Felt is a non-woven textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres such as wool or synthetic fibres such as acrylic.
Wet felting is one of several methods which can produce felt from wool and other animal fibres. Warm soapy water is applied to layers of animal hairs placed at 90 degree angles to one another. Repeated agitation and compression causes the fibres to hook together into a single piece of fabric. After the wet felting process is complete, the felted material may be finished by fulling.
Needle felting is the art of piercing tufts of raw wool hundreds of times by use of a very sharp needle with small barbs to sculpt.
Nuno felting is a Japanese fabric felting technique. It melds loose fiber, usually wool, into a sheer fabric such as silk gauze. This creates a lightweight felt that can totally cover the background fabric or be used as a single decorative design.