Using Felting Needles to Apply Designs to Felt ...

Now that you have been making flat pieces of felt for awhile, here is yet another thing to try! This is NOT for children or for those of you that want a project to work on while watching TV. Felting needles are extremely sharp and you can really hurt yourself if you aren't paying proper attention.
The felting needle is a thin piece of hardened steel that is very sharp and also has tiny barbs. With a magnifying glass you can see these little barbs. The theory is that by pushing the needle into the two pieces of felt and pulling it back out again you will have caused the fibers to be interlocked ... the fibers of the one piece with the other.

Some of the things you will need to get started:

scraps of felt from previous projects
a felting needle
scissors
a small block of foam rubber about 10" X 12" X 2" thick (optional)

Decide on a design and cut out the shapes to make the design.

At this point, please notice that I am using a piece of felt that I have made that is black wool on one side and white wool on the other. You can of course use any colours you like. I have observed this: if you use dyed wools for the first layer, then white wools for the second layer (or last layer), the final felt effect will be more pastel and appear to be more translucent. If you use dyed wools for the first layer, then use black wools for the second layer (or last layer), the colours will appear to be darker in the finished piece of felt. The fact that the felt scraps have a black or white backing will affect the final "look" of the design.
You need not use your dyed wools for all layers of any piece of felt you have made, especially if only one side of the felt will be seen.

Place one of the cut out shapes onto the surface of the background piece of felt and begin to poke the needle repeatedly into the two layers. You can do this while holding the felt in your hands, just DON'T stick yourself with the felting needle! Or you can place the background piece of felt on the foam block and work on it there.

Needle Felting Instructions Part 2

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