Felted woolen products

What is Felt?
Felt is a fabric made of wool fibers or animal hair matted together by steam and pressure without spinning, weaving or knitting. Such fibers include wool, fur and certain other hair fibers that mat together under appropriate conditions because of their peculiar structure and high degree of crimp.

How are felt products produced?
After carding, the fibers are dyed to acquire the required colors. At present we work with 41 different colors. Dyeing can be done by hand or by machine, but machine dyeing is more practical for fast color. Some of the colors on the screen or even the pictures are quite different than the physical colors. Upon completion of the coloring process, our skilled laborers compress the raw material by hand with the help of soap & hot water. Our felt products are 100% handmade and are free of chemical additives.

While still wet, the felt is shaped into the pattern of the intended product. The shaping is done by hand without sewing or patching. Hand manipulation and rubbing in combination with the application of hot water achieve the desired shape. The shaped felt items then are sun-dried. After drying, final shaping and joining may require gluing and/or sewing, according to the design. You can see some pictures of the people working to make felt items.

All our felt products are fair trade items produced by low-income and displaced workers, primarily female urban dwellers. Purchasing these felt products serves to help support these workers, who depend on such programs to improve their lives.