I am constantly making beautiful creative things using the various techniques I teach. You can see some of them above and many more on my Shop pages. I’d be delighted to show you how to make them yourself if you come along to a workshop.
For those of you looking for a unique, hand-made item to give as a special gift there may not be time to make one yourself. So I’ve decided to offer many of the items I’ve made myself in my new shop.
Each item is of course unique and the prices shown on my shop pages include postage.
For those of you new to my work, I teach three different types of felt making. You’ll find various examples for sale in the shop.
Nuno felting can be used to create beautiful scarves
Wet felting can be used to create pictures as well as 3D objects such as bags, slippers, and bowls
Needle felting is used to create cute little animals, for example
I also teach alcohol ink painting. This is a very fluid form of painting that uses alcohol based inks on a special type of paper. You can create beautiful abstract pictures as well as more figurative ones. Several of my alcohol ink pieces are for sale.
Batik painting is another popular workshop that you can book on the Workshops page. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of work produced in just one day using Batik.
Still can’t decide what to give as a gift? Gift vouchers are available in the shop and can be used for any of my workshops.
Needle felting is fun. Here is a hare, made from fluffy lamb’s wool fibres.
Needle felting is finally getting more publicity and instead of being called a craft, it is classed as a valid art form. Needle felting is gaining a reputation as a fun activity for ages over 10 years, who would have guessed that sculpting wool fibres into an animal with a sharp needle would have been possible!
Needle felting is fun, for-instance, It is easy to learn. Whether on a course or by purchasing a kit, these are accessible to buy on the high street or from sites like mine. You learn how to sculpt wool fibres to create animals or even pictures. Be aware that the sharp needle are not for little hands or paws, the specialist needle is called a barbed needle for a reason.
I have a variety of Kits available to view via the link or I can create a custom built kit to your specification, on request.
My personal favourites are the hares, then dogs and cats. foxes, owls and birds lol, all of them really! Many people on my courses create a woolly replica of their dog and achievable once you have learnt the basics. The technique looks quite vicious but with tuition you will find it to be great fun as the fibres form into a sculptured shape before your eyes. Using this needle to stab the wool fibres it will knit and interlock them together to create the 3-dimensional sculpted animals. People will not believe that you made it from a mass of fluffy fibres.
Needle felting a hare is fun. The technique is much easier than you may think, beginners welcome.
Firstly, the only way to really learn a skill is by actually having a stab at it, pardon the pun! I prefer to attend a course to learn the basic’s. Secondly, there are, however, people who prefer to learn from a kit and remotely.
You will find more examples of these animals and needle felted pictures plus my courses via this needle felting link: course
Gift vouchers and kits also make fabulous presents.
New Courses Dates: July – September
Courses resume on the 10th of July. Following strictly to the government guidelines. Starting-10th July – Numbers will be limited to 4 people maximum. I will wear a mask, but will mainly be demonstrating from a 3 metre distance.
How will it work? social distancing at 2 meters apart (although the government have relaxed the distance to 1 metre). Teaching semi outside in; a large a marquee for the first 6 – 8 weeks. Maximum 4 people Downstairs toilet – Sanitised after use. Self-service refreshments – Sanitised areas. Face masks are compulsory.
All of the dates are subject to getting a minimum of 2 – 4 people on any date.
Friday 10th July – Batik
Saturday 11th July – Needle Felting – (Only 1 place left)
Sunday 12th July – Wet Felting: Pictures, bags, scarves etc
Friday 17th July – Feltmaking ALL
Saturday 18th July – Needle Felting
Wednesday 22nd July – Any Felting – (2 places left)
Hello and welcome to my creative world information on Needle Felting.
Sad hare day
Needle felting is a very popular technique and can be seen at most craft fairs around the country. With needle felting, the fibres stay fluffy and dry with little hooks along each fibre still end up looped together to make the bind together. The process uses a special very sharp barbed felting needle which come in a variety of sizes. There’s a thicker blunt end that you hold and a much finer end that you use to stab into the loose woollen fibres. But make sure it is the fibres you are stab and not your fingers, because they are very sharp! But this technique is fun and it never ceases to amaze me what you can make from just stabbing away at the fibres.
As with wet felting, needle felting will allow you to make flat or 3D items. For flat pieces, the wool is placed on a piece of foam or polystyrene that will let the needle penetrate the wool easily . Further strands of wool are added and joined to this base later using the same technique. Pretty soon you will have either a 3 dimensional animal or flat picture that can be framed and hung on a wall.
To get started with 3D pieces, you first make a ball of felting wool and gently stab the needle into it until it becomes a compact mass that holds together on its own. Once you have this basic ball, you can add to it and begin to give it shape. I have formed natural carded wool sculpted it into the shape of a rabbit. It takes a full day class to creat a hare. But small animals such as a pengin, birds , owl etc can be made in a half days. Once you are proficient at needle felting, you can even include wire formers inside the arms of an animal to allow limited movement.
If you would like to learn how to do needle felting, I offer half and one-day courses. All the materials and refreshments are supplied. The full-day session also includes a light lunch.
You can get in touch via my website www.feltworld.co.uk/courses
email me: barbara@feltworld.co.uk and I will be in touch promptly. Feltworld gift vouchers are also available and make fab presents. or felt kits on on my Shop page.
Feltworld – Creative Art Courses offer a variety of fun creative courses covering wet-felting, needle felting, batik, and textile printing techniques. Based in Penkridge we are easily accessible from the M6 and the Rail network.
