There is this interesting article and tutorial on “Threads” about needle feltingWithout Wool. The applications look very lovely and stylish. They write: Other than wool, the best fiber to use for needle-felting is silk. Silk is a strong fiber that resists breakage and fraying better than man-made substitutes. It also holds the texture created with the needles better than polyester fabrics do; polyester fabrics tend to release the texture too soon. Needle-felted silk chiffon becomes finely crinkled with an almost pleated look while dupioni and taffeta fabrics produce a more heavily puckered and tucked appearance. Silk velvets are the most luscious of all, developing rows and clusters of deeply textured wrinkles.
I began reading the comments and a couple of readers objected to them referring to using the word felting. They explained that these techniques have been around for a long time and it is called needling. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this subject and should this be called felting?
I’ve used silk roving & soy silk roving along with a needle felting needle to create small jewelry objects before. Since it was roving that I used in the process, I always considered it felting. I can certainly see the point being made here by those that commented about this process not being “felting” but rather needling. In my opinion, the terms “felting” or “felted” are too widely used to refer to too many different processes today. The traditional meaning of “felting” – such as non-woven wet felting – is often overlooked because the term is so broadly used. This is just another example of that happening here, and I think it will continue to happen.
My daughter-in-law found this reference to my article for Threads regarding “felting” silk fabrics. I’m delighted that you found that interesting enough to post! Thank you for that. I would like to address those that have commented about this technique being called felting instead of needling. While I totally agree that the term felting has become a generic term for much needle work, I would like to point out that according to Webster, the word felt can mean “to cause to adhere and mat together.” As this article deals with doing exactly that with fibers other than wool, I think the term felt is more appropriate than needle in this case. The silk fibers are actually meshed together with the needles of a needle felting machine, stippled with free form stitching and then immersed in water and steam ironed dry, which causes more adhering and matting as well as the shrinkage commonly associated with wool felting. Silk fabrics work best for this type of “felting” as they do shrink and the fibers will bond when meshed together. Most fabrics can be needled, but not many will actually felt. 🙂
On a side note, I cannot say exactly how the coral shirt was made as I did not create that one. One of the editors at Threads did. My piece is the gray jacket.
Great column and site!
Thanks so much for your update and I hope you come back often. I am happy daughter-in-law found us 🙂