Not so long ago, a kilo of wool, used to be very expensive in our villages especially in Lika, Herceg Bosna, Dalmatia and other deprived places. A lot of clothes, especially winter clothes, used to be made out of wool which women, after clipping sheep’s wool, had washed, combed and spanned beforehand. They made various clothes or blankets, mats and other useful things. Facing the growth of the cheap industrial clothing manufacturing, especially of clothes made of synthetic materials, and due to major sociological restructuring of our villages - young women moving to the city – as well as to impacts of the War of Independence, the number of sheep in the inland has decreased a lot while the situation on islands is a little bit better. In spite of all that, during last 30 years wool has even become redundant on islands, so that nowdays it is disposed next to the roads and other secluded places - rotting away and making our islands and Mediterranean landscape look ugly. It is estimated that more than 20 trucks of this valuable material has been tossed away as waste in this way. There have been some attempts on the side of the Government and local authorities ( Primorsko- goranska county) to establish sites for collecting the wool and to start the production of net, but without any success. The wool of the sheep from the island of Cres was even sent to Austria for an analysis. The result showed that our wool lacks quality and as a result of that even more of this valuable material has been rejected which in the end led to closing of several textile manufactures and stopping the production of woollen materials even as a home enterprise activity.

Nevertheless some positive undertakings can be noticed. There are some organizations, schools and individuals that do not want to give up promoting wool products, and as a result of their decisivness and enterpreneual spirit the production of various souvenirs and other useful materials made of wool, which would in any way be doomed to become waste, has been brought back to life. Here is the example:

PRODUCTION OF THINGS MADE OF UNPROCESSED WOOL – PRIMARY SCHOOL VOTINO AND ORGANIZATION “OZANA” We have been implementing the major guidelines of ecology as an inseparable part of school education and curriculum into all our school subjects for six years now. One of our long-term projects is the project called “SAVING WOOL”. In cooperation with the organization “OZANA” (Organization with socio- humanistic goals, which program is intended for preschool children as well as grownups with psychical impairment) our school joined the project at the beginning of 2005 and since then our project has been expanded and enriched by cooperative work and sharing of ideas. Based on educational workshops we introduced the project in school and we included children and parents. Since 2006, we have been involved in dying the unprocessed wool by natural colours and now we even started the production of natural soap.

1. WASHING OF THE WOOL After the wool is cut off of the sheep, it is collected and then washed. First it is washed in warm salty water and then in usual water so that all the dirt is completely removed.
2. COMBING OF THE WOOL Washed and dried up wool is then being combed and folded into a combed sheet one on other bearing in mind the direction of the crossing threads. For thicker filths (cca 0.5cm) some 15 sheets are folded while for thinner one less, depending on the desired thickness.
3. FILCHING OF THE WOOL Folded wool is then secured from “running away” by putting a rough gauze or a similar material on it on the whole bunch of folded sheets. Water is heated to the temperature endurable for touch; the wool is slightly emerged, soaped with soap (domestic) and rubbed in circular motions, adding water and soap. After filching the wool has become a compact material and then it should be enrolled in the cotton cloth; you should tie the endings and roll it with hands and arms for around 20 minutes. After that the filched wool should be thoroughly washed out.
4. DYING OF THE FILCH Filch is then dyied with the solution of natural colour, dispensed in water. We cook it for an hour and after that we wash it and dry it.
5. CUTTING OUT When filch is finished and ironed, the object that is going to be sewed on it is drawn - bags, slippers, scented pillows, etui for glasses, cell phone casings, pillows for a chair and other things. The cut is then cut out.
6. SEWING The cut material is put together and sewed, usually with the peripheral stitch, or so called cover stitch. If we are sawing slippers, the bottom of the slippers should be reinforced with leather so that it wouldn’t wear out quickly.
7. DECORATING Some folk designs or some other decoration can be chosen. We choose the thread in the same colour as the thread on the decorations.

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