The processes for making felt

Zizi is a master craftswoman in felt work. Her home and workshop is located in Duisi village. She was taught by her mother Zarai Kavtarashvili, and has been practicing the craft since 1967.

Zizi buys 200-300kg of wool in April and one ton in September, sheared by local shepherds in the highlands. The wool from lambs is primarily used to make hats, clothing and souvenirs due to its softness and durability, and fleeces sheared from adult sheep is used to fill pillows, mattresses and duvets due to its unrefined coarser quality.

Firstly, Zizi washes the wool in cold water with soap to remove dirt and odour. This process is repeated a couple of times and then the wool is allowed to dry out naturally. Once dried the wool is sent to a nearby facility where it is mechanically washed again and processed using a special machine, which separates the fibres. This gives the felt a better quality of consistency, making it easier to roll and press into sheets.

The processed wool is now ready to be colour dyed using natural or synthetic dyes. For green, black and brown colours, natural dyes are used. These are produced from boiled moss (green), boiled walnut shells (brown) or boiled onion peels (light brown). Synthetic dyes for other colours are purchased from Alvani.

The wool is placed in large metal pots of boiling water with the dye and stirred to allow the wool to absorb the colour. Once this has been achieved the wool is removed and allowed to dry naturally. No fixing agent or chemical is applied.

Once dried, Zizi applies hand-rolling method to compress the wool fibres into compact sheets of desired thickness to use for various applications.

The sheets are cut to size for different products. She then applies water and soap before placing sheets onto wooden moulds, which are used to stretch and shape the fabric by hand. To finish the product, sewing and other tasks are completed and each item is inspected for quality.

Zizi exports her products such as felt hats and souvenirs to various countries including: United States, Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, and numerous souvenir shops across Georgia.