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Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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How-to: Beginning Needle Felting

October 1, 2012 5 Comments

I have been in love with needle felting for years. There’s always something eye-catching in this or that blog or magazine that has been needle felted. I had assumed that needle felting was incredibly hard. I’ve been a knitter since the age of 8, so maybe it was because the only felting instruction I’d ever seen usually involved knitting something huge and artistically shrinking it. It all seemed really scary and difficult, so I kept any hopes of successfully felting anything on the “when I have a lot of free time” list.

Then I came across needle felting kits in July at a blogger conference, and was really excited. I asked the rep showing the kits off about them, and the company sent me a couple kits to try out. I learned a lot about needle felting this week, between the kit instructions and using my librarian skills to research what needle felting is all about (something, I realize, I could TOTALLY have done years ago). I have so much interesting stuff to share with you guys today, and I’ve tried my hardest not to nerd out too much.

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

Supplies 

wool roving

felting needle

felting mat

idea for what to make

-OR-

a needle felting kit that comes with everything you need

Directions

Needle felting is a dry felting method (unlike the scary wet felting methods I saw in the knitting books of my childhood). It involves using a barbed needle to hand-sculpt wool roving into a desired shape. I couldn’t believe this, but literally, needle felting means poking a pile of wool until it’s the shape you want it to be. Seriously easy!

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

The owl kit I tried out comes with molds for creating the right body, foot, tail and wing shapes, as well as wool roving, a needle felting needle, needle felting mat, and step-by-step instructions for making an owl like the one shown on the package.

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

Here’s a look at most of the process the kit follows. You start by shaping the owl’s body using the molds provided.

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

Then you add a front accent and build the tail, wings and feet before attaching them to the body.

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

Finally you add some facial features and feather accents to your little guy. The pattern calls for adding a tuft of loosely needled feathers on the top of the head, but I liked mine plain. As you can see, I had some leftover wool at the end, so I could have made the whole critter a little denser.

How-to: Beginning Needle Felting | HandsOccupied.com

A few things I learned while making my first needle felting project…

  • You can almost always needle your project more, and you can add a lot more wool than you think.
  • Use the needle felting mat provided or you’ll probably stab yourself. A lot.
  • You can also wear a leather glove to protect the hand holding your work as you go if you don’t like using a mat.
  • Needle felting, even for small projects (the owl I made is just 4 inches tall or so), takes a long time. This took me about 7 hours to make.
  • If knitting or crocheting gives you tendonitis, as they do me, needle felting is easier on your wrists. Or so I found!
  • You’ll stab yourself a lot, even with the needle felting mat.
Other notes about needle felting // Related Reading 
  • There are a lot of ways to needle felt. For example, you can needle felt motifs onto non-wool surfaces like canvas. Also, you can “paint” with needle felting  and capture landscapes or people.
  • Machines with tons of needles are used to create sheets of felt like the ones we crafters use to make projects.
  • Check out this video showing how felt is made.
  • Felting: The Complete Guide by Jane Davis – Chapter 3 is all about needle felting and includes project ideas
  • Beginner’s Guide to Needle Felting by Susanna Wallis

The kits featured in this post were provided for review purposes by EKSuccess Brands and will soon be available at Michaels Stores. Michaels also carries a variety of other needle felting supplies. 

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored, How-to Tagged With: dimensions, diy, dry felting, ek success brands, felting, fiber, hedgehog, michaels stores, needle felting, needle felting kit, owl, wool

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Janie Holbrook

    June 29, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks for the direct, simple tutorial. I bought a mat and felting tool, and then felt baffled. Many of the on-line tutorials assume basic felting knowledge. Time to go try your suggestions. Happy creating!

    Reply
  2. Marie

    April 17, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    I LOVE needle felting as well! It’s so fun and relaxing.

    This is really interesting! What is the mold made out of? I’ve only used cookie cutter type molds, with an open bottom. for instance, a triangle to make a watermelon: https://youtu.be/-h3Bvhh61WQ

    This looks like a great kit. I love how your owl turned out, and you did a great job of explaining how it was made :)

    Reply
    • Heidi

      April 17, 2016 at 3:31 pm

      It appears to be silicon or something very similar. :)

      Reply
  3. Mary

    February 2, 2017 at 5:43 am

    All my questions were answered thanks to Heidi. I am off to Michaels to-day !

    Reply
  4. Tillie Colin

    May 12, 2022 at 10:10 am

    Verry nice!

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! T It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! This go around, get to know two new sister yarns from @manosyarnsusa, Marla and Sami, and enter to win a skein of each to try for yourself. 
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What makes these yarns sisters is that, while dyed differently, they’re the same weight and come in intentionally coordinating color palettes. For my review, I opted for a sky-inspired combo of Sami in Natural and Marla in Nube. 🌧️ 
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If only knitting a whole project took 39 seconds… 😮‍💨 
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In this video, you can see how the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern knits up - two flat panels, one with intarsia, both are blocked, and then they’re seamed. Find the pattern on @hi.ravelry & my website, just search Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 
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P.S. I’m really smiling in this video while seaming the pillow, so I guess I’m proving last week’s claim that I truly enjoy that sometimes-dreaded task. 😆🫣
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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Have you ever used lifted increases? I used M1’s almost exclusively for a long time when I needed to inc between stitches, but when I designed the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern, I needed something that would allow me to increase a lot near my cast on, and M1’s resulted in edge curling. The more you know! 🌈 
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Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Trying to knit around 2 toddlers, 2 cats & 2 large dogs is pretty hard. 2️⃣ I learned during water color time that pink and black make “colorful black.” 🩷🖤 3️⃣ Toddlers do NOT care about your rainbow sorting of their toys. 4️⃣ Toddlers are very good at finding mischief in a very short amount of time, what a surprise. 😂
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In this video, I’m finishing my brand new Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 I’m working with @universal_yarn Uni Merino & the pattern is available at the 🔗 in my b1o. 
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