In 1999 Dodd gave Melina a small felt rug that he found in a craft shop in Tehran. Melina fell in love with the charming and folkloric felt hearth rug and then she fell in love with Dodd. Their initial search for information or books that would offer clues about the rug revealed an obscure and undocumented craft. In 2002 they were married and starting a family when they decided to travel to Iran to look for felt rugs and felt makers.
They began their search at the main bazaar in Tehran where hundreds of thousands of Persian rugs are sold. Not only were there no felt rugs available but no one had any idea where they could be found. From Tehran they traveled to nomadic mountain camps in Azerbaijan and villages finding evidence of a lost art form. After several more trips and countless glasses of tea they found a few old men who were practicing the ancient art of felt making. It became apparent that this ancient and unknown tradition would die out quickly if nothing changed.
The felt rug tradition began in Iran in the Neolithic age. It spanned the nomadic mountain regions from Turkey to Mongolia where Central Asian nomads live in felt covered tents. Central Asia is the only region in the world with a felt rug tradition because of the type of wool available that produces an extremely strong felt. The Turkoman tradition is the most known and incorporates primitive motifs from the Zoarastrian religion like spirals, rams horns, and waves. There is little known about the Persian adaptation of this nomadic art form. The Raissnias have found pieces that they believe represent a once popular style in Iran but don't really know how long the tradition enjoyed popularity amongst urbanized Persians.
The Felt Making Process
Felt rugs are not woven but are pressed to create an incredibly strong, dense textile. Layers of loose wool fibers are arranged on a tarp on the floor. Boiling water is sprinkled on to the pile. It is then pressed and rolled around a stick in the tarp and then bound tightly with a rope. The rolled, wet wool is stomped on until the fibers have shrunken together enough to bind. The wet wool is removed from the tarp and rubbed and rolled by hand to ensure even, tight felting. Patterns are achieved by incorporating a layer of wool into a design. Imagine making a collage and then shrinking it. When the wool is wet it is very sculptable. Blocking techniques are used to move the design into position and shape the edges. The tools include a tarp, a rope, a pronged fork, pliers, and a mallet.