As a result of visiting ART IN ACTION this year at Waterperry Park I was inspired by the work of Eve Marie Kelly to take up Needle felting, a craft I had not previously come across. The idea of being able to sculpt and create things out of wool fibres was an exciting prospect and since buying a basic kit I have become really and truly 'hooked'.
The only limit to what you can do seems to be the limit of your imagination.
I hate to see anything wasted and I have always been quite good at finding a use for waste materials I have come across. While living on the boat I would make boxes, letter racks, pen holders and anything else I could think of, out of the waste wood thrown away by the Boatyard. I have also made models of Churches out of Polystyrene packaging.
There are so may helpful Videos out there on You Tube now that it is easy to get started.
To give it a go you really only need to get 3 basic needles 36, 38 and 40 (care is needed as these are easily broken (always stab wool straight in and out at the same angle) and some Merino wool tops there are various starter kits available on line at reasonable prices.
My first attempt as it was coming up to Halloween, was a Pumpkin with a face which was a bit challenging, but I was quite pleased with the end result
and these were my next two projects
I am still working on the Emperor Penguin - his beak is the end of a feather but I need to find a slightly larger feather to get the beak more in keeping and more lifelike, then I can start on the facial features.
Using core wool or batting for basic shapes as usually recommended, can prove expensive, the centre of the pumpkin was an old ball of wool, the penguin cotton wool wound round with an odd ball of wool from a charity shop as was the owl. It seems to have worked well but I continue to experiment. P.S. February - now using 100% wool fillings, sometimes with soft toy or craft wadding according to size of project in order to comply with British and European safety standards.
