NEAFP Offers Alpaca Fabric

Last year we did a tremendous amount of work in the manufacturing of alpaca cloth that probably wasn't obvious to most. Historically, we've made blankets and hats from blanket material. Last year we formed a Joint Venture with Fenwick Manor Farm to produce the WeatherCheater, a 100% Alpaca Coat which is heavy duty, moisture wicking and very strong. Well this venture required us to partner with new weavers and product designers, not to mention spend a whole lot of time experimenting with the weaving and finishing of alpaca fabric.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the felting process where fiber is added to warm water with a little detergent and agitated to produce a sheet of very strong fabric. Our fabric may have a finish close to felt but it is much more versatile due to its drape and consistent thickness. To make alpaca fabric, the fiber is first spun into yarn and then woven producing a greige cloth. The felt like finish that is produced is achieved through a separate combing and fulling process. The result is a fabric that has a nice drape and soft finish. Getting a commercial finisher to work with alpaca is a challenge. People who finish cloth know enough about alpaca to know they could take a very expensive piece of greige cloth and turn it into a felted mess if they are not very careful. Achieving the proper finish requires a lot of trial and error, documentation and measurement. Well we've put our fabric ( and ourselves) through the ringer and can now confidently produce several different styles of alpaca fabric.

We plan to offer our Blanket Material (shown above). It is a very soft , heavy striped fabric. You'll choose it for quite comfortable clothing -- long-lasting work shirts lining, hats, vests and maybe blankets. Finished at 30 oz/linear yard; 90 inches wide

Our solid Brown or Black Twill Weave has been highly fulled for an incredibly soft finish. Perfect for casual jackets, kids' jumpers, and so many other uses. With a beautiful drape and an airy hand, your sure to find many uses for it. Finished at 12 0z / linear yard; 60 inches wide. This approximately 1/3 the weight of our blanket fabric.

Solid Brown Greige Cloth. This is the same cloth as above before it is finished. It is a great start for those of you that want to create a unique finish or have a special need for alpaca cloth in its unfinished form.

We know that you'll want to get your hands on this cloth before ordering yards of it so we'll be offering sample cards with swatches of each fabric. The cost of the sample card can be deducted from your next fabric purchase.





Cost of Our Fabric

• Blanket Material - 30 oz / linear yard - $45 plus 4 lbs of fiber
• Black/Brown Twill Weave - 12 oz / linear yard - $18.25 plus 1.5 lbs of fiber
• Brown Greige Cloth - 10 oz / linear yard - $15 plus 1.5 lbs of fiber

AlpacaStreet.com is designed to be the Home Page for the Alpaca World. As a home page, AlpacaStreet.com is the starting point for alpaca enthusiasts to get their News, Sports, and Weather; and to search the internet via Google. Unlike any other Home Page on the internet, however, AlpacaStreet.com is a fully functioning portal for alpaca information. Not only does the site contain an abundance of information about many aspects of the alpaca business, but AlpacaStreet.com also links to over one hundred additional sites providing unparalleled access to everything alpaca!

The central focus of AlpacaStreet.com is to provide a forum for news, information, and opinion. It is to become a sort of "Alpaca Town Hall" where information is disseminated, views are expressed, and opportunities made known.

AlpacaStreet.com is dynamic, fresh and active, with input provided from a broad range of people throughout every corner of the alpaca industry. From articles written by well-known industry professionals, to blogs written by alpaca breeders and alpaca judges, to forums hosting comments from alpaca people about everything alpaca, AlpacaStreeet.com provides the alpaca community the broadest means of expression anywhere.

The benefit to the greater alpaca community will be evident in the growth of understanding of the true opportunities represented by alpacas. Breeders will be able to access "the Street" as a comprehensive treasure trove of information. Fiber Mills will have a central location to expose their services to the breeders asking that immortal question, "So, what do we do with all this fiber?"

Possibly the greatest benefit will be in providing potential breeders with a more complete understanding of the alpaca business and lifestyle. Now, new breeders can go to one site for everything from a list of medical supplies to where to find a vet. The information from the articles and posts can transform "newbies" into seasoned pros in far less time than ever before.

AlpacaStreet.com is thrilled to establish a strong working relationship with New England Alpaca Fiber Pool. In our effort to bring together all aspects of the alpaca community for the purpose of improving the whole of the alpaca community, we look forward to raising the awareness of alpaca breeders everywhere to the exciting potential represented by the other half of their business, namely the fleece. For alpacas to be an on-going viable industry, the fleece aspect must be developed to its full potential. If it is an American alpaca industry, then there must be American production geared to an American market. NEAFP has known this for some time, and we are honored to be partners in this vision.