Frewen
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Quick tutorial - look away if you hate needle felting ;)A quick tutorial before the article gets done properly 
Take a ball of fleece and punch it with a 36 needle until it looks like a ball
Make a nose shape
Punch it onto the ball
Add eyebrow arches and cheek pads
Use the 38 needle to start the finishing - and before you know it with a little bit of a fleece hairdo - you have something like this 
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marigold
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Thanks Frewen  . I've been meaning to ask how you do the sculputural needlefelting...
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hedgewitch
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Could you show how to punch with the needle? I don't understand   
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ros
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| hedgewitch wrote: | | Could you show how to punch with the needle? I don't understand |
I'm glad you asked that, I don't understand either 
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sally_in_wales
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Imagine stabbing a ball of wool with an ordinary sewing needle, not muchwould happen because the needle is smooth. A felting needle has tiny barbs on it, you stab it in, and it drags surface fibres down into the ball, pull the needle out and they stay there. The more you stab/punch the needle in, the more the fibres tangle and become compacted into felt.
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marigold
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You just stick the needle (which has tiny barbs along it) into the fleece (carefully avoiding your fingers) and pull it out again - jab jab jab . Gradually the fibres knit together.
Sally beat me to it... and explained far more eloquently.
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hedgewitch
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Thanks for the explanation I didn't realise about the special needle, so was just imagining sticking a needle into a mass of wool.
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ros
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that does make sense now, thankyou.
.......wonders if this is a sensible project for an arty/crafty 10 yr old or whether the temptation to stab her brothers would be too great?
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lettucewoman
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can't wait to have a go....
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marigold
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| ros wrote: | that does make sense now, thankyou.
.......wonders if this is a sensible project for an arty/crafty 10 yr old or whether the temptation to stab her brothers would be too great? |
Frewen's kit instructions say it's not suitable for under-14s due to the sharpness of the needles, but I guess it depends on the child. It's sensible for a seller to be cautious.
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Frewen
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| ros wrote: | that does make sense now, thankyou.
.......wonders if this is a sensible project for an arty/crafty 10 yr old or whether the temptation to stab her brothers would be too great? |
I wouldn't - the needles are very sharp and jab with one would be quite sore. That is why you use a pad and caution!
I wouldn't leave 14 year olds unsupervised with needlefelting. The needles are very strong if you use an up and down motion, but if you start to try and bend them, or stab using a curved motion they can break. 
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ros
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Thanks ladies, very sensible I think
Trouble is in this house any project I start, daughter usually has a go at and proves to be much better at it than me ( excpet for knitting, she's left handed and I can't manage to teach her )
I'll not give it a go until I think she's old enough to take over from me and do it properly then
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AnnaD
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That seems a lot easier than I expected. A while ago I saw someone needle felting, but she was also spraying the fleece with water - does that help to felt it or is it optional?
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Frewen
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| AnnaD wrote: | | That seems a lot easier than I expected. A while ago I saw someone needle felting, but she was also spraying the fleece with water - does that help to felt it or is it optional? |
Needle felting is done *dry* without the use of water.
What can be done is *wet* felting over a needlefelt base and I suspect that was what you saw.
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AnnaD
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Yeah, that must have been what it was.
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Fee
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I must not start another craft, I must not start another craft, I must not start another craft...
Looks fun though
I will have to do some matchstick things making first, to save from being abused by my husband
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Frewen
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What are you going to make with the matchsticks?
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Fee
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Haven't the foggiest! This might call for a new thread.
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