Very simply needle felting is the art of using barbed needles to turn wool fibres into felt.
If you havent felted before you may feel a bit daunted when you your kit arrives but there is no need.
Our kits contain core wool and merino roving. The core wool (off white and coarse in texture) is used to create the base of your creation and the coloured merino (roving) is used as a top layer to add colour.
All our kits show how much wool to use for each step of the process and where applicable we also provide templates to help. There are also images so you can see what you are trying to achieve.
Using a small amount of core wool, and resting on your felting pad, start to stab the wool with the needle. You should be trying to create the shape on the template or in the images. The key is to keep layering on the wool and felting until the piece is very firm to touch. If you don't felt long enough your piece wont hold in place. When you measure out your wool you may well think that there is no way that amount of wool will felt to the size we have stated but it will slowly but surely firm up.
I mention needles in another FAQ section but to help here I will explain that the three needles in your kit are small, medium and large. use the large needle when you start on the core wool and work down as your piece becomes smaller.
When adding the coloured merino you may wish to break this into smaller pieces; see the section on wool for tip on how best to do this
If buying a MillyRose crafts needle felting kit you will get wool, needles, eyes and noses (if applicable), a felting pad and full colour instructions.
When making kits that use glass eyes, or that require you to make feet you may need long nosed pliers to bend the wire for the feet in place and you may need a bradawl to make the hole for the eyes and feet. It is possible to use the larger needle to great a hole but a bradawl is better.
You may also require glue to secure the eyes and feet in place.
We do sell a needle felting tool kit that consists of a felting pad, 9 needles, a wooden needle handle holder, a bradawl, long nosed pliers and a pair of snipping scissors. We also sell a selection of eyes ad noses. All items can be bought individually or as part of a kit.
Coming soon: we will soon have scales available sot hat you ca weigh out the small amounts of wool. Our scales will measure form 0.0g to 100g and are perfect for needle felting
If you are new to needle felting then the needles provided in our Milly Rose Needle Felting kits are perfect for what you need until you become more experienced.
We give you 5 needles in total:
Triangular needles in three sizes:
Small (Red) 40g
Medium (Green) 38g
Large (Blue) 36g
Triangular needles have a shaft that is triangular in shape and has three sides with barbs evenly set on each side.
The small 40g blue tipped needle is used for fine work and to generally tidy up your finished piece. The small needle will also leave the smallest holes.
The medium 38g green tipped needle is used for pieces that are on their way to being finished and that are not unduly small. This needle can be used on the core wool which forms the base of most of our kits.
The large 36g blue tipped needle is used when you first start your project and is best used to felt larger pieces, including core wool. If you continue to felt your project with the larger needle you may end up with holes and a very fuzzy finish.
Twisted /Spiral medium needle 38g (Yellow):
Like the triangular needle, the shaft has three sides but the shaft is twisted so the barbs are in slightly different positions.
These needles felt fast and leave a neat and help to leave an unfuzzy finish.
Cross/Star medium needle 38g (Pink):
Cross-Star needles have a four sided shaft with 2 barbs on each side and the tip is in the shape of a 4 sided start. Cross-Start needles felt fastest but do tend to leave holes so works best in combination with the twisted needles. they are also good for joining pieces.
Once you are more experienced you may decide to invest in some of the other needles that are available..
As a reminder there are several types of needles, each of which give a slightly different finish.
Triangular Felting Needles- Barbs on 3 sides.
Cross/Star Felting Needles- Barbs on 4 sides.
SpiralFelting Needles- Barbs that twist around the needle.
ReverseFelting Needles.....the barbs work in reverse so dont catch the wool when inserted but when pulled put again. these create a furry finish.
All our kits come with 3 x triangular needles and 1 x twisted and cross needles. We also have a full range of needles in our online shop for sale either individually or as part of a kit.
When starting out it will seem that there are many different types of wool and this can be confusing.
We use the following wool, all of which is sourced from suppliers in the UK who either use UK wool or wool from new Zealand, South America and South Africa. All wool is from unmulesed animals
Core Wool: Used by most for the base or core of 3D felting projects. Once happy with a shape a top layer of wool can be felted. Core wool is generally cheaper and allows you to make your more expensive wool go further.
Carded Batts And Carded Slivers: Wool that hasbeen carded either by hand or by a machine on a machine so that the fibres run in different directions Wool batts come out dense sheets and slivers are in long lengths; this wool felts perfectly and is less likely to leave lines and holes.
Wool Tops: This is what most use for their projects and is also sometimes called roving. Wool tops are combed so that all the fibres go in the same direction and they are normally in long lengths.
We use core wool, carded batts and slivers and also tops/roving as follows:
Merino
Corriedale
Perendale
Swaledale
Finnish
Gotland
Shetland
Our kits mainly consist of merino. the best way to felt this wool is to break into small pieces, laying them one on top of the other with the fibres in different directions. Pull the wool apart and keep popping it back in layers. The idea is to mix up the fibres so that they felt easier.....basically make it messy!