you any wool? When the felt arrives at Anuraj Handicrafts, our supplier in Tonk, it looks like this. Just plain old wool, shorn off a sheep. A lot more than three bags full!

The wool is loaded into this machine which cleans and cards the fibers into a more usable form. Sort of brushed out and fluffed up, if you will. From here they are sucked up over a wide, flat wheel (which looks a lot like a water wheel from the side!) for as many turns as it takes to reach the thickness desired for the sheet of felt.

Check out this video with a full order of events from Elizabeth.

Layer upon layer is rolled out and the sides are cut before being soaked with water and then finally put into this giant press which agitates and agitates and agitates the wool. Pressing, tangling, squashing, squeezing. Did I say agitate?

Each fiber of wool has tiny hooks in it, much like fox tails or heads of wheat. As the fibers are warmed in heated water, the hooks (or scales) are opened up. As they are tangled together through the process of agitation, the scales grab on to each other and hold on for dear life! When the wool is put in cold water, the fibers shrink tightly together and hold their shape. Felt!

The end result is this beautiful role of thick wool felt. And that's exactly how it comes to us! We cut it, dye it, embroider it, and sew it until we have beautiful pieces to share with you.

Now to convince Analise to do a felting workshop at the studio! I don't think it will be difficult.

What should we make with felt next? 

Bye for now!

Sarah