What She Felt

Memoir by Natasha Henderson

Felt is non-woven, non-knit fabric that is made of bits of wool or other fur. Felt-making has been around for a very long time… we’re talking about five thousand years. The contemporary method for making felt is similar in science to the ancient method: a combination of pressure, heat, water, and friction make individual fibres cling together into this versatile fabric. Soap doesn’t hurt the process, either.

I came to start to make my own felt because of three major influences. One, I had always liked felt (and felted) objects. Two, I have a friend who offered to teach another friend and I how to make felt one rainy evening an evening that also featured soup and beer. The third influence was my own desire to learn another craft that I could possibly make products to sell in my freelance artistic lifestyle.

The main reason I keep making felt is that I find it to be a relaxing and enjoyable activity, and I am proud of my creations!

I also find that the process of laying out thin layers of loose wool in a multitude of available colours to be similar, in an odd way, to painting. My background is as a painter; IÔÇÖve painted and exhibited my works for years. So when I found a means to make wearable-art out of an incredibly practical material, I was very, very happy!

This craft has opened up new opportunities for me to teach workshops in felt-making, too. There are several people who are curious about this medium, and who want to try things out. I am glad to offer courses in my own studio, and IÔÇÖve also had the opportunity to travel to classes to teach kids ÔÇ£how to make feltÔÇØ. One such event concluded with the kids making their own felt into little puppets. The kids had a satisfying time making their own piece of fabric, and then had a creative time crafting this fabric into their unique creatures.

The latest thing Ive discovered is felted soap. When I first saw felted soap, I thought it would be itchy, that the felt would fall off the soap and youd find little fibres all throughout the bath nope. Thankfully wrong on all accounts! The soap inside makes a good lather that keeps the wool at a gentle level of exfoliation. Its cool, too, that as the soap insides slowly shrinks (these soaps last longer than naked soaps do) so does the felt.

Thanks for letting me talk to you about this thing I do. ItÔÇÖs a lot of fun.

Natasha sells her felt wool scarves and soaps at craft fairs, as well as through her Etsy site, HendersonArt.