Felting

Felting

Felting is a technique of joining fibers together. It can be done dry or wet, and Carina Haglund uses wet felting. In Swedish there are two different words usually used for felting: “tovning” which is most used, or “filtning”. “Tovning” can also be translated to roughly “tangling [of fibers]”, whereas “filtning” has the same etymology root as “felt” in English. Filtning (or felting in English) is done wet, and Haglund expresses that she rather presents what she makes in her studio as filtning, rather than tovning.

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iain

Swedish

Intangible

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Tovning/filtning

19/06/2025

Tova- gammal teknik på nytt sätt. Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg Får boken- Anders Jansson, Nina Östman Felt passion- Ellen Bakker, RIchard Assman Att välja färg- Berit Bergström

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The technique similarly uses the qualities of wool as in fulling woven fabric (in Sweden usually vadmal/wadmal) in mills or manually with or without chemical agents.

Ulrika Jäger, Kajsa Stinnerbom

Knowledge of wool, and how to handle and process wool - from carding to felting to finished product.

It's possible to learn from courses, during textile educations, but also from doing not-on site courses, through video online and litterature - provided that you try it and practice.

It's a female dominated crafting technique. It's connected to the rural areas where the sheep and wool have been naturally more accessible. Felting is quite popular, and there's also carded wool and coloured wool in hobby stores in Sweden to purchase.

Haglund has taugh felting for all children in year 4 (ages 10) in the town of Kil. What the children have made will be shown at the Fårfest event in Kil. Felting is a quite common activity at preschools and primary schools, usually the "tovning".

Haglund explaines that the type of wool carpets that she produces are manufactured and used in Kyrgystan, where the wool mats are used in jurts. Haglund first used her woodenrod jalousie when wet felting which she has now replaced with bubble wrap. She thinks that bubble wrap gives a smoother texture. It's also to be said that Haglund's husband has made her a machine that felts larger objects such as carpets, and is powered by human labour.

FÅReningen, the sheep association (a non-profit association involved in all fields associated with sheep - crafts, husbandry, food) is a given organisation which gathers members who are involved with wool production and interests in quality. In Värmland there's also a folk high school (vocational adult education) with a course called "Ullakademin", the wool academy, which is a local, but of interest nationally, school in the art of felting.

Fårfesten in Kil: farfestikil.com

Use of modern materials

Insufficient renumeration

Östra Ämtervik is characteristic rural Swedish countryside where farmers have used the land for crops and husbandry. It’s a area which have been affected by the close by are of Nobel laureate in literature 1909 Selma Lagerlöf’s mansion Mårbacka situated in the area which have attracted cultural and international visitors, as well as the art museum Alma Löv. Residents of Östra Ämtervik commute for work to towns and citys nearby. The landscape is made up of fields, forests, farms and villas. Many keep livestock for a small scale self-sustainable lifestyle or grow crops or hunt wildlife for meat. Many artisans and culture practitioners live in the area. It's situated between lake Mellanfryken and Visten in Sunne Municipality, which has got about 13.000 inhabitants. Östra Ämtervik is an area of about 800 people.

Commonly clothes such as mittens, slippers, hats. Also items for the house such as seating, cushions, carpets. Artefacts of arts and crafts, and applied arts.

Haglund produces her products fully in wool. The sheep keeping and wool production of Sweden have been greatly diminished, which has led to a lot of wool that could have been used have been wasted or burnt. To produce in wool nationally and use Swedish wool is a great use of a ethical, non-hazardous, traditional and culturally important fiber that is accessible.

Like written above about the enviormental goals.

Decent Work and Economic Growth,Responsible Consumption and Production

Skacksjö 13, Östra Ämtervik, Sweden

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