Needle-FeltingNeedle-Felting is gaining enormous popularity as another way of felting. It is also known as dry-felting because you don't use water. It originates from an industrial process of making non-woven fabric by having hundreds of needles punch the fibers. The little barbs on the needles entangle the fibers making it into a firm fabric. This was of course done by machine. Someone clever thought this might work on a craft-scale too and the rest is history. The circle is completed with needle felting machines now available for craft work. Most crafts people enjoy using the hands-on method though, it is easy to do; you only need wool and a felting needle and some ideas of what to make. Before you start, make sure you have the basics: a felting needle, a piece of foam or sponge to work on and wool roving in colours of your choice. In Australia felting needles are easily bought from stores such as Spotlight. Wool shops and specialty shops such as Winterwood Steiner Inspired Toys(online store also available, see Winterwoodtoys.com.au)also carry the needles. There are two types available, a single needle in various sizes or a multiple needle holder. This little gadget holds 5 needles and has a plastic cover that helps protect your fingers. It is more suitable for larger areas of flat needle-felting, whereas the single needle is a very versatile tool and good for doing very detailed work. The foam or a thick sponge is to support your work and to catch the needle point as you are felting. There are also special brushes on the market for this purpose, it will be a matter of personal preference as I think a thick sponge works as well. As for wool, there are lots of colours available from this website see SHOP CREATIVE or there are many other places to buy it, try online as well as your local craft and wool outlets. I don't want to go into the many variations of wool that are available here, the main thing is that the wool needs to felt easily, generally speaking a slightly coarser wool will be easier to use for this than a super fine one, but it does all depend on the needle-felting project! Our wool is 29 micron Merino and felts super easy.
The image above shows some wool, a needle and sponge and a finished project.
This image shows what to do: stab the wool with the needle! That's it. Too simple you say? Well, the trick is in not stabbing your finger at any time, the needle is super sharp and it really hurts!I see the wool as a kind of clay, if I want something to be bigger, I add some wool, jab at it until it sticks and then re-assess. The quality of your needle-felting project will depend on your ability to work 3-dimensionally or your ability to draw/paint with the wool if you work on a flat piece. The beautiful thing about needle-felting is that you work with lovely material so you're already halfway there. It is also quite easy to undo bits, just pull off the part you don't like and try again. I'm going to put myself on the line here and show you my first three projects, from really ugly to not too bad.
Ugly Nellie was my very first try at needle felting and I love her!Yes, she's facially challenged but she's my first born......
The Ghost of Laughter was made specially for a friend who gave me my first felting needle. I wanted to make her a thank you gift and as a reminder to keep laughing I made her this happy ghost.
Lady with cat was my third project. I followed some guidelines from the gorgeous book of Birgitte Krag Hansen, New Felt
see Felt Books
to make the body. She's got a wonderfully simple way of first building the body parts before "dressing" the body with flesh and skin and clothes. By making the structure in parts you can easily manipulate the body's posture. So, work from the inside out, building up layers as you go. (I highly recommend her book, it is gorgeous and full of useful instructions).
There are lots of books available on needle felting and if you check online, you can find free tutorials. Try this one:(http://www.thefeltedewe.com/needlefelted_apple_instructions.html) Needle felting is a non-intrusive craft, it takes very little space and you can do it anywhere. It is very relaxing and good results are possible with a little practice. Just watch those fingers.........
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