Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Needle Felting

I have been promising to do a blog entry on needle felting for a while. The problem is, that there just aren't many (well, two that I could find) places free on the internet that have much information on how to get started. When I started, there was nothing except how to make the little felted animals with needle felting. Which wasn't what I wanted to do at all.

So, I went and bought a bunch of needles and some wool roving and just set out to teach myself. Thus, was the page that Gillian did on artezine of my work. I did a ton of felted postcards and sold them all. Actually, they were postcard sized, but they were felted quilties. I used landscapes and other pictures as my focal point, and then I bought up as much roving as I could find and started to blend it as I worked. I used another piece of felt as my backing, put batting in the middle and just went for it. Please see the page she did here http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/glendafelt.html I forgot to look, but I think this was a year ago.

I didn't put in the link that was used for needle felting on the artezine page. Gillian added it. I didn't use it because the lady that did the tutorial used a clover tool and I didn't have one. But, it's a good tutorial. See it here:http://blog.betzwhite.com/2006/08/needle-felting-new-tool.html

There is one more also for beginners: http://allbuttonedup.wordpress.com/2006/12/02/needle-felting-a-tutorial/ The only criticism I have of it is that she says to use styrofoam. I wouldn't use that. At JoAnn's and other stores you can get a big slab of that green dense foam. Use that. Or, if you purchase the clover tool, they sell their own. Looks like an inverted brush of sorts.

Now, there are books that are coming out. A lot of books. Most of them are a little advanced, and a bunch of them are for wet felting or those who can crochet or knit can use those skills and then wet felt the finished product to make great purses and such. I love that but if something takes BOTH hands, I have a lot of trouble. But wet felting does produce some gorgeous pieces and you can use them in conjunction with one another, the needle and the wet types.
Be sure if you purchase a book, that you are getting one for needle felting, wet felting, or for crochet or knit and felt.

Okay, so long story endless, I found a book that I like for beginners. It does include wet and needle, but it's really good. Shows how to blend the colors (and you can use doggie brushes) and a lot about color. And, you can get the gist of needle felting. At first I thought it was a bit primitive, but it's the best there is. It is called: Beginner's Guide to Feltmaking by Shirley Ascher and Jane Bateman. Amazon has it.

If you do want something more advanced, I just found a new book called Uniquely Felt by Christine White. It's over 300 pages and it has just everything about felting and projects.

And for everybody that has asked: no, I don't teach felting classes in Dallas. Just collage workshops and other mixed media. And, right now I am not making many felted pieces for sale. But, I will get back to it soon. Watch our Etsy store. http://www.twocooltexans.etsy.com. Alisha did do one gorgeous piece and it is up on there. The flowers and style is yummy. I made her do one for me because I didn't have time to do it right now. Check it out! And, you can always write me and ask me if you need some help. I promise to answer soon as I can. redheadis@tx.rr.com

Happy Creating of All Kinds
and Hugs,
Glenda

2 comments:

Keron Lee said...

GLENDA - THANKYOU, THANKYOU - I got an embellisher as a late christmas gift in January & I haven't even used it yet - I don't know how to begin. I have just ordered some books from Amazon (alas - neither of the ones that you mentioned) but hopefully that will be enough to get me going. thanks again. x Keron

Angela Sumner said...

i have recently starting to felt and ive found your needle felted postcards to be so inspiring ! they are all so beautiful, i especially love how you use the colour in the image and extend it to the felt so it almost becomes one. very inspiring.