Needle Felting in Sewing Projects
Add Embellishments to Needlework Using This Interesting Technique
The technique of needle felting is used to add embellishments to many different sewing and needlecraft projects. The sharp barbed needle can be worked by hand or machine.
Felting Basics
Felt makers have traditionally worked with unspun wool fibers (known as wool rovings) to create a non-woven fabric. Modern textile artists, however, have been exploring the techniques further and today felt is created using many different textiles and fibers, and is used in a variety of needle crafts. Needle felting in particular is growing in popularity amongst sewers and needlecrafters as little in the way of special equipment is required and is an exciting way to add interest to sewing and needlecraft projects or a background for embroidery.
The term "felting" is used to describe the matting and entangling of loose fibers, meshing them together to form a firm fabric. There are two main ways that fibers are entangled, either by the "wet felting" method or by "needle felting" (also known as "dry felting").
"Fulling" is the term that describes the process of wetting and agitating fibers to finish the felting process, and this shrinks the fibers to make a firm fabric. Needle felt work can be fulled to finish the fabric and this will make a more robust fabric, permanently adhering the fibers together.
Methods of Needle Felting
The technique is used extensively to add embellishments to fabrics, meshing several different fibers or textiles together. This forms an unusual surface for embroidery, quilting projects or as stand-alone textile art. This is also used to add embellishments to finished objects, for instance adding decoration to a woolen scarf.
A barbed needle is used to create needle felt. This is constantly pushed into wool rovings, fabric and textiles or yarns. The barbs carry fibers from the different layers into each other, joining the layers together. Needles are available in a range of sizes, from thin needles that are used for fine fibers and fabrics, through to thick needles that are better suited to coarse fibers as they cause damage to more delicate fibers. See the image below for a comparison of felting needle sizes (click on image to expand to full size). It is possible to work with a single needle, with a hand tool which holds a number of needles or an electronic needle felting or embellishment machine.
- Single Needle: Working with a single needle is naturally slower than working with multiple needles; however, it does allow for finer work and for the very precise placing of fibers or fabrics. This is also an ideal way to sample the technique as the absolute minimum of equipment and expense is required. Many 3-D fiber artists use a single needle to create their work. Dolls and fantasy figures are intricately created using a needle to shape and mold the fibers into features.
- Felting Needle Hand Tool: These are typically a wooden handle, into which a number of felting needles are fixed. This allows the user to cover a greater area, as a number of needles are being worked at the same time. This is ideal for small areas of flat felt, or for larger 3-D items. The needles are easily replaced if they get broken and different sizes can be used.
- Electronic Needle Felting Machines (Embellishment Machine): These work in exactly the same way as the hand tool – but without the hard work! The machine makes hundreds of punches a minute, meaning that flat pieces are worked quickly and with relative ease. The machines available at the moment have different specifications and vary in the number of needles that are used. Electronic machines only work for flat pieces and cannot be used to create 3-D work. When buying an electronic machine there are a number of things to consider, including the price of replacement needles and whether a single broken needle can be replaced or whether the whole needle head has to be replaced, which can become costly over time.
Needle felting is an easy technique to learn and is explained in more detail in the How to Needle Felt article here at Suite101.com
Further Reading
Needle felting has traditionally been squashed away at the back of other textile craft books; however, the growth in popularity has resulted in some specialist books being published. Examples of these can be found in book shops, local craft stores and online retails such as Amazon.com. Books include Needle Felting by Hand or Machine by Linda Turner Griepentrog and Pauline Wilde Richards, and Designer Needle Felting by Terry Taylor and Candice Cooper.
A search through book stores will offer all sorts of interesting results with plenty to inspire someone interested in this contemporary take on a traditional craft.
