Mohair is usually a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat.

The Angora goat is thought to originate from the mountains of Tibet, reaching Turkey in the 16th century. In about 1820, raw mohair was first exported from Turkey to England, which then became the leading manufacturer of mohair products. The Yorkshire mills spun yarn that was exported to Russia, Germany, Austria, etc., as well as woven directly in Yorkshire.

In the 1800’s Angora goats were introduced into England, South Africa, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Today, South Africa is the largest mohair producer in the world. The United States is the second-largest producer, with the majority of American mohair being produced in Texas. Turkey also produces good-quality mohair.

Shearing the goats is usually done twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. One goat will produce 11 to 17 pounds (5 to 8 kg) of mohair a year. The shorn hair is processed to remove natural grease, and dirt or plant debris. Angora goat hair grows in uniform locks. The goats are a “single-coat breed”, and do not have fine under hairs or coarse guard hairs that need to be removed. The cleaned hair is spun into yarns, or strings.

ALPACA:

Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an Alpaca. It is light or heavy in weight, depending on how it is spun. It is a soft, durable, luxurious and silky natural fiber. While similar to sheeps wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic.

Alpacas have been bred in South America for thousands of years. Alpacas have also been exported to other countries, such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Breeders shear their animals annually. Alpaca fleece has guard hairs, which are often removed before spinning.

Alpacas come in 22 natural colors, from a true-blue black through brown-black, browns, fawns, greys and white. For shearing, white is predominant as it can be dyed in the largest ranges of colors.

Once sorted and cleaned, the Alpaca fleece is spun into yarns or strings.

VISCOSE:

Viscose is considered a semi-natural fiber. Viscose is structurally similar to cotton but may be produced from a variety of plants such as soy, bamboo, and sugar cane.

Viscose is produced by dissolving wood pulp into a solution, reconstituting the cellulose and spinning it into a fiber. The fibers are then spun into yarns or strings.

OUR FABRICS:

Special plush weaving looms produce the raw plush fabric that is processed into the fabrics we offer. Weaving the backing produces a fabric with much less stretch than that of a knit backing. This helps the teddy bears and other creatures hold their shape when being stuffed.

There are only two mills remaining in Germany that produce plush fabrics with a woven backing. We are proud of being the exclusive North American importer of one of the mills in Germany.

Unlike the knitting mills that can produce nearly endless pieces of fabrics, Weaving the backing limits the size of each piece of fabric (bolt) to the length of the long threads in the backing. For Mohair this is usually 30 meters. These plush looms must also be reset by hand between bolts to vary the pile length or pile density for each Quality plush desired.

After setting up the looms, the Mohair, Alpaca or Viscose ‘string’ is inserted into the cotton backing as the backing is being woven by the looms.

The raw product produced by the looms is a bolt of woven cotton backing with Mohair, Alpaca or Viscose strings sticking out of one side. The “raw” bolts of fabric are shaved to even the pile length, washed, brushed, dyed, curled, distressed, matted or otherwise processed as needed to obtain the various combinations of pile lengths, pile and backing colors and pile “Finishes” we offer.

This 100+ year old manufacturing process makes each bolt into an unique piece of plush fabric. This individuality in fabrics adds special character to your creations.

A BIT ABOUT US:

We started selling imported and domestic teddy bears and related collectables at doll shows in the late 70’s. In 1980 my parents and I opened a doll and teddy bear related gift shop in Southern California and I started traveling to shows farther and farther from home. A few years after that, Intercal’s imported plush fabrics and bear making supplies were added to the items I offered for sale at the teddy bear, craft and doll shows I attended. We have been a representative for Intercal’s teddy bear making supplies, including imported plush fabrics, European glass eyes, German wool felt, jointing systems and other teddy bear making supplies for over 30 years.

Some of you may remember me from all the US and Canada teddy bear and doll shows I displayed at representing both my shop, Bear Street, and Intercal since 1980.

Thank you for considering our listings on eBay,

Dale

Please remember: We do our best to take good photos, however human eyes and digital cameras see colors differently and computer displays show colors differently.