British Wool for Feltmaking E-Book

International Feltmakers Association

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 124

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Britain has more native breeds of sheep than anywhere else in the world, providing a valuable source of wool for feltmakers. The characteristics of these breeds vary widely, making some more suitable for felting than others. Aimed at all levels of feltmakers, this helpful guide explores a selection of native breeds, and explains how their wool can be used successfully to create a variety of types and weights of felt. The book gives detailed information on each breed of sheep and then advises on their suitability for individual projects. It covers combining different wools, and blending colours to create colour and texture and includes how to work with raw fleece, and how to dye wool and felt. There are over 250 photos which illustrate a wide variety of felted projects.

Leseprobe

BRITISH

WOOL

FOR FELTMAKING

Shetland sheep

First published in 2022 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

This e-book first published in 2022

© The International Feltmakers Association 2022

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 990 7

Cover design: Sergey Tsvetkov

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1 UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF WOOL

2 UNDERSTANDING THE FELTMAKING PROCESS

3 FINE WOOL

4 MEDIUM WOOL

5 MEDIUM COARSE WOOL

6 COARSE WOOL

7 COMBINING FIBRES AND FURTHER TECHNIQUES

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

GLOSSARY

FURTHER READING

USEFUL ADDRESSES

USEFUL WEBSITES

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

Mary Burkett’s book, The Art of the Felt Maker, was published in 1979 to accompany an exhibition of felt, covering feltmaking in Iran, Turkey, USSR, Africa, India and Scandinavia; chapters include the technical analysis of felting, the history of felt, motifs, decoration and clothing. The exhibition and book raised awareness in Britain and continues to convert makers to this craft. The International Feltmakers Association (IFA) was formed in 1984 in a land with more native breeds of sheep than anywhere else in the world. Yet in early 2020, at an IFA meeting, a discussion arose highlighting the lack of information on British wool relating specifically to feltmaking. Certainly, there has been a long history of industrial feltmaking in the British Isles. However, the few remaining factories faded away in the twentieth century. The British hat making industry fell to the same fate, although it predominantly used fibres from beaver and rabbit rather than sheep. Therefore, wool is usually associated with the more familiar traditional craft of weaving and knitting rather than feltmaking, so the majority of information is aimed towards spinners, weavers and dyers. With the characteristics of breeds varying widely, feltmakers are often confused as to whether certain wools will even felt!

Swaledale sheep.

Beginners to the craft usually select imported Merino when they are learning to felt. It felts easily and is readily available in an enticing range of colours. With a growing interest in using locally sourced products and in issues of sustainability, this book aims to raise the awareness of a selection of British breeds and to encourage their use by indicating their characteristics, linking them with inspiring projects and recommendations. The book explains the properties of wool, describes the feltmaking process, and discusses how the choice of wool directly affects the qualities of the final felt, with a section on working with raw wool. Chapters 3 to 6 examine fine fleeces, softer fleeces, medium multi-purpose fleeces and coarse and hard-wearing fleeces. Each chapter describes various breeds, highlights potential problems with each wool type, suggests uses for the wool, and provides personal experiences of working with the breeds. The final chapter introduces further techniques to create texture, blend colours and dye wool, with suggestions for future projects.

CHAPTER ONE

UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF WOOL

BRITISH SHEEP BREEDS

Britain has the widest variety of native sheep breeds in the world. It has a temperate climate, but its mountain ranges and island coastline mean that weather patterns can vary widely in different areas. Sheep reared in the hills and mountains have a thicker, more robust fleece than those in the lower lying areas which tend to have softer wool. This leads to a wide diversity of wool types, which is unique to British sheep. Other factors apart from the weather and the area in which they are reared affect the quality of wool produced. The age and health of the sheep and the quality of feed available also play a part; not all sheep of the same breed produce the same quality of wool.

Lincoln Longwool sheep.

Cotswold ewe and lamb from Alderbrook Farm, Bath.

British Wool oversees the production of wool in Britain; it divides the many breeds into seven different categories, depending on the quality and type of wool produced.

Classification of breeds

Fine: Wool from breeds that are generally raised on lower ground with a mild climate. The wool is dense, springy and short in length.

Medium: Not quite as fine as the lowland breeds but some of the most versatile wools.

Cross: These result from the first crossing of purebreds. The sire is usually a Bluefaced Leicester which produces fairly fine wool with some crimp. The ewes are usually hill breeds.

Lustre: These wools are longer and have a sheen on the fibres and usually some curl or crimp. The fineness of the fibre varies with the breed.

Hill: The wools in this section vary widely from fine and fairly soft to coarser and crisper.

Mountain: Wool from sheep native to the fells and mountainous regions of Britain and which are subjected to harsh weather conditions and, out of necessity, produce bulky coarser fibre.

Coloured: Some British breeds produce naturally coloured wool. Fibre type varies widely depending on where they are bred.

British Wool produces a useful book, British Sheep and Wool, with photographs of the different breeds and information about the wool that each produces. There are different words used to describe how the wool looks and feels, explained below.

Handle: This describes how the wool feels to the touch. This can range from soft to harsh.

Crimp: The curl or waviness that appears in some wool fibres.

Lustre: A sheen and silky feel on a long wool fibre.

Demi lustre: A hint of sheen but less than in a lustrous fibre.

Matt: No shine on the fibre.

Staple length: This is the average length of the wool fibre.

Kemp: Wiry hairs amongst the wool fibres that make the wool feel harsh.

THE STRUCTURE OF WOOL

The fleece on a sheep is made up of many single fibres with a complex structure. Each individual fibre comprises many different cells. The outer layer of cells is characterized by overlapping scales composed of a waxy material known as cuticle. The scales are firmly anchored at the base to the core of the fibre and are free on the edges. The exposed edges of these cells point towards the tip of the fibre, creating an uneven edge and allowing them to slip over each other in one direction but not the other. This movement is important in giving wool the ability to felt.

A single wool fibre showing the outer layer of scales surrounding the fibre. The root is the end attached to the sheep and the scales point towards the tip at the top of the fibre.

A lengthways cross-section of a wool fibre showing the outer layer of overlapping scales and the two different types of inner cells. It is the difference in position of these inner cells that determines the amount of crimp in a fibre.

Variation in scale size in different wool. Reading from left to right: Coarser wools have fewer but larger scales; medium wools have smaller scales set more evenly around the fibre; fine wools have many more smaller scales that closely surround each fibre.

Inside the outer layer of scales is the core of the fibre, made up of two different kinds of cells. The two types of cells expand differently when they absorb water, causing the fibre to bend and create waves or crimp in the wool. In finer fibres, these cells are arranged in distinct halves lengthways down the fibre, while in coarser fibres the arrangement is more random and different types of cells can be mixed. There is more wave or crimp in a fine fibre than in a coarser fibre.

This unique cellular structure gives wool several properties. Some properties are present in all wools, but there are also differences in wool from different breeds that affect the appearance and feel of the wool and consequently what it is used for. The scales are tough and protect the fibre from damage. These cells have a waxy coating, making wool water repellent but still allowing absorption of moisture from the atmosphere. Mountain and hill sheep have larger, heavier scales than the finer lowland breeds to withstand the harsher weather conditions.

CHAPTER TWO

UNDERSTANDING THE FELTMAKING PROCESS

WET FELTING

The choice of wool directly affects the properties of the final felt, so it is important to understand the individual characteristics of different wools and also the process of turning wool fibres into felt.

Cotswold sheep from Alderbrook Farm, Bath.

There are several factors which contribute to the felting of wool:

• When wool fibres are wet, they swell and the surface scales open up.

• Adding soap to the water to make it slightly alkaline helps break down the surface tension of the water and aids the absorption of water.

• Agitation encourages the fibres to move towards the root end, pulling adjacent fibres with them and causing the scales to interlock.

• The crimp or wave in the fibre aids the interlocking.

Most feltmakers will use commercially processed wool for their first experiments. Processed wool, which can be used for feltmaking, is available in two different forms known as carded batt and combed tops. In commercial preparation, wool is first scoured to remove the dirt and vegetation, dried, carded on a carding machine, which opens up the fleece by separating the fibres with wire tines and turns the fibres into a continuous sheet of loose fibres, known as a batt. In this stage, the fibres lie in all different directions. To turn a batt into combed tops, it is first divided into long thin strips that are put through a combing machine to stretch the fibre batt and align the fibres in one direction, turning out a long smooth rope of fibres.

A selection of white and naturally coloured wool tops – an example of the lovely natural shades available in British fleece. Left to right: Teeswater, Cheviot, Swaledale, Bluefaced Leicester (oatmeal), Manx Loaghtan, Shetland, Black Welsh Mountain.

Natural carded batts.

Dyed carded batts.

MAKING FELT

The process of making hand-rolled wet felt is divided into different stages.

Step One: Laying out the dry fibres in even layers

Fibres are laid out in layers of overlapping fibres. Each layer is usually laid at right angles to the previous layer. The number of layers required will be dependent on the end use of the felt and the type of wool being used. Wool fibres shrink back along their own length, so it is important to lay out an even number of layers so that the wool felts uniformly. The finer the wool, the thinner the layers should be. Even when working with medium to heavier wools it is best to aim for more thin layers rather than fewer thicker layers; thin layers always felt more evenly than thicker ones as the air trapped between the layers allows the fibres to move more freely during the early felting process.

Step Two: Wetting out the fibres with soapy water

Dry wool has an acidic pH of 4.9 but felts best in a slightly alkaline state. Most feltmakers make hand-rolled felt by adding a little gentle soap to the water to make it alkaline and help with the felting. The fibres should be gently sprinkled with lukewarm soapy water over the surface so as not to disturb the layers of fibre. Then the water should be gently pressed into the fibres using the flat of the hand and working from the centre outwards until the fibres are wet through and lying flat without any bounce. Adding moisture to the wool causes the fibres to swell and opens up the scales on the outside of each fibre. The scales on coarser wools are larger and firmer, so it takes longer to wet out this type of wool than fine wools with many much smaller scales. It is important to add the water carefully and work it through gently, and only adding extra water as necessary. Extra soap can be helpful when wetting out batts and coarser wools.

Step Three: Setting the fibres

Gently rubbing and massaging the fibres encourages the scales to catch on to adjacent fibres and begin to intermesh. The wet fibres are now quite elastic, and rough handling at this point will push the fibres out of position.

Step Four: Hardening the fibres

This is usually done by rolling the felt from each side, turning the felt regularly so that it receives equal treatment all round. This process should be continued until the fibres are adhering to each other and have formed a cohesive sheet but with little or no sign of shrinkage. The rolling and light pressure encourage the individual fibres to move and interlock with each other. The time taken at this stage can vary depending on the type of wool. Fine fibres with many small scales will mesh more quickly than heavier fibres with fewer and firmer scales.

Step Five: Fulling

This is the final process in creating felt. It turns the sheet of fibres produced in the hardening process into felt. It is usual to add some extra heat and pressure at this stage. The purpose of fulling is to thoroughly integrate the layers of fibres so that there is no movement between the layers. During the fulling process the felt shrinks as the fibres mesh more firmly together. Finer wools shrink more during fulling as they have more scales to mesh. Time taken to full a piece of felt varies according to the quality of the fibre. Heavier wools take longer to full, but with perseverance it is possible to create a well-made and functional felt.

The short staple of Manx Loaghtan makes it an easy fibre to lay out.

The second layer placed at right angles to the first. As the Manx Loaghtan is a lofty wool, two layers make a firm felt with some drape – a finished scarf from this layout can be seen in Chapter 4.

Words used to describe the qualities of felt

There is a distinct vocabulary attached to the preparation and use of wool, originally applicable to spinners and weavers and now with additional descriptions for feltmakers. Learning these terms will help you understand the nature of wool and choose the correct fibre for your project.

Spongy: feels soft and springy when compressed but will bounce back when pressure is released

Hairy: