Magical Felt in Thai orphanage

In Phrae and to Phatcheburn.

With the wool fibers that amalgamate continents, once again, Ruth Bucci-Baumer from Switzerland, which normally  offers creative felt courses in Italy, spent the winter, as a volunteer, in two orphanages in the North and Center Thailand.
Ruth was supported by DHG Main Street, which generously provided the material necessary for the realization of his project.

"The home and the schools in Phrae and Phatcheburn  managed by a Christian association based in Australia, were the places where I found an excellent base to work as an art-therapist.
I started working with preschool children in Phrae, in which the curiosity about this strange material has been definitely a good start. The contact with water, initially brake for these children, who were taught not to get wet, soon took over the entertainment aspect, it was transformed into a great interest and subsequent involvement.
Soon they showed the desire to create with fun, and day after day they created new felt objects.
Through this way of "making felt" I could teach the younger, as sensory, knowledge of colors, shapes and materials, particularly for Freddy and Ploy, two children with Special Needs, "making felt" it was a therapeutic boon that has helped to improve their motor skills and foster their growth.


In the second structure Phatcheburn, there are about 100 boys of all ages, organized in small families who attend the school adjacent to the institute, built by the Australians with the consent of the Thai state, the school also hosts about 1500 children from across the region .



These children could attend felt classes only in their free time after completing their daily tasks, which consisted of cleaning activities, gardening, work in agriculture, to feed the fish, fishing and helping in the kitchen, etc. etc.
With great pleasure I observed that just enjoyed a bit of time showed a great desire to be a personal item. Having a personal item Felt was seen as a prime location. Boys all wanted the bag or tie, females were creating flowers or light scarf. Often I felt it difficult to postpone the children the next day because the spontaneous participation, but so numerous, kept me from following them. 
I felt, and I confirm at now, that do felt in Thailand, in schools and orphanages, was the ideal vehicle to create contacts in the beautiful space of all ages. The combination of wool fibers, together with the soap and water and warmth mixed contacts between the people and joy for the soul -
In synthesis, I went with the thought and the desire to give many things to these children but the wealth that I brought in is really indescribable. "


Thanks again Ruth for her willingness to share his experience and for the beautiful photos of young artists and their beautiful creations that sent us.

The Wool

We decided to create some in-depth articles for each of our products. These articles will soon be available also on our website.

Australian Sheeps

We are going to start from fibres, obviously from wool.

Wool can be grouped into 3 big categories:

1)       Merino wool: short, extra-fine, very crimped and used for clothing.

2)       Crossbred wool: medium fine, not much crimped, used for the production of textiles for furnishings.

3)       Ordinary wool: long, bristled, used for particular products such as making mattresses.

Shearing

Sheep are typically shorn once a year and in some places twice.

Old-style Shearing

In the traditional way, still used in many countries, the woolen fleece of a sheep is cut off with blade shears or with machine shears (known as hand-pieces).  In Australia, big sheep farms can reach 10.00 head of cattle. Big flocks of sheep are shorn by machine shearing operating a power-driven toothed blade quickly and efficiently for a maximum shearing of the animal.

Once the fleece has been removed from the sheep, the fleece is collected and brought to another area for the selection. The first process is the skirting: the removal of pieces  which are placed in separate containers. Then the fleece is folded, rolled with its best part above and it is examined for its quality in a process known as wool classing considering fine crimp, length, colour and general conditions. 

Shear fleece is split up into:
- yolky wool: exactly as when cut from the animal;
- washed wool: sheep are washed prior to shearing;
- scoured wool: wool is washed after shearing (therefore wool maintains its natural grease, useful for preserving it;
- wool that has been washed thoroughly

Famous Lambswool is wool shorn from young sheep at around  the age of eight months that have been shorn for the first time. It is  a very good wool (19.5 micron), and a registered trademark (LAMBSWOOL) patented in 1984 by I.W.S (International Wool Secretariat) matched to the Woolmark brand to ensure the preservation of the extra-fine lamb's wool.

Characteristics and morphology

Raw fleece, called greasy wool, is made of fibres agglutinated by grease and sweat residue as well as dirt, straw and other fibres. The semi-grease wool, free from impurities, is made of long fibres from 4/6 to 40 cm.

 It is a poor heat conductor, therefore it is very much appreciated for making warm fabrics. Wool is actually very nonconducting and protecting because of its structure that allows to keep air in the tangle of its elementary fibres.

Wool fiber has the highest degree of moisture absorption, but in the meantime it is highly water-repellent. If a drop of water falls on a wool fabric, once it has been removed, it does not leave any damp. Wool can absorb moisture almost up to the 33per cent of its own weight without giving the feeling of dampness. The reason is a chemical reaction: the fiber gives off heat while its molecules absorb moist – therefore the human body is best protected against any sudden jumps in temperature.

Wool fiber is the less inflammable fiber overall, it has low heat of combustion, when it burns it forms a  swollen and spongy char which is insulating and self-extinguishing.

 

Under the microscope, three basic layers are shown:

- The outer layer, made of very small flat cells in the shape of scales, lied like flat roof tiles.

- The middle layer, made of thin fusiform cells.

- The inner layer, the medulla, that can, sometimes be not present, leaving a hollow canal.

Wool is made of keratin, a protein rich in sulfur, an essential constituent of nails, hair and horns and by fats that – once purified – are known as lanolin. 

The quality and use of wool is determined by its fiber diameter, length  crimp,  elasticity, tensile strength and colour. Fiber diameter is the single most important wool characteristic determining its spinnable grade, that is the length of a spun yarn obtainable with a certain weight of wool. Therefore, the finer the wool, the richer it is.

The finest wool are also shorter and more crimp, such as Merino wool.

Short fibres are typically 6-7 cm in length, while long fibres are superior (English long-wools can reach up to 40 cm!).

Crimp gives wool softness, smoothness, elasticity, adhesion in spinning. The finer the wool, the more frequent and regular is its crimp.

The most common colour is ivory white, but there are also gray, dark, black and reddish sheep.