Hello and welcome to my creative world.
In previous posts, I’ve written about wet felting techniques. Wet felting is where you use soap and water to felt 100% natural lambs wool fibres together to form a durable material, the tiny hooks that are on the individual  fibres link together due to the action of rubbing the wet fibres. This month I want to tell you about needle felting.
Needle felting, is classed as dry felting and doesn’t require water but a sharp needle with barbs /niks in the needle, these little niks with grab the fibres and bind them together to make felt like magic.
These needles 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. And make sure it is the fibres you are stab, not your fingers, ‘cos they are sharp! But this technique is fun and it never ceases to amaze me what you an 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. 
In the pictures, you’ll see how I’ve formed the felted wool into the shape of a rabbit.  Little animals lend themselves to this kind of needle felt sculpture, and you can make small birds or other furry animals. 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. 
Why not come along and see how it’s done – or perhaps give a Feltworld gift voucher to someone you love.
Details of all my courses and gift vouchers can be found on my web site:

www.feltworld.co.uk

Have a very Merry Christmas however you spend it.
Barbara