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Felting
Felting dates back through the ages. It's unclear in history who actually discovered the first felt, but Sumerian legends claim the secret to felt making was discovered by their Gods. There's also a story of two Saints, who packed their sandals with wool whilst fleeing from persecution, to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey the movement and their sweat turned the wool into felt socks - ulgh!
We've all used felt when we were young, and now our own kids are using too. It's a wonderful material, comes in a rainbow of fantastic colours, is easy to cut and shape and is perfect for little fingers to play around with. It's economical and so great for schools to stock up with. Can you remember the ' Fuzzy Felts' of old? Well, they're still around today. Boxes of little pre-cut characters, to be stuck on a Velcro board. Hours of fun for little minds, and not forgetting for adults too!
It's a fantastic material for crafters, adding embellishments to knitted projects, hat making, bag making and even whole garments can be made. Felting is big business for the nomadic peoples of central Asia, rugs, tents and clothing are still made today and sold to tourists. It can be machine or hand embellished with threads, sewn and shaped. It's strong and durable, washable too.
Felt is used in all manner of other crafts - musicians are familiar with felt being used on their drum kits, their pianos and woodwind instruments. It can even be used, if made correctly, to make large constructions and in the interior of cars. It's practical, water repellent, hard wearing and easy to come by. It can be dyed a colour to suit and is readily available for all your crafting needs.
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