THE ART OF FELT

Felt is a kind of nonwoven textile obtained by forging fleece or goat hair. The felt used by the immigrants in Central Asia intensively in their daily life is obtained as a result of a hard work, taking advantage of the wool of the animals they grow up. The flocks sheared from the sheep are thrown until they are completely separated from each other by the wool, bow and ram. Then the well-separated wool fibers are spread evenly on the mat. If a pattern is to be created, motifs are placed on this spread wool and all wetted with warm water. Then the rug, rolled up into a mat, is "kicked" close to an hour using the human body. The roll opened in the third step is "cooked" with hot water and soap. In the meantime, by applying pressure with the hands and arms, the wools are intertwined to each other. In the last step, it is washed and dried so as to remove the soap from the felt. Tools such as bows, hammers, molds, bars, scissors, scales, boilers, cookers are used during this process.

Among the patterns on the felt are motifs such as ram horn, star, moon, baklava, chandelier. Products like tents, floor covers, shoe soles, saddlebags, scoops, cones, slippers are made of felt. In addition, by cutting various forms from the felt layers, several accessories can be produced by getting together felt pieces or felt and fabrics together with the help of special crochet needles.