Is acrylic felt the same as polyester felt?
Fun With Felt - Everything You Need To Know About This ...
Felt is a popular fabric used in many different projects, from clothing to decor. It has a fascinating history and manufacturing process so read on to discover everything you need to know about felt.
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What is felt?
Made from natural fibres, felt is one of many manufactured fabrics. Unlike many of its counterparts, felt is not made by weaving. Instead, fibres are subjected to high levels of pressure and heat, with water added to the process to compress them into what we can recognise as felt fabric. The production process makes felt a durable material with a dense consistency as the fibres become permanently compressed and interlocked together.
History of felt
There are many origins proposed when felt is discussed. Still, the most likely is that it originated in Asia around years ago. The historical evidence suggests that the Nomads first derived it when they found it to be a perfect fabric for tents and clothing and rugs to protect them from the elements. Even now, they use the material and develop a range of items like decorated slippers for the tourist trade. Another compelling story about the origins of felts is that in the Middle Ages, wool fibres were used to line shoes to provide comfort and warmth. As the footwear was worn, the sweat and heat from the feet combined with the pressure of walking created felt - but it is thought that production was not formalised, so they accidentally made felt without realising what they had discovered.
What is felt made from?
Traditionally felt is made from wool and other natural materials. This gives it a soft finish that has become synonymous with felt. One of the reasons wool is used is because of how easily it can matt together. Usually, this would be a flaw, but the felt production industry has played to the natural properties and made it a valuable asset.
As time has passed, new techniques have seen wool combined with synthetic fibres, and a superior result has been achieved. Most felt is now a blend of wool and either acrylic or polyester. Totally synthetic felt is also used, such as acrylic felt. This does nothing to hamper the strength, but it does make the finished fabric more pliable. Rayon is also a synthetic fibre of choice for some blends as this makes the felt softer and removes the prickly feeling that a pure wool blend can cause.
How felt is made?
Making traditional felt from scratch is a labour-intensive process. First, the raw materials must be collected from sheep or other woolly-coated animals. Once the wool is harvested, the next step for most uses is combing and carding. The fibres go through a large combing cylinder that uses large steel nails as teeth. It is then fed into a carding machine where smaller teeth card the fibres into loose fibres. The next stage is to create rolls, and a device called a cross-lapper makes batts. The batts are then exposed to heat and moisture, which causes them to shrink and condense. Finally, the pressure is applied using large rollers, which creates the final smooth fabric we use in sewing and craft projects.
Types of felt
There are several different types of felt, including:
- Wool felt &#; This felt is one of the most common and is made using sheep&#;s wool or other woolly-coated animal pelts.
- Polyester felt &#; This is a synthetic needle felt material made with 100% polyester. It has similar properties to traditional felt and is resistant to heat.
- Acrylic felt - A cheaper version compared to wool and is made using acrylonitrile. Fibres are interlaced to create the same effect as wool felt. It is stain-resistant and washes well.
- Woven felt - Pre-woven fabric is used, and then heat, water and pressure is applied to give the felt effect. This method creates a less dense finish.
- Fur felt &#; Animal fur is used to create this felt. It is durable and flexible to work with.
- Rayon felt &#; This fibre shares similar characteristics to wool and is often used for insulation products.
What is felt used for?
Felt can be used for a wide range of projects, as it is very versatile. It is suitable for insulating and creating warmth. It is also great for decorative goods, arts and crafts and soft furnishing. As previously mentioned, it is used in tents and yurts and clothing. It is a popular material with hobbyists who enjoy needle felting and hat making.
Pros and cons of felt fabric
One amazing fact about felt is that it is highly flame retardant, and even if it were to catch fire, it is self-extinguishing. The material is very good at dampening sound and is absorbent and moisture-wicking. Felt is durable and easy to cut and work with. That said, it is pretty rigid and can shrink over time. The fabric can have a coarse feel, but this can be counteracted by adding synthetic fibres. Over time felt tends to go fuzzy, but it doesn&#;t fray. It is a cheap material with many uses making it a popular choice for sewing projects.
Popular felt colours
Felt is popular for arts and crafts projects. Many will have fond memories of classic green felt used to make a DIY craft garden patch. However, while this is still a much-loved pastime, there are lots of other crafting ideas you can create with felt and the variety of colours available. Check out some examples of simple DIY crafting projects here.
To help you get started, we stock a host of felt colours, including blue, pink, red, orange and black, plus many others. Felt is a great way to introduce kids to arts and crafts. However, it&#;s also perfect for other ideas such as Christmas decorations, card table covers and seasonal DIY projects. So check out the range here to inspire your next felt creations.
Felt Comparison
Did you know that the felt you buy at most crafts stores isn&#;t all natural? It&#;s actually acrylic! And being acrylic it means it&#;s far less expensive, but won&#;t last as long (in most cases) as wool felt. Acrylic felt is likely to disintegrate over time which makes it more prone to tearing, in fact, if you try to cut a thin strip of acrylic felt, it will just tear apart. But wool felt might be out of your budget. As gorgeous as it is, and as long as it lasts, it still costs considerable more than acrylic felt. While I&#;ll always aim to buy wool felt over other alternatives, there is one that works well as a middle option: wool blend felt. Wool blend is a mix of 35% or 20% wool with 65% or 80% rayon. The price is less and while I can&#;t speak to the longevity of the blend, so far, it&#;s held up well for the last couple years we&#;ve used it. There yet still one more option you can choose from: a vegan option! Have you heard of bamboo felt? I hadn&#;t, but I tried some and it&#;s smooth and soft and to the untrained eye, could easily be mistaken for a wool blend. If you are a felt connoisseur, you&#;ll probably just stick to the 100% wool felt, and I&#;m with you! You simply cannot beat the quality and beauty of wool felt.
For this video and blog post, I got felt from A Child&#;s Dream, ThreadFollower and Over The River Felt. This is not a sponsored video, but I did receive free felt upon my request from ThreadFollower and Over the River Felt.
ThreadFollower
ThreadFollower carries a number of adorable felt animal sewing kits. We own several, and even have a couple video tutorials on them too. The Little Bunny Rabbit sewing kit is great for beginners, but didn&#;t resonate too much with my children. The mini dinosaur kit on the other hand was a huge hit! My then 10-year-old son learned how to sew it with my help, then immediately sewed up another four! The kit came with a pattern, needles, embroidery thread, wool to fill your project and wool blend felt. This was my first time using a wool blend felt and I was very pleased with the results and the feel of the felt. We&#;ve had these adorable stuffed animals in our homeschool for nearly four years and they&#;ve held up very well, admittedly they don&#;t play with these as much as the finger puppets.
The wool blend carried by ThreadFollower is 20/80 wool/rayon and 35/65 wool/rayon. I was not able to tell the difference between the two. The colors assortment was also really beautiful and I liked the earthy tone and heathered colors they carry. When I first received the felt and additional kits from ThreadFollower, I made a haul video. You can check out the video and get a closer look at just these items which are so beautiful and rich.
The company is the world’s best Coloured Polyester Felt supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
A Child&#;s Dream
I&#;ve been using 100% wool felt from A Child&#;s Dream since about , so I&#;m definitely partial to their selections which have been the best quality I&#;ve used since I started handwork projects such as peg dolls, finger puppets and hand stitching. What I love and appreciate about 100% wool is that the quality and durability are unsurpassed. The feel is smooth but not slippery, the smell is mild and natural, and the colors are rich and even. The best part though, is that it lasts and doesn&#;t pill over time or with wear, and for me that&#;s the best part. For me, the time involved in making a project is the most expensive part of the project. For that, I want to use the best material I have so that the project lasts. I don&#;t want pilling, tearing or fading. While I can&#;t say which felt guards best against fading, I can say that in my experience the best felt I&#;ve used is the 100% wool felt.
My favorite is the Holland wool felt and a recent favorite is the plant dyed felt which doesn&#;t seem as durable. I love the Holland wool felt collections with the autumn collection being my absolute go-to color selections, followed by the winter collection which is not your typical Christmas colors and the summer and spring collections being lovely options, just not colors I tend to gravitate towards for our projects.
Peg Dolls and Finger Puppets
I&#;ve been using Holland felt and other wool felt for over a decade to make peg dolls and finger puppets. These toys have been played with in our homeschool for years being passed down from my oldest child to my youngest. In all those years and through the hands of four children, these finger puppets still look good after all these years. Definite wear and tear can be seen in other parts of the finger puppets in the hair (Lamb&#;s Pride Bulky or Worsted weight yarn) and on some of the accessories that have have fallen off. Overall, the felt has held up so well compared to the first finger puppet I ever made using acrylic wool. There was so much pilling, the finger puppet doesn&#;t appeal to my children any longer. And the feel of the felt is slippery and unpleasant. Over the recent years, we&#;ve made far more peg dolls to add to our collection and we don&#;t always clothe them in felt, sometimes we paint outfits on them.
More projects with Wool Felt
Welcome autumn with this simple, yet beautiful handwork project that&#;s great for children about eight years and up. All you need is felt and embroidery thread. You also need a needle and a pair of scissors. I&#;ve made a pattern (with the help of the original sample made by Melanie Hatch, a master Waldorf handwork teacher) that you can download for free.
Over the River Felt
I can&#;t remember how I came upon Over the River Felt, but I&#;m glad I did (it turns out in was in an Amazon search). They have the widest assortment (from the limited vendors I shop from) of felt varieties ranging from high quality acrylic to wool blend to wool felt and even bamboo felt! I had not even considered that felt could be made from other materials so when I saw bamboo felt for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. I reached out to Over the River Felt and asked them if they would be willing to send me a variety of their products for this review and comparison. Before comparing the felt from the three vendors I contacted, I made a haul video showing the products I got from Over the River Felt and even got started on some projects using their products.
What drew me to the products at Over the River Felt were their die cuts and kits. I love kits! And their Superhero Mask DIY kit was a hit with my children. Admittedly they had more fun making the masks than wearing them as they are not into facial dressup, just the dressup that involves capes and outfits. The other reason they ended up not using the masks as much as I hope is because they are just coarse enough to irritate the skin of sensitive children, either because of a skin sensitivity or because of a personal preference. I also found the masks warming and I found them uncomfortable.
Later we used the snowflake die cuts for a winter inspired stitching project. We did something similar with wool felt from A Child&#;s Dream (see video tutorial), but what was nice for the leaves and snowflake die cuts versus ones you might cut yourself is the intricacies of the design. All the die cuts that Over the River Felt carries are a wool/rayon blend. One of the benefits of using a blend over 100% wool is the cost. Blends are far less expensive than 100% wool blends, and the other advantage is that blends are more durable than acrylic felt which is easily obtained at craft stores.
This is one simple yet beautiful project you can complete in no time, especially if you do the stitching like my 11-year-old son and not like me! We used gold and metallic DMC thread to stitch designs on the wool blend die cut snowflakes using two simple stitches: the running stitch and the back stitch. You can use a single or a double strand of thread, but I found that the single strand looked far better. The gold stands out more on the white snowflakes, but the silver looks magical.
And now for the Bamboo Felt! I was so impressed with the bamboo felt. I thought the cost was comparable to the blends and the quality seemed about the same. The thing is, I didn&#;t craft with it at all. I sent the whole lot to a friend who is vegan and preferred a plant based alternative to wool felt, but wanted a better quality than acrylic felt. I think bamboo felt is a great quality alternative, but truthfully, having not used it with my projects, I&#;m hesitant to say how durable it it or how long it last, or if it pills, shreds or fades.
The last products I want to share with you are the wool and wool blend felts. I was impressed by the color and found them to be indistinguishable by touch to the 100% wool felts. However, I&#;m not a wool felt connoisseur, so if you are a seasoned crafter or handwork teacher, you will definitely want to consider using the 100% wool felts over the wool blends. For those of us looking for a cost effective, yet durable and beautiful alternative to the costly 100% wool felts, I wholeheartedly feel the wool blends are the way to go. As with ThreadFollower, the blends are 20/80 wool/rayon and 35/65 wool/rayon. Once again, my favorite wool felt was the autumn collection from Over the River Felt. I&#;m drawn to those colors and didn&#;t even ask for other collections!
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