Basic needle felting lesson

This video introduces the basic knowledge that you need to do needle felting.

There are two types of felting: needle felting and hand-made felting. These contents introduce needle felting used to make three dimensional shapes.
Needle felting first started around 120 years ago. It is a method of poking wool with a special needle to make dense fibre mass into felt.
Have a look at this lesson on the basics and maybe you will try your hand at needle felting.

1Required tools

2How to hold and use the needle

3Types of wool

4How to make a felt ball

5How to make a cube

6Using the pattern

7Other basics

1 Required tools

Here are the necessary tools in addition to wool.

[1] needle [2] sandwich card [3] scissors [4] pins [5] ruler [6] mat [7] mat cover [8] scales

The scales are used to weigh the wool Mat + mat cover: put the cover on top of the mat and secure with pins in each corner. Sandwich card: make these yourself using card or cardboard. They are used to get a hold of small parts when you are working on them.

3 types of needle: A. Thick needle: used for shaping and making hollows, etc.; B. Sculpting needle: used for creating a firm shape from the soft wool.; C. Very thin needle: used for tidying up visible wool fibres and needle holes once the object is firm enough.

These needles and mats can be purchased at craft or wool shops.

2 How to hold and use the needle

This video shows how to hold and use a needle correctly.

How to hold the needle

Hold the needle at the 90°angle at the top.
Please note that if you hold the needle like a pencil, it may break.

How to use the needle

If you insert the needle vertically, remove it vertically.
If you insert the needle diagonally, remove it diagonally.
Make sure not to prick the hand holding the wool.
Poke the sculpting needle deep that it goes right through to the mat.
Poke the finishing needle lightly and in a shallow manner.

3 Types of wool

This video explains how to differentiate between types of wool and their different uses.

Tightening the circle

Wool sheet - sheets made from short wool
The wool fibres are short so it is easy to separate and shape.
It is mostly used for the base or body of an item.
Sliver (merino) ? thread format with long pile length.
It is possible to get long fibres so it can be rolled tightly and felted.
It is mostly used for the base or to colour an item.

4 How to make a felt ball

This video shows how to make a 1.8cm ball with 1g of wool.

Use 1g of wool.
If it is difficult to weigh 1g, weigh 3g and split into three.
Split 1g of wool into five.
Take one of the pieces and fold tightly.
Roll around while poking towards the centre of the ball.
Once it is firm…
Take another piece of wool and wrap tightly while stretching.
Take a third piece of wool and wrap tightly then poke.
Roll in your hand to make it round.
Keep poking and rolling.
Take the 4th piece, wrap tightly and poke.
Poke the fluffy parts down to make the surface smooth.
Keep poking until you get a diameter of 1.8cm.
This firmness is the reference for the finished item.
Tear the remaining wool 10 times to create fine fibres.
Poke the surface with the finishing needle to create a nice finish.
Done!
This firmness will be your reference for firmness.
If your felting is any softer than this, it will lose its shape easily.
Please use this as a reference.

5 How to make a cube

This video shows how to make a 2.5cm×1cm cube with 1g of wool.

Use 1g of wool.
If it is difficult to weigh 1g, weigh 3g and split into three.
Split 1g of wool into five.す
Fold tightly.
Poke one side vertically.
Poke the short sides vertically.
Put in a sandwich card, squeeze and poke vertically.
Wrap the wool tightly while stretching and poke vertically.
Use 4 pieces of the wool to create the cube.
Tear the remaining wool 10 times to create fine fibres.
Poke the surface with the finishing needle to create a nice finish.
Done!

6 Using the pattern

This video shows how to make shapes using the pattern.

Print out the pattern.
Make the shape according to the pattern.
Check the size on the pattern as you work.
If your shape is bigger than the pattern...
Correct the size by poking towards the centre with the needle.
If your shape is smaller than the pattern...
Add more wool.