Silk Lap

They  can be peeled into layers, stretched or chopped to  add a wonderful surface lustre when wet felted into one of our Felbi Prefelts or a base of our Divine Wool Tops.  They can also be spun or used in paper making.

We cut whole laps into portions(along the grain) to make them accessible for everyone. You will be surprised by how much silk coverage you obtain from a small lap. Each lap is about 50gm, 1.5m long and 20cm wide. It is extremely difficult to calculate the weight before we cut them so please understand that the weights are only approximate and can vary by up to 20%.

The laps are typified by their very long silk fibres running the length  of the lap. This makes them quite strong and very easy to stretch.  When wet felting, less is more when using a portion of a lap as embellishment on top.  Applied too thickly, the wool fibres will not be able to poke through and grab onto the silk fibres during the felting process. These silk fibres also add a great degree of structural strength to a hand felted wool textile due to the length of fibres in the laps.

The silk laps are a very organic product.  Even though each lap is a solid colour, the colour may vary in nuance over the lap.  Some laps more than others.  They are not perfectly dyed, sometimes exhibiting small  marks, less dyed areas, or the odd white spot.   We have attempted to make them as colour fast as possible but they may still be some dye discharge when water and soap is applied. 

Having said that, it is usually love at first sight!  We have been known here at the studio to stretch one of these whole  laps out to discover how far they will go and realise that over an hour has passed in play and amazement at the three dimensional shapes and sizes of silk web we have created.

If you want an entire lap that has not been cut, email us and we can let you know  what sizes we have available.