Needle felting

[nmoss]

I've been making felt food for a little while now and wanted to try my hand at needle felting. I've been using 70/30 wool/rayon felt for my previous projects...can I use that for needle felting as well or do I need to get pure wool? Or do I need to use roving?

[tinasquirrel]

For needle felting, you need wool roving. All you pretty much need is the roving, the needles, and a mat. For the mat, I bought a remnant at JoAnns from that stuff that people use for cushions (foam stuff). You want it to be pretty thick (I think mine is 2in) so that your needle doesn't hit the surfact underneath. And just make sure you jab the needle in a straight up and down motion (not at an angle) because you can snap a needle easily (or bend it) if you stab at an angle. And that's about it!

What are you planning to needle felt onto? That will have to be wool, or partial wool as well, I think, but don't quote me on that. I usually needle felt onto things that I've wet felted. I have some wool sweaters from Goodwill that I have felted in the washing machine. Hmm...those would be perfect for the base for needle felting...

[MissMommyNiceNice]

You need wool roving to needle felt. That's taking raw wool and jabbing it until it takes a shape you want. You can needle felt onto wool blend felt, but it needs to be at least 20% wool. 80% is better, though, and 100% is the best. The higher your wool content, the easier it is to needle felt onto, but of course, the price goes up too. Personally, I find needlefelting wtih fulled sweaters difficult. I did okay felting onto one, but cutting peices into shapes (trees) and trying to felt them onto the wool was very difficult. I teach classes in needlefelting (and wet) so I have a lot of experience working with a lot of different things...

Here are some things I've made:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hklinefe...ltingExamples#

[nmoss]

Thanks to both of you!! That's super helpful....MissMommyNiceNice...I love your projects - especially the robin's nest.