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What is Felt used for? Well........

A traditional yurt consists of a circular wooden frame carrying a felt cover. The felt is made from the wool of the flocks of sheep that accompany the pastoralists. The timber to make the external structure is not to be found on the treeless steppes, and must be obtained by trade in the valleys below.

The frame consists of one or more lattice wall-sections, a door-frame, roof poles and a crown. Some styles of yurt have one or more columns to support the crown. The (self-supporting) wood frame is covered with pieces of felt. Depending on availability, the felt is additionally covered with canvas and/or sun-covers. The frame is held together with one or more ropes or ribbons. The structure is kept in place by compression, the weight of the covers, sometimes supplemented by a heavy weight hung from the centre of the roof. They vary regionally, with straight or bent roof-poles, different sizes, and relative weight.

A yurt is designed to be dismantled and the parts carried on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site.

Wet felting techniques work because wool has the ability to stretch and shrink when heated and agitated. Its a natural water repelling fibre, sheep never get soaked to the skin, and comparative lightness made it ideal for transportable yurts. Felt can be made without spinning, knitting or weaving the fibre. Felt can keep you warm and dry.

Click here to go to the NATURAL FIBRE page for WET FELT FIBRES

Needle felting is a relatively modern technique that can be used on any fibrous material - wool, man made fibres, vegetable fibres, fabric, string, yarn etc. It works because the felting needle has small barbs which catch individual fibres. The up and down movement of the felting needle ‘tangles’ the fibres into a a felt like material. Needle felting techniques can be used to strengthen areas of wet felt or mould it into 3D shapes. The technique is also great for creating small objects like dolls, toys and motifs.

Click here to go to the FIBRES pages for NEEDLE FELTING FIBRES