Needle Felting 101

I did it! I finished knitting my red bag, felted it, and then needle felted a flower onto it! Very happy! AmandaJean over at Crazy Mom Quilts asked me to post the steps involved with the needle felting. I could not find much information online but it is possible that I'm just not looking in the right spots. I pretty much just went with my instinct here, so anybody out there who knows a better technique feel free to comment! I'm hooked and want to know more!

Materials:

*roving wool fiber
*foam pad for work surface

*felting needles (these are super sharp)

*stencil or some other shape, template (optional)

*wool felt (either that you have knit or wool felt you can purchase at the fabric store)

*something to move the wool around (knitting needle, tweezers, anything to keep your hands from getting stabbed)

I first placed the foam into the bag and then placed the stencil where I wanted it. took some of the wool and placed it over the stencil and just started poking the fibers with a needle. I moved the fibers around to keep them in the correct spot and then just kept poking until all of the fibers are compacted into the shape. I then removed the stencil and viola! It looked as though the flower has been appliqued with no stitching involved. Love it!
Any questions?

There will definitely be more wool felting with needle felting embellishment in my future. I'm thinking the Lucy Bag I'm working on is going to need some felt love too! HA. Remember, if you don't want to commit to knitting and felting wool before you get to the needle felting part, just go to the fabric store and purchase wool felt to use instead.

Here are a few links to places for purchasing the roving wool and a link to Knitty Gritty on HGTV

Fibers, Felts & Raw wool

Felt supplies & kits

Knitty Gritty- Scroll down to find directions for needle felting on their project.

Happy Hobbies!