Needle Craft
A simple and inexpensive craft technique that allows you to create beautiful pictures from wool just using a few specialist pieces of equipment that you can purchase for less than £20. The use of templates allows you to create shaped items.
Starting with a piece of carded wool, such as might be used for spinning, a bristle block for working on and one or more felting needles. Felting Needles are straight needles with barbs cut along the shaft. When repeatedly pushed into a tuft of wool fibres, the barbs pull the fibres down, compressing and locking them together. The barbs are cut in one direction so that felting or matting together
of the fibres will occur when the needle is pushed in and not when it is pulled out.
This matting/felting process makes a large ball of fluff condense down into a denser mass of wool. Poking more in one spot will depress that area creating a dent or depression in your sculpture to make.
Starting with a piece of carded wool, such as might be used for spinning, a bristle block for working on and one or more felting needles. Felting Needles are straight needles with barbs cut along the shaft. When repeatedly pushed into a tuft of wool fibres, the barbs pull the fibres down, compressing and locking them together. The barbs are cut in one direction so that felting or matting together
of the fibres will occur when the needle is pushed in and not when it is pulled out.
This matting/felting process makes a large ball of fluff condense down into a denser mass of wool. Poking more in one spot will depress that area creating a dent or depression in your sculpture to make.