A warm and lightweight way to keep the chills away

Details

Published on Sunday, November 2, 2014

Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson.  Olga Boyko poses with some felt clothing. The brown jacket isn’t yet finished, while the vest and grey coat have been completed.

Kate Jackman Atkinson

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Hand felted clothing and accessories are now available locally, thanks to dressmaker Olga Boyko.

She said she became interested in felting after seeing some items online. “I decided to try it,” she said. After spending three months practicing and perfecting her technique, Boyko has made a variety of garments, including jackets, vests, scarves, mittens and slippers.

The felting process starts with raw fiber, either Merino wool or alpaca.  While the Merino fiber comes cleaned and dyed, Boyko gets raw alpaca fiber from a farm near Brandon. This alpaca fibre must be cleaned and carded before it can be used to make felt. Boyko uses other fibers, such as silk or bamboo, to decorate items.

To make the felt, Boyko begins with a cut-out template of the item she is making.  She then covers the template with tufts of fiber, alternating the direction. From there, she uses lots of soap and water to bind the fabric together.

Making a vest takes eight hours, while a jacket will take two days if the fiber is clean, or four days if Boyko starts with raw fiber.

The felted items are lightweight, seamless and very warm. While felt is predominantly associated with warm, woolen items, Boyko said that silk can also be used to make summer-weight clothes.