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Needle felting is such a wonderfully simple technique, but so many people seem skittish about trying it. This is a stuffed monster that I made for a friend’s 5 month old, it is a standard two piece turn and stuff construction made out of a felted cashmere sweater. It is SO soft! (If I ran the world all baby plushies would be made out of felted cashmere rather than plastic fleece or fur.)
The point of note is that rather than sewing on felt for eyes I just needle felted all of the features on. It gives everything a soft organic look, and you don’t need to worry about cutting tiny circles out, tiny circles are easy when you are needle felting! To make a tiny circle you just take a few hairs of roving and roll them around in your fingers until they form a loose ball, and then, as everything with needle felting, just stick it where you want it and start jabbing the hell out of it with a barbed felting needle.
When I started needle felting I just bought a felting tool and started using it on everything. I got comments like “You can needle felt acrylic felt?” sure, it has fibers. The felting tool is good for tangling up fibers. It has fibers, especially loose ones, you can needle felt it. Remember the ravioli? I experimented with making those with printed quilting cotton on one side. You can needle felt quilting cotton?? Well, you can felt things *onto* quilting cotton. Tightly woven fabrics are pretty insistent on remaining themselves, but if you put roving or felt on top of quilting cotton, you can jab it through the woven fibers and create a free form applique on top of it. It helps if you then flip it over, you will see lots of fluff sticking through the back side of the fabric, scramble the back around and then jab it back through to the front side, and then back again, then with some fibers making a loopy round trip it will be quite secure.
Would anyone like some basic tutorials on I’ve-never-done-this-before needle felting?
9 Comments
Add Yours →I would love some tutorials – that little monster is adorable!
Thanks maryanne. 🙂 I think I’m going to be doing a lot of needle felting on vacation, and I’ll think about how to do a tutorial series.
Yes, yes, yes! I’d LOVE to see a needle felting tutorial. I’ve been intrigued by it these past couple years but just as you mentioned, it sounds difficult for this klutzy gal. Your little monster and matroyshka dolls are adorable.
It is really very easy, but I admit that I say that about a lot of things. It is as easy as drawing with a pencil. 🙂 Everyone can draw lines, but artistry is a personal accomplishment… Sorry your comment got tagged by my spam filter.
i would LOVE a tutorial! im moving in a few months to a house with space to accomodate my crafting/hoarding needs. Once i have the space i would love to learn to do needle felting!
Okay, I’m going to have to work on a needle felting tutorial series then. 🙂 Space is funny, we live in a 700sqft house and my crafting space is about 3’x4′ in the corner of the living room + one hoarding bookshelf. But I can get a lot done. 😀
I make hats, and I applique felts patches on. The yarn store told me I could not use the felting tool with acrylic felt. Can I? I am just trying to avoid having to sew the patches on for smaller intricate designs.
I have needle felted acrylic felt. I think it might not technically be felting, as the acrylic felt has no scales, or any of the other properties that account for wool’s ability to felt. But in any case, the felting needles definitely catch the acrylic fibers of the felt and pull them through the substrate. You will have to experiment to see if you are satisfied with the strength of the connection. What is your hat made out of? Are they knit or felted? And are you only planning on needling from the front to the back? It will be a stronger connection, but possibly less attractive depending on your base material color contrast, if you can also needle it from the back to the front.
Really like the cute monster!