Looking for NEEDLE FELTING Tut!

fyrebeadz* · #1 2008-02-10, 9:56am

Anyone have one? I am wanting to learn how to do this on a wool surface, like for a purse. Need to know what tools I need and where to get them and what types of wool work best and good resources for that too.

Thanks in advance!

Donna

artwhim · #2 2008-02-11, 12:40am

Hi Donna, I don't have a tut, but love to needle felt. There really are very few supplies to get started: wool, needles and a foam pad. A needle holder is optional.

Here are a couple ebay vendors I've had good luck with:

wildewools - sells Romney wool - I prefer Romney over Merino for needle felting because it felts faster. Merino is excellent for wet felting and can be used for needle felting but I find the fibers to be longer and that isn't always a good thing for needle felting. The last time I purchased many items from this vendor they charged a lot for shipping, however I contacted them and they reduced it to a very reasonable amount.

theredbarnfarm - felting needles. I would recommend you get the variety pack. Some are called star and some triangle. The star has more barbs than the triangle. That doesn't necessarily make one better than the other. Often I will use the triangles at the beginning and the star for fine finishing work. The larger the needles, (smaller number), are used to attach parts and other uses when the fibers need to be deeply attached. I color code the end of my needles when I get them so I know what I'm grabbing.

Foam - the type of foam you find in a chair pad will work. You want a piece about 2" thick. Joanne Fabrics or similar shops carry this. This will go under your work so as you poke the fibers the needle has a soft place to land.

I have mainly done sculptural (love making faces), but have also needle felted decorations on scarves I had previously wet felted. I haven't used regular wool fabric as a base, although I've heard it can be done. I'm sure it isn't much different than using a wet felted wool base.

It's really simple to learn. Lay your base on the foam. Depending on your design, you can encourage the fibers before you lay them down. If for example you want a circle, take a piece of fiber and slightly roll it between your thumb and fingers. It will begin to make a circle shape. You don't want to do this so long that the shape becomes too firm because it needs some loose fibers to felt into the surface it will be applied to otherwise it will not securely attach.

Once you lay some fibers down, just use an up and down motion to felt it. The needle should go all the way through the base wool to the foam. This becomes very rhythmic and goes pretty fast. As you are attaching the design, use the side of the needle to coax the fibers into place. The finer the needle, the more careful you need to be to not bend the needle.

If you are adding large designs, or felting large areas, you may want to consider purchasing a holder that will hold several needles at the same time. They come in many different sizes, but make sure you use all the same size of needle in the holder. Each felting motion is more productive with a needle holder. Since I mainly do sculpture, I don't use the holder very often, but it was very handy when I was felting on the scarves.

It's very easy to add more fibers as you go. Just lay them down and work them in. Colors can be blended by layering, or the fibers can be mixed first and then added in. It's a very agreeable medium.

Basically you want to felt until the design is securely attached. You will see the fibers coming through to the back side of the wool. The piece will begin to attach to the foam, just gently pull it off.

I'm not sure if you need to lightly water felt the top of the piece when you are done or not. I have seen some people recommend it, but the detail on my sculptures is too fine and I don't want to risk distortion. I didn't wet felt my scarves again after I added the needle felted designs and they wore fine.

There are a couple websites with good information. I'll try to find the link tomorrow (it's past 1:30, I better get to bed).

That's it in a nutshell. The process is very straightforward.

Anne Ricketts · #3 2008-02-11, 5:35am

I wish Hobby Lobby carried these supplies. I don't know if Michaels does! I wanna do this also!

Cristabman · #4 2008-02-11, 6:42am

Anne - My Hobby Lobby has a needle felting tool (by Clover) and small packages of wool roving. I have all the stuff, just never started. Look by the embroidery supplies.

Anne Ricketts · #5 2008-02-11, 6:48am

Ours dosen't have as far as I know, I've looked everywhere for it there! I'll try again next time I go there.

Janelle Zorko · #6 2008-02-11, 9:44am

I carry needle felting supplies in my store. The FiberTrends kits (with a foam block and three needles and instructions) are $8.50. I also have just about every color of needle felting roving (wool) in small packages for $2.69 and some larger packages of natural colored (cream) colored roving (have to check the price) that is great for the base of whatever you're doing.

Wish you guys were closer - have teddy bear, dog and heart classes just this month! I'm still working on some inventory control on my website and still don't have this stuff up - I'm lame! If I can help, let me know and if you would like to buy supplies, I can help.

Janelle

midniteburner · #7 2008-02-11, 10:07am

I too have wanted to try this.

It reminds me of "needle punch" (I think that's what it was called) that was popular back in the 70's.

Sara

Dawn · #8 2008-02-11, 4:00pm

http://www.discountyarnsale.com/cat_needle_felting.cfm

was poking around looking at yarn (because god know that a basement full isn't enough)
and this site's prices were reasonable.

fyrebeadz* · #9 2008-02-11, 4:43pm

Kathy, thanks for all that info! Cool! Could you or would you post some pics of what you've done? I've only seen one project and it was just something a woman I know had started so I really saw only a very little.

Anyone here, please post some pix of what you've made please!!!

Janelle, get your site going!!!!!

Thanks everyone!

artwhim · #10 2008-02-11, 10:50pm

I hope these don't freak you out too much. LOL! As I mentioned, I love making faces and try to figure out different ways to use them afterwards. This first wall hanging is still a work in progress. Posting a pic here will give me a chance to view it in a new way and decide on some changes. I seem to have misplaced a couple bugs I made for it, so may have to remake them. Yea, after seeing it on the screen, the blue butterfly has to go. Oh well, I made the butterfly for something else anyway.

The base was wet felted first, but everything else is needle felted. Since this is a wall hanging it doesn't have to be durable, so I am able to leave elements in a less felted, softer, state. Everything other than the background is dimensional. Not the best photo, but the best I could seem to do today. The smaller photo shows how the pieces are dimensional.

No, Santa doesn't have three heads! The other two are just random heads I've been working on. I've left Santa's lips not quite finished on purpose. After the beard is added, I will felt the lips more so everything works together instead of the beard looking "added". So right now Santa looks like he had a botox treatment. His clothes are only in the beginning stages. I make the bodies completely out of felt with the exception of the wire armature I made.

Since several people mentioned they would like to learn needle felting, today I made this pansy and took tutorial photos. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll get the tutorial posted on the blog I belong to. Give me a couple days then click on the link at the bottom of my signature for Midwest Creative Collective. The pansy is really purple, but my camera doesn't seem to do purple.

Verre Manie · #11 2008-02-13, 9:27am

I love needle felting and do quite a bit of it. I use a Janome felting machine - works wonderfully!!!
Very fast and easy to use felts dimensional as well as flat items. I do use a handmade needle felter for very rounded images.

Janelle Zorko · #12 2008-02-13, 9:22pm

Kathy,

Those are just awesome! How nice of you to do the tutorial!

We're having a needle felted heart class tomorrow in the shop - I love needle felting. Yet another hobby I really *needed* to start!

Janelle

rainygrrl · #13 2008-02-15, 7:36pm

What is the difference between felting and needle felting? Is it the 3-D effect?

Kathy, those pieces are amazing, especially the faces!

Have fun in your class Janelle. Are you teaching or taking the class?

Anne Ricketts · #14 2008-02-15, 7:46pm

Wow! Those are awesome! I found the needle felting stuff plus roving at Hobby Lobby tonight but my basket was aready full of $.99 yarn that I had to pass! I'll get it on my next trip!

Marjo · #15 2008-02-16, 5:39am

I don't do felting myself, but I've looked at these books and they look really good:

http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Felted-Je...3165205&sr=8-1

and

http://www.amazon.com/Felted-Jewelry..._bxgy_b_text_b

I would love to try felting, but I am allergic to wool--can't do it, can't wear it

Anne Ricketts · #16 2008-02-16, 6:05am

Those look like fun books! My mom is allergic to wool also! She would love to use wool yarn in her class but can't do it!

Islandgirl · #17 2008-02-16, 6:54am

This is Madeline... She's needle felted.... I actually used a spinning wheel to do her hair but I could have done it by hand... Shes got a syrofoam base... I've done some folk art wall hangings too... will try and take some pictures of them!

Lynne

She models jewellery in my Gallery!

fyrebeadz* · #18 2008-02-16, 10:13am

Kathy, your pieces are amazing! Thanks so much for posting them! And I'm looking forward to your tut!

I am a bit confused though. You talk about wet felting and needle felting. What is the difference and how do I know when to use one or the other?

Wish I lived closer to you Janelle, I'd take a class in a heartbeat!

And of course, we don't have a Hobby Lobby here in Alaska.....

MariJohnson · #19 2008-02-16, 10:32am

Quote:

Originally Posted by artwhim

I hope these don't freak you out too much. LOL! As I mentioned, I love making faces and try to figure out different ways to use them afterwards. This first wall hanging is still a work in progress. Posting a pic here will give me a chance to view it in a new way and decide on some changes. I seem to have misplaced a couple bugs I made for it, so may have to remake them. Yea, after seeing it on the screen, the blue butterfly has to go. Oh well, I made the butterfly for something else anyway.

The base was wet felted first, but everything else is needle felted. Since this is a wall hanging it doesn't have to be durable, so I am able to leave elements in a less felted, softer, state. Everything other than the background is dimensional. Not the best photo, but the best I could seem to do today. The smaller photo shows how the pieces are dimensional.

No, Santa doesn't have three heads! The other two are just random heads I've been working on. I've left Santa's lips not quite finished on purpose. After the beard is added, I will felt the lips more so everything works together instead of the beard looking "added". So right now Santa looks like he had a botox treatment. His clothes are only in the beginning stages. I make the bodies completely out of felt with the exception of the wire armature I made.

Since several people mentioned they would like to learn needle felting, today I made this pansy and took tutorial photos. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll get the tutorial posted on the blog I belong to. Give me a couple days then click on the link at the bottom of my signature for Midwest Creative Collective. The pansy is really purple, but my camera doesn't seem to do purple.

Wow! Kathy I didn't know you did this! You should bring them for show and tell! OUTSTANDING!

I love them!

Hugs,

Mari

MariJohnson · #20 2008-02-16, 10:33am

P.S. I think that Tammy from TLD Designs carries all the stuff for felting.

fyrebeadz* · #21 2008-02-16, 10:36am

how do you get in touch with her????

hotflashpenny · #22 2008-02-16, 2:31pm

Here is her website http://www.tlddesigns.com/

Tammy is great! I'm looking forward to taking more classes at TLD.

Penny

caspertorch · #23 2008-02-16, 8:09pm

I found a video on you tube -- now *I* wanna try it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcfbgtyrz2U

artwhim · #24 2008-02-17, 12:20am

Thanks all!
Lynne, what a fun piece, I'm sure she gets attention!

Sorry I haven't finished the tut yet. Ended up tearing apart my torch area this week and rebuilding it. DH was actually willing to help me, so I tried to stay on task with that before his eagerness dwindled.

Donna, wet felting and needle felting are two completely different processes. I do both, but far prefer to needle felt. Wet felting is so messy.

Wet felting is great for making scarves, hats, purses or other sheets of relatively flat felt. Basically you pull small tufts of wool and lay them down on either bubble wrap or a bamboo mat. Keep piling the wool, designing as you go. Once you have enough wool (depending on your design and final use), very hot soapy water goes over everything and then use your hands in circular motions to help felt the wool. After it is felted enough, roll the piece in the mat and "full" the piece. To full the piece, you roll it back and forth many times, reroll the other direction and roll some more. As the piece fulls it will become thicker. Dimensional pieces like hats and slippers can be made by wet felting. Often a form, such as a plastic ball for a hat, are used to help give the piece shape. I've only made flat pieces. Although the process is messy, and IMO fulling can become tiresome, it is faster to use this process when making large flat pieces than needle felting would be. Some people wet felt the surface of their needle felted sculptures. They carefully use soapy water and light circular motions on the surface.

Needle felting is a dry process. As the needle is poked into the felt, the little barbs push fibers down into the other fibers. This process of entangling the fibers is felting. Needle felting is suitable for sculptural work. You can needle felt large flat sheets, but it's not my preference. Needle felting is a great way to further embellish wet felted items after the felt has dried.

All wool will felt, but certain types, (breeds of sheep), are better for each process. Merino wool is very good for wet felting because it has very long fibers, but it is not good for the main base wool of needle felted projects. I only buy wool from vendors who reveal what breed of sheep was used. Too many vendors say their wool is good for needle felting, when in reality it is better suited for wet felting. Romney is an excellent wool for needle felting. It felts much faster than others I have used.

theglasszone · #25 2008-02-17, 11:40am

HELP!!!! I'M ALLERGIC TO WOOL!!! Is there an alternative fiber? I'd love to learn to do this - but WHOA, I'd be one Jabba-the-Hut looking HIVE if I get within the same room as wool! Makes shopping a bit unfun, too!

Any guidance would be so very much appreciated!!!

Thanks,
DeAnne in CA

Bobeche · #26 2008-02-17, 12:00pm

Sure, use llama or alpaca!

theglasszone · #27 2008-02-17, 12:59pm

Elise! You're a darling...I did a quick read-up on the whole "allergic to wool" thing - seems it's the "lanolin" in the wool that makes folks allergic; alpaca, on the other hand, does not have any lanolin and thus, will work just wonderfully for me (or so they say!)

I found this place, which has a nice starter kit:
http://www.longbranchfiber.com/

and this place, that has a bunch of supplies, and great patterns/tips, too!:
http://www.owning-alpaca.com/alpaca-fiber.html

I AM SOOOOOOOOO in trouble now!!! I used to do the "nylon" and "apple" dolls, teddy bears; I have made my own patterns and won Blue Ribbons! It's been a long time since I got really excited about something....somehow, I suspect, I'll be dreaming about felting for a while!

Thanks!
DeAnne in CA

Bobeche · #28 2008-02-17, 1:12pm

It is a blast...even my boys love to do it. They make planets and comets and race cars - boy-stuff! Have fun with it!

TLD Design Center · #29 2008-02-18, 9:12am

Thanks Mari and Penny for the mention.

Yes...we've got the supplies for all types of felting.

Kathy...cool stuff! I presume you've seen Patricia Spark's book "Making Faces"...but Oh My Gosh...have you seen her watercolor felt work!!! We hosted an exhibit of her floral series (and are pleased to have sold two works) when she was here to teach a couple years ago. Here is her web gallery (the on-line photos don't do them justice): Patricia Spark Gallery

Pat's floral pieces are needled and wet finished. I almost forgot to tell you....she's been lampworking for 3 or 4 years now, too!!

My personal slant is on wearables and wet felting. I use felting needles to assist when attaching different parts but then wet felt them to set them. Here's a couple items with my lampwork beads.

Wet felting actually locks the fibers to one another....a more permanent attachment. We just use soap, water and elbow grease to get the fibers to bond. I'm fairly neat with my work....don't slosh the water around too much.....it's clean fun!

I've got a series of classes in wet felting regularly on my roster here in Westmont, IL (Chicago Suburb) but I'm also traveling to teach at a new facility for creative art and lampworking near Taos, NM (Gia Rosa Creativity Studio & Retreat) the start of June and I'm on the schedule for Coupeville Arts Center on Whidby Island / Washington State in August.

This link will take you to my felting classes: Felting Classes at TLD

Take care,

theglasszone · #30 2008-02-19, 9:42am

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotflashpenny

Here is her website http://www.tlddesigns.com/Tammy is great! I'm looking forward to taking more classes at TLD.Penny

Thanks for the link...I did try it out and finally got to the "magazines and books" link, but couldn't get it to work (i.e., "the Website cannot be found"). I'm hoping to find books locally today (GAWD, I'm so in trouble with this new art!!!!) but thought I' mention my difficulty with the site link.

Thanks!
DeAnne in CA