I like trying different types of crafts and art work and a
couple of years ago I bought a needle felting kit. It was great. It had the roving, the needle, the foam to
protect the table, and wonderful picture instructions. Once I started it, I
knew I found a new way to express my creativity.
It isn’t very hard to do although depending on what you are
making, it can be time consuming. With
needle felting, you tend to make small items.
That’s OK I like making small things. And with the repetitive action of
the needle, it can be very relaxing (as long as you don’t try to needle felt
your fingers).
The first thing you need is the roving. Roving is the fiber that is used in needle
felting. It is usually wool but can also
be silk, cotton and I have even used polyester fiberfill (yeah, the stuffing
used in pillows. I’ll tell you why
later.)
Roving is often the wool that is cleaned, dyed and
combed. If the wool is combed it is soft
and the fibers are separated to make a smoother look in the felting. You will also see what is known as
“batting”. This is wool that has been
cleaned and dyed but not necessarily combed (or at least not combed as much as
roving). This is often used for
sculptures. Because it is not combed the
fibers are not as separated with roving so not as much felting is needed to
keep its shape.
roving |
batting |
When you order roving, you will often see “core” wool
sold. This is wool that has been washed
and cleaned of natural items (like grass and little twigs that might have stuck
to the sheep).Sorry I don't have any core wool to take a picture of it. This can be used in
felting even if it is not dyed and combed. Let’s say you are making a
felted ball. You don’t want to use the
expensive dyed roving in the inside of the ball where it can’t be seen. So instead you felt the “core” wool into the
shape you want and add the colored roving as an outside layer.
This is where and how I use the polyester
fiberfill. Fiberfill actually felts nicely
although it takes more of the fiber fill to make an object than core wool
might, it does take longer to felt than the wool and it is lighter in
weight. But the really nice part is it
is much, much cheaper than core wool. (For $8.00, I can order 3 ounces of core
wool or 50 ounces of polyester fiber fill.)
polyester fiberfill |
The next thing you need is a felting needle. This isn’t like a regular sewing needle with
an eye and a smooth shaft. When trying
to explain a felting needle I tell people to imagine a thin nail with barbs
along the shaft. The needle is about 3" long. It is those barbs (or
little notches) that grab the fibers and push them together. The more you stab or felt the fibers the more
solid they become.
felting needle |
These needles are very sharp so you have to be careful not
to stab yourself. And this is one reason
why I don’t teach felting to small children.
It looks like a great craft for them but if they are not careful, that
can hurt themselves with the needle.
(You might be able to teach children one on one depending on the child
but I wouldn’t do it in groups for any children under 12 years old.)
As well as being sharp, these needles can also be easily
broken. You have to make sure that you
pull the needle out of the roving at the same angle you put it in. Twisting or bending the needle as you pull it
out can easily break it.
Since the needles can be easily broken, it is best to work
on some type of foam. If you were to
felt without foam, the needle could go into your work surface like your table
or your lap and damage either one or
break the needle. Felting into foam
protects everything. There are special
foams that you can purchase for felting but you can also use a pillow or seat
cushion foam. I use a piece of a seat cushion that is about 1 ½ inches deep.
foam for felting |
Next week I will show you how to felt in a cookie cutter to
make different shapes for appliqué or ornaments.
fall cookie cutters and felted 'cookies' |
PS - The picture is from my blog post "Cookie Cutters Aren't just for Cookies". (November 2016)
©2017 Cheryl Fillion
No comments:
Post a Comment