Osman Felting and Traditional Turkish Natural Dyeing

Two and a Half Wonderful Days of Felting and Dyeing!

We started on Sunday evening with a presentation by Theresa and Mehmet showing pictures of felt and seeing many examples of felt, including a beautiful caftan made with silk, wool and cashmere! We were all given the assignment of making outline materials with brown wool.

Monday was a great day - Sunny and the daylilies were Blooming with color!

We were able to get started the next day with getting our designs laid down. With this process, you work in reverse. In other words what you lay down first is what is seen first.

The wool that we use in laying out the rugs are naturally dyed by Mehmet in his studio in Konya, Turkey. A great palette - and it can be further extended by carding colors together.

Not everyone worked on the floor! Here's some more layouts


Laying out the design took all of the first day....and into the next. Some folks were able to finish on the first day - but mine took forever with lots of detail! Here is mine getting ready to get rolled up to start the felting process.

The next day meant it was time to move from design to workout! Felting on the table to felting on the floor (kicking and rolling.)

We were doing some natural dyeing all throughout. Here are some of the colors we got.


Aubergine, Weld exhaust, Weld with additions to get gold, oak mordant overdyed with indigo, both Welds overdyed with indigo, indigo - no mordant, indigo with mordant, indigo with multiple dips and additions to deepen color.

And after all the hard work! Here are most of the rugs!

and last, but not least:

This is my rug - an interpretation of Klimt's Tree of Life.

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9 comments

hi, beautiful work. I’m living in Turkey right now and actually just yesterday came back from Konya; how is possible to reach Mehmet Bey to participate his workshops? Thank you so much for your advice, SE

Sv Eppler

No…the instructions would need to come from Mehmet Girgic or Teresa O’Brien.

Miss Babs

I am a newcomer to felting and have found the Osman Technique. It sounds extremely interesting and beautiful & I would be delighted to know how to do it.

Do you have any instructions at all?

Thank you,

Ruth Tannahill

Ruth Tannahill

Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?

KonstantinMiller

Thanks!!

Miss Babs

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