Friday, December 31, 2010

Needle Felting


Have you noticed more needle felting or is it just me. Maybe my rapidly growing addiction to wool and soft hand spun fibers has heightened my wool, felting senses. Tiny acorns, silly critters, detailed slippers, hats and miniature pedigree dogs flash across my Etsy pages. My head is swimming with ideas. Lucky for me, needle felting more in 2011 is on my resolution list.


Earlier this year, my friend and I opened, "The Wool Purl" on Etsy. A few of our creations found homes and made us smile, but we just weren't able to find all the time and inspiration we needed to accomplish everything we had hoped we would. My new calenders are filled with blank pages and fresh ideas, so I'm pulling out my felting needles (looking for thimbles) and getting started next week.


Want to find out more about needle felting?

search needle felting on You Tube

Wikipedia definition: Needle felting is a popular fibre arts craft conducted without the use of water. Special barbed felting needles that are used in industrial felting machines are used by the artist as a sculpting tool. Using a single needle or a small group of needles (2-5) in a hand-held tool, these needles are used to sculpt the wool fibre. The barbs catch the scales on the fibre and push them through the layers of wool, tangling them and binding them together, much like the wet felting process. Fine details can be achieved using this technique, and it is popular for 2D and 3D felted work.

Needle Felting 101 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkdGCiu7Tzk


Warning: Felting needles are sharp.

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