Philippa from Felts By Philippa teaches this beginner lesson from her UK studio table. You start with a pile of loose wool and one sharp needle, and ten minutes later you are holding a firm felt ball. Then she shows the oblong that becomes the body of a little sheep. No sewing, no glue, no water.
What needle felting is
A felting needle has tiny barbs cut into its tip. Each time you push it into wool, the barbs drag a few fibres down and tangle them with the ones below. Do that a few hundred times and loose fluff locks into a solid shape. That is dry felting. Wet felting uses soap and hot water to shrink wool into flat fabric, and a wet-felted ball can take two days to dry. Dry felting gives you a finished shape in one sitting.
Felting needles are very sharp and barbed, and they hurt. A few plain rules:
- Stab straight down and pull straight back out at the same angle.
- Keep the fingers holding the wool out of the needle's path.
- Wear leather finger guards while you learn.
- Work on a foam pad, never on your lap.
- Store needles in a tube. Grandchildren can choose colours and roll wool, but the needle stays in adult hands.
Needle gauges and wool
Needles are sold by gauge. The lower the number, the thicker the needle. A 36 gauge moves a lot of wool and is good for shaping. A 38 is the all-rounder most kits include. A 40 or 42 is fine and leaves smaller holes, so use it for the smooth final surface.
Core wool is cheap, undyed and felts fast, so it is used for the inside of bigger pieces. Coloured roving or carded wool goes on the outside. For a first ball, any carded wool in a colour you like is fine. Pick out bits of straw as you go. It is a natural fibre.
How firm is firm enough?
Squeeze it. A finished ball should spring back and feel like a bouncy ball, not a marshmallow. Fluffy fibres on the surface should be mostly gone. Philippa felts one half of a ball hard and leaves the other half loose so you can see the difference. If you will thread it onto a garland, make it firmer still so it keeps its shape.
First projects to try
Felt balls string into a Christmas garland or a necklace. A white oblong with a small ball for a head is the start of a sheep, and a loop of thread turns it into a tree bauble. Red balls with black spots become ladybirds. See more handmade Christmas ornaments. If you like making little animals, amigurumi is the crochet version, and punch needle is another wool-and-needle craft that is easy on the hands.
Common mistakes
- Snapped needles. Twisting or stabbing at an angle breaks the tip. If one snaps inside the wool, pull the broken end out before you carry on.
- A hole or a flat spot. You stayed in one place. Keep turning.
- Too loose. More stabbing, and roll the wool tighter at the start.
- Too big. Felting shrinks wool a lot, but it never grows. Start small and add more.
