Tips and Tricks: There are so many things to learn when you start out needle felting. These are some things that I wish that I had known when starting out!

Needle Felting is the art of sculpting unspun wool with a barbed needle. It is a slow craft, and care should be taken not to poke yourself with the needles!

Needles:

-Be sure to poke the needle straight in and out of the wool to avoid bending it. If you bend a needle it will break if you try to straighten it. It is better to continue using it bent if you can!

-You are done when the pieces of the sculpture hold together, the joins are hidden, and the sculpture still yields slightly when squeezed.

-Larger needles have smaller numbers. I often use a #36 for rough felting and attaching pieces, and a #38 for finer work like adding coloured wool on top. That way there are fewer needle holes.

-Reverse needle have barbs going in the other direction. They pull the inside fibres out, and work great if you want a fuzzy finish.

-All companies have their own colour coding.

-When do you switch to a finer needle? When you are having difficulty poking the needle into your piece, or the needle is leaving marks in your wool.

Wool

-As you continue to needle felt you will find your favourite products. Good wool smells clean and catches easily with your larger needle. While chain craft stores may carry wool, test it out before purchasing a large amount. I have had more luck working with independent Canadian suppliers.

-Core wool is often cream coloured. It is used inside sculptures as it may contain some vegetable matter due to the processing technique, but it is quick felting and less expensive than other wool.

-Merino top can be tricky to work with because it is fine, and the strands of the wool are linear. It works well for long haired animals.

-Carded wool or batt is processed in a way that makes it more tangled, making it easier for the needle barbs to catch.

-do not buy “super wash”. The process used makes it impossible to felt.

My favourites: I like Romney and Suffolk core wool, and Corriedale and Dyed Swiss Mountain sheep for coloured wool.

Armatures

-Sometimes wire is needed to add strength to the limbs of felted animals. Pipe cleaners purchased from a tobacco store work very well for small animals. They are sturdier and more bristly than their craft store counterparts.

-Florist wire, or galvanized wire from a hardware store work well for larger pieces. Running a glue stick along the wire prior to wrapping with wool helps to hold the wool in place.

-Open a picture of your subject on your computer. Use it as a guide to bend the wire along where the animal’s spine would be. Cover with some wool and felt in place before adding wool wrapped wire for legs.

Eyes

When you are starting out, painted sewing pins work for the eyes of small animals. Many companies sell eyes on Etsy, and they are available on Amazon as well.

For larger animals the rule that I use for the size is one mm. per inch. For example a six inch animal uses 6 mm. eyes.

-Use a good multipurpose glue for gluing eyes in place. I use E-6000 or Household Goop.

-Permanent marker can be used to outline the eyes or add shading in other areas as well. Powder pastels are also effective for light shading. Some people use eye shadow!

Noses

A small ball of black wool felted onto the end of a snout creates a nice little nose. For larger or more detailed pieces I recommend a polymer clay such as Sculpey or Fimo Soft. Created from photo references, a ball of black clay can be formed into a nose using a toothpick or skewer for the nostrils. Follow package directions for baking in the oven, and glue in place.

Felting Surface

Lots of things can be used to do your felting on: a car wash or kitchen sponge, packing foam from electronics, or upholstery foam. You can purchase several types of felting mats including foam, wool and rice filled sacks. I most often use a wool pad.