TRENDY MONDAY: FELT

What is it with felt? Where in the world did this trend/craft/fabric/style come from? We all know some kind of felt: you know, those little round pads you put under chair feet, or the bright color swatch squares you find at the craft store for your Christmas projects, or maybe a hat for your child. Well, felt, and felting has evolved into a high end product.

The Cooper-Hewitt Museum hosted the exhibit "Fashioning Felt" in 2009 and here is the short introduction video:

Felt making is one of, if not the, oldest ways of making fabric: nearly 8000 years old. Felt is "having a renaissance in high end design and architecture as well as in crafts" says Susan Brown from the Cooper-Hewitt.

I found several YouTube videos about felt which come from this Cooper Hewitt exhibit. 

First is Martha Stewart: stay with it... it gets fascinating toward the end showing Susan Arnold making and assembling the yurt that was on site at the exhibit.

Another video, which is long, is a talk by Claudy Jongstra and Kathryn Walter discussing their use of felt.

Kathryn Walter operates FELT Studio in Toronto. Kathryn has done installations around the world, such as the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto:

 

these bags which were part of give-away in a membership drive:

 

And these felt quilts made from remnants:

 

Here is our TREND BOARD with some great, fun FELT products:

 

Some more great felt products for sale: (click on the image to go to the site)

 

 

 

 

 

You can order these products from a Pantone selction!

 

Comments

[kathysue]

Hi I just wanted to come by and thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog. I am so glad you enjoyed your vist. I have enjoyed looking at your blog also. I have a friend that took a class making wool figures at Christmas time, it was pretty cool what she could make, time consuming but so worth it. Thanks again,look forward to seeing you there again.Kathysue

[Tammy@InStitches]

Thanks for the video, I'm going to watch it on my laptop because these speakers are not working ! I love the felt laptop case.

[Lydia, Clueless Crafter]

This exhibit was one of my favorite at Cooper Hewitt. Felt as furniture, as jewelery, as sound barriers - it is such an amazing material.

The trendiest hotels in NY use it as part of their decor. I think it's because it can take on a minimalist aesthetic without being cold? Do you agree?

[aneyefordetail]

Yes... and I think at the same time it's very...comforting. Minimalist but warm?
I thought that video of making the yurt was fascinating; SO much work went into that; loved seeing the entire process.

[pk @ Room Remix]

That necklace with the flower is adorable! Thank you for putting all of the ideas and links.