Needle Felting

[BlackCurtains]

Does anyone do needle felting?

I've been very interested in it for a while and ordered my first starter kit, it should be delivered today I also bought some neutral colors because my goal is to do realistic animals. Along with the kit and wool, I found a book on Amazon with tutorials on realistic cats.

There are some fantastic YouTube videos about it and even free tutorials. I've been watching some everyday, learning what the tools are and how to do different techniques. There are even a few realistic animal follow-along videos.

Since I have my sculpting background I think I'll really enjoy it and be good at it. It's basically sculpting with wool. I'm so excited for my kit to get here!

[Griffin]

Did your kit arrive yet?

I've only tried needle felting once or twice and that was maybe 15 years ago, or closer to 20. I might be interested if I didn't already have like a gazillion artsy hobbies.   But for the time being I'm content with enjoying the work of others. Have seen some really amazing needle felted animals on DeviantArt!

Please share your results when you've had the chance to play around with your new kit. 

[BlackCurtains]

Yes, it did! I've started a small pumpkin but I'm waiting to finish this custom pony first before getting back to it (it is taking forever).

[TwistedRiver]

Needle felting is something that I'm very interested in, but I have a wool allergy so it's not something that I know if I can do. I've thought about trying with gloves on or finding out if my allergies extend to all types of wool.
Please do share your work when you do get a chance to work on it.

[BlackCurtains]

I know you can use polyester filling for core wool. They do sell roving from other animals like alpaca, camel, yak, highland cattle, but it's sold as natural and rarely dyed. So you would need to dye it yourself, which you can also find from wool and felting sellers on etsy. But I think if you'd want to get the detail and finished results like most people do, you have to use sheep wool.

You could always try the gloves, maybe a facemask?

[TheClassCalico]

Hello! I needle felt, it's a ton of fun. I am working on a few projects, and unfortunately have finished few (I have a bit of a habit of starting new projects without finishing the old, it seems).

I have recently been working on two projects: a teddy bear and a cat face that I intend to turn into a magnet.

For the teddy bear, I just need to work on the arms and legs and get it some glass or plastic eyes. I did try to make eyes for it out of wool roving, but I didn't much like the result and I decided that it would be fun to instead try using plastic or glass eyes rather than redoing it.

For the cat, I have finished the general head shape, nose, one of the eyes and I am part way done with the fluff. It still needs another eye, ears and a muzzle. Perhaps I should've left the fluff until after I had gotten the rest done, oops!

[BlackCurtains]

I would love to see them when you're finished! I can commiserate with the jumping from project to project thing

They sound like great projects! The kit that I ordered came with plastic eyes and noses but I'm wanting to felt them myself. I haven't tried yet. I'm making a pony custom for a contest on another site and it's due the 22nd. So I want to get that finished before I go back to my pumpkin.

[BlackCurtains]

Here's my pumpkin I tried blending in some different colors but it didn't turn out like I hoped

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Griffin]

Ah how cute!   What size is it? Suitable for Halloween themed pony displays?

[BlackCurtains]

It's about 2 inches wide and an inch tall. It's a good size for a pony display!

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[brightberry]

Love it! So cuuuute!

[Annie]

Such a cute pumpkin!

I actually have a set of needle felting but I have not tried it out yet (I have too little free time...)
I just need to come up with a idea of what I want to do so I can start

[BlackCurtains]

I finished two more projects!

Heart garland for my mom's birthday.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


And my cute little sheep!

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Heart Of Midnight]

I haven't noticed this thread before!

The sheep turned out really cute!  That garland is also really lovely. I'm sure your mom will love it!

A long time ago I used my cat's loose hair for needle felting. My cat was long-haired, so there was a lot of hair. I have made a heart but I don't know where it is now. My current cats are short-haired, but I have rolled their loose hair into balls by hand using water and soap.

I remember I also made elves with my mother and we gave them as gifts at Christmas. (Cat hair was not used in them.)

[BlackCurtains]

Thank you! I have a paper bag where I save my cat's hair after I brush her. I was originally going to get it spun into yarn and made into something by someone else, but now I can make something myself with it. A heart is a good idea. My cat is medium hair but when I use a slicker brush on her, it gets up all the under fluff from her coat. That's what I save. The longer hairs with stronger pigment can't be felted because they're too smooth.

I think next I'm going to make an orange sheep