beginning needle felting?

[ScarletBegonias]

i am interested in making some felted things for my kids to play with: anything from tiny bowls and animals, to play-food and doll clothes.

where should i start? what websites or books are good for beginners? any tips or simple things you wish someone had told you when you first started out? what are the bare minimum supplies i will need to start learning? anything i should be asking about?

thanks mamas!

[DeerMother]

Do you knit or crochet? Join Ravelry for tons of free patterns.

Some generic tips. . .
-use non-superwash wool, look for handwashable
-white wool and some light colors won't felt
-add a dryer ball or tennis ball to the washer to speed up the process
-don't felt dark wool w/ light colored towels in the washer (ask me how I learned this )

[ScarletBegonias]

thanks! i think i'm looking for the "other" kind of felting......not felting a sweater or purse etc., (i know how to do that type), but the kind of felting where you "rat" a piece of wool with a felting needle to make little 3-d dolls, animals etc. is there another word for that besides felting???

[honeybunmom]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

thanks! i think i'm looking for the "other" kind of felting......not felting a sweater or purse etc., (i know how to do that type), but the kind of felting where you "rat" a piece of wool with a felting needle to make little 3-d dolls, animals etc. is there another word for that besides felting???

It's called needle felting. Bare minimum, you need a single needle, relatively coarse roving and a sponge mat to absorb all of the needle pokes. I lucked out and got a bunch of these things at a Michael's clearance sale a few years ago and now I really use it all! There are several tutorials on various blogs out there. I'd try googling "needle felting tutorial" for starters. There are probably some on youtube as well. I found a blog - handworktv (I think) - that shows you how to do a simple figure.

I'll go see what I can find and come back and add links. Here are just a few:

http://mommychick.typepad.com/handwork_tv/

http://charlottescreativeweb.blogspot.com/

http://www.strocel.com/needle-felting-tutorial/

[ScarletBegonias]

thanks! i tried looking on youtube etc and since i wasn't putting in "needle felting", nothing was coming up!

would a large upholstery needle work?

[honeybunmom]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

thanks! i tried looking on youtube etc and since i wasn't putting in "needle felting", nothing was coming up!

would a large upholstery needle work?

No. Needle felting needles have little barbs on them that grab the wool and cause the fibers to lock together and, well, felt. They are super cheap from Peace Fleece. You'll probably pay more in shipping than you will for the actual needles. It would probably be most economical to search Etsy for a needle felting starter kit. Between shipping charged by some of the larger companies and the cost of materials, it's probably six in one hand, half dozen in the other as to whether you're better off economically purchasing from a nova natural type place versus an etsy seller.

[iowaorganic]

just search in etsy supplies for a needle felting kit. You should be able to get the foam mat, a couple different needles, skewers, and a sample pack of roving for less than $20.

[ScarletBegonias]

thanks you sooo much! i've bookmarked all the links and am off to check out/compare peace fleece, etsy and nova naturals for needles and felting kits.

[ma2maya]

We just started doing some needle felting. DD is actually sitting and felting a little heart as I type. I was inspired when I came across this video on YouTube.

Yesterday we went to a local yarn store and got a little kit containing a foam pad, four needles, and an instruction booklet. We also got 5 ounces of roving(dif. colors). Spent $20 total.

It's fun and my DD is addicted. Hopefully, she'll branch out from making hearts!