Somewhere you may have seen some cute little needle-felted figures and thought to yourself: "I can do that!" Yes, you can!! Needle felting is fun and it is easy for even a beginner to have very successful results!
It is the process of using the barbs on the needles to force fibers together so that they can be felt. The more you poke the fibers with the needles the denser and more firmly felted the fibers will become. Easy!!
So where do you start and what do you need?
The basic tools and materials you will need are:
First, the felting needles. They are unique tool that comes in different sizes and with different numbers of barbs. For a beginner, the most useful of available needles would be the #38-star needle. While most of them have triangular tips with barbs on the three edges, star needles have four edges. The more edges and barbs the faster you can do it!
The #38 star is not the perfect needle for all kinds of felting tasks, but it is by far one of the most useful and all you really need to begin with the craft.
Second, the felting fiber. There are so many types of fiber available for the purpose of needle felting that it really would take a long time to discuss them all. For a starter, the basic and most commonly used fiber for needle felting is wool. Even with wool, there is a great deal of variety. Each breed of sheep produces wool that has unique characteristics.
The two most commonly used wool fibers used are Merino and Corriedale. These are named after the sheep breeds. Merino is extremely fine and soft to the touch and it is the preferred fiber. When needle-felted, it produces a very smooth surface.
Merino requires more effort to needle felt than Corriedale. Corriedale is not as fine as Merino, but it felts beautifully. For the beginner, Corriedale is a wonderful choice! Both Merino and Corriedale are available in a lot of colors!
Third, a work surface. You must have a work surface, something that will allow you to thrust your needles through the fiber and not hit your table or, worse, your hand.
Most people who are beginning needle felters use a thick, dense foam pad for their first work surface. Such pads are readily available at fabric and craft stores and will certainly do the job needed. If you really enjoy needle felting and plan on doing more, it is worthwhile to invest in a Clover Brush Mat.
Fourth, other tools and materials that you may find useful like:
Scissors - while you rarely actually cut the fiber that you needle felt, when finishing a piece, scissors can trim those flyaway fibers that just never seemed to felt down.
Needle and thread - these can be used to define a mouth, secure beads for eyes, and create divisions in paws to give the look of toes.
Beads - to be used as eyes or embellishments.
Chenille sticks can be used for beginning projects to make legs strong enough to support the weight of the figure. If you continue with this art and like using an armature, you should eventually switch from chenille sticks to stainless steel or aluminum wire.
Long straight pins are useful for pinning portions of your felted creature together so that you can firmly felt the pieces together.
With these tools and materials, you can create just about anything!! While beginning needle felting is not particularly difficult, there is a lot to be learned about controlling the density of your fiber and using the needles for the best results. There are numerous crafting classes available now for beginners, intermediates and advanced students, and more! You will learn skills that you will be able to use in whatever project you decide to make.
Summary
You can learn needle felting even from online crafting classes. But before you can start, you must have felting needles, fiber for felting, and a work surface such as a foam pad. You will also need a pair of scissors for trimming flyaway fibers, needle and thread, beads, chenille sticks, and long straight pins for pinning portions of your felted creature together.
Donna Kato is passionate about art and is the owner of CraftEdu Online Art University. She is the author of 3 books and has multiple shot videos and DVDs.
CraftEdu is a truly unique online art and fine craft university, dedicated to nurturing the passions of the creative person within each of us by making the creative world more accessible and convenient than ever before.
View the online curriculum at [http://www.craftedu.com]
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