Felt accesories are in fashion. Brooches, necklaces, purses and many other accessories, fills the windows with products made by artisan hands, being for the vast majority of these artists their first foray into the world of accessories. That's good because competition is the engine of innovation. But what we know about this material?.

Felt isn't a fabric because the fabrics are woven and the felt it is not. Felt emerges from the conglomeration of layers of wool (or animal hair) with the use of vapor and pressure. It is an ancient material, the Asian nomadic tribes used it thanks its resistance to adverse weather conditions. Felt was used for clothing and for the coating and thermal insulation huts, for obtaining wind-resistant homes, fire and rain. Compared with the skins used until then, felt was leading to lower weight and the fact of not hunt for shelter, was enough to take advantage of the shear (which was necessary) of the animals.

Over time, felt became necessary for these nomadic societies. The yurts, or tents made of felt, were waterproofs and as firm as a hut of solid material.

The manufacturing process of felt is based on caking wool or hair. In this way the fibers are attached to each other and form a compact tangle. Formerly this was done by placing the yarn under the saddle while a man rode for days. To expedite the process it is best to wet the fibers in cold alternately with warm water (to produce a thermal sock). This is known as "wet felt making." As each strand of wool is coated with a small scale, it is intended that these may open and interlock with those of other fibers. A mild soap (not detergent) added to the warm water will help in this part of the process.

Along with this technique is often applied the "making of felt dry" which is to help the fibers interlaced with the help of a needle. At the industry level are used steel plates covered with needles for stimulate the interlaced of the material. This technique is much more useful if you want to get felt with special designs. This would be complicated in wet because it is more coarse work.

To sheep's wool can be added hair of other animals such as goats or flame but it is recommended to be added in small amounts because they have no scales such as sheep and more difficult to link these, and therefore yield a less solid and durable product.

Can we make felt in home? Yes, just take wool and place it in hot water with some soap. Then we must drain them, we form a cloth, pressing it (putting weight on it) and when it is dry we must ironed it. If we are to have felt with designs we need a needle for weave wool manually yarn of one color over another color. We added the wool of the small drawing and we ironed to compact the cloth.

Working the felt is very easy, just needed sewing scissors, glue, fabric and / or sewing, and a good dose of imagination (or a tutorial in its default).