Felt making is an ancient craft that is still widely practiced in Central Asia. Traditionally the Kyrgyz nomads made felt from their sheeps wool to cover the outside of their tents, called “bozuy” in Kyrgyz or “yurtas” in Russian. They make ornate and brightly colored quilted carpets called “shyrdaks” to line the inside of their bozuy. Traditional techniques are still used today but are now also used to create exquisite new craft products. 

These photographs show the steps involved in the traditional felt making process.

• The sheared sheeps fleece is cleaned by beating it with metal rods over a wire mesh screen.

• The fleece is evenly spread over hand woven reed mats called “chiy”. Boiling soapy water is then poured over the fleece.

• The chiy is rolled, wrapped and bound so that it can be kicked or dragged by a horse.

• The agitation from kicking for hours, binds the felt fibers.  The continual application of soapy water speeds up the binding process. 

• After kicking it, the felt is turned on the chiy mat and worked by hand. These processes are done by small groups of women working together as it is very strenuous work.

• Water is heated on an outdoor stove heated with wood or dried animal dung. The dye materials, both natural and chemical, are added to the hot water.

• The dyed felt is then beaten once again to penetrate the dye material. 
  

The completed sheets of felt are used to make quilted rugs called shyrdaks.  The designs of shyrdaks are inspired by the patterns found in animal horns and in the ancient pictographs that pepper the Kyrgyz landscape. The decorative tops of the shyrdaks are cut and pieced and then the seams couched with hand spun yarn. They are backed with a sheet of natural colored wool and then the 2 sheets quilted together.