Felting process utilizing silk

Abstract

An improved felting process utilizing silk fibers is now described. It comprises the steps of pulling off tufts of wool from a wool roving; placing at least some of said pulled tufts of wool one next to the other in order to produce a first row of wool tufts; adding one or more additional rows of wool tufts to said first row in order to produce a first layer of wool tufts of a desired size and shape; laying out at least one additional layer of wool tufts over said first layer of wool tufts in order to produce a wool fabric layout; laying out wool and silk along said layout in a desired geometric pattern in order to produce a felt fabric; wetting said felt fabric; and applying friction to said fabric layout.

1 . A method of producing felt comprising the steps of: 
 pulling off tufts of a natural fabric from a roving;    placing at least some of said pulled tufts one next to the other in order to produce a first row of wool tufts of a desired width;    adding one or more additional rows of tufts to said first row in order to produce a first layer of tufts of a desired length;    laying out an additional layer of tufts over said first layer of tufts in order to produce a fabric layout; and    depositing a mixture of natural fiber and silk as a design layer along said fabric layout and in a desired geometric pattern in order to define a felt fabric.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said rows of tufts which define said first layer are laid down on a first fabric cover.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said fabric cover comprises a netting.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mixture comprises at least 30% silk by weight.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of splitting the roving into a plurality of roving parts prior to said pulling off step.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said pulling off step comprises pulling along said roving so that a plurality of wool fibers are removed.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said placing step comprises disposing each tuft substantially parallel to and abutting each adjacent tuft.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said adding step includes partially overlapping said tufts of said first row with the tufts of an adjacent row.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said additional layer of tufts is laid out lengthwise at an angle with respect to the first layer.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said additional layer is, lengthwise, substantially perpendicular to that of said first layer.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mixture of fiber and silk is laid out at an angle with respect to the lengthwise direction of said additional layer.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a second fabric cover is laid over said design layer of fiber and silk.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of wetting said felt fabric.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , further including a step of applying friction to said felt fabric.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein said friction applying step comprises running an irregular surface along said felt fabric.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said tufts of roving have a thickness of between about 0.3 and 1.0 mm.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the thickness of said roving tufts is between about 0.4 and 0.75 mm.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said tufts have a eight per unit area of between about 1.0 and 3.5 oz. per square yard.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mixture of fiber and silk is laid out individually in continuous lines.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mixture of fiber and silk is laid out individually as tufts.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mixture of fiber and silk is laid out individually as a combination of continuous lines and tufts.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said produced felt fabric has a thickness of between about 1.0 and 3.0 mm.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said felt fabric thickness is between about 1.25 and 2.25 mm.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said depositing step comprises placing a first mixture of fiber and silk along said first layer and a second mixture of fiber and silk along said additional layer.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of disposing one or more decorative items between any one of said layers.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said natural fiber is selected from the group consisting of wool and cotton.  
   
   
       28 . A method of producing felt comprising the steps of: 
 pulling off tufts of wool from a wool roving having a thickness of between about 0.3 and 1.0 mm. and a weight per unit area of between about 1.0 and 3.5 oz. per square yard;    placing at least some of said pulled tufts of wool one next to the other in order to produce a first row of wool tufts of a desired width;    adding one or more additional rows of wool tufts to said first row in order to produce a first layer of wool tufts of a desired length;    laying out an additional layer of wool tufts over said first layer of wool tufts in order to produce a wool fabric layout; and    depositing a mixture of wool and silk as a design layer along said fabric layout and in a desired geometric pattern in order to define a felt fabric having a thickness of between about 1.0 and 3.0 mm.