I love Felting !!

Cuba, NY, United States
I belong to a private association, the Global Information Network Members and Affiliates help each other in all areas of life. This association has made a HUGE impact on my life every single day! I am also fiber artist, working in the ancient craft of felting. If you have any questions about felting, I would love to be of help! I use various felting techniques and I sell my works at My Art Fire Studio and My Etsy Studio and sell my photography at My RedBubble Studio and My Zazzle Studio

Felt4Ewe's Zazzle Store

Felt4Ewe's Artfire Studio

Sunday, November 16, 2008

My blog needs input!

My blog needs input.. Someone leave a comment, please?

2 comments:

JJ said...

I have a comment for you; and a question too! :-)

First, thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. I am a beginner at felt-making but am already hooked on it.

The first piece of felt I've made on my own was from Alpaca fibre. With the intention of turning it into a handbag, I made about seven layers. Is it just me, or does it take a very long time, and a lot of muscle-power to felt with alpaca fibre?

Second, I've also started needle felting onto other fabrics, which I love. Do you have any tips or know of any good instructional sites that teach how to make 3-D shapes and figures? I've seen some beautiful felted angels for Xmas tree decorations that I'd love to learn how to make.

Thanks in advance for your response!
Jill

Sue said...

A couple of things about the Alpaca. If you use Alpaca Fleece, that has not been carded into "roving", it will probably not felt so easily. Also, baby Alpaca is the finest of the Alpaca fiber, coming from the Alpaca's first shearing. When you lay out the roving, it has to be in perpendicular layers, to allow for easy mingling of the fibers to form the felt. I haven't actually felted Alpaca myself, so I'm only going from what I've heard and read about it. Alpaca is softer and less itchy to the skin than sheep wool is, so it's great for childrens wearables or adults who are normally irritated by sheep wool, and is less likely to cause allergic reactions because it doesn't contain lanolin. As for how long it takes to felt Alpaca, I've heard varying stories, some saying it felts quickly, and others saying the opposite, so it may depend on the Alpaca it came from. I hope this helps some! You may want to seek out Alpaca farms on the internet for more about it.
For needle felting, there are lots of good sources for making 3D items. For basic starting out, you take a puff ball of wool and starting jabbing with your felting needle, turning it as you go along in order to felt all around. If you make an animal with legs and a head, you can first get together a ball shape for the head, oval for the body, and oblongs for the legs. You partially needle felt all of the parts, and then felt them together. I have found that just playing with it is the best way to learn it, but I'll give you a few sites to check out. If you go to my Etsy shop or Artfire shop you can see some of my wet and needle felted items. Usually you can make your core, or basic shapes, with a less expensive fiber, plain fleece, and some prefer romney, as it really felts up quick. You can then needle felt the surface colors on once you have the basic shape. To add detail to an area, you do more needling in spots to "shape" a face or bends for knees and elbows, etc.
One of the first places I found LOTS of help with felting is http://members.peak.org/~spark/feltlistFAQ.html Lots of tips and techniques for all kinds of felting. For posable figures you can use flexible wire or pipe cleaners to wrap the wool around. You have to be careful needling around wire because you can bend or break your needles! A site with instructions for a felted bird: http://gfwsheep.com/birdmaking/birdmaking1.html and a site which I've become a member of is http://workingwithfelt.ning.com/ where there are lots of helpful things including video tutorials, along with a large community of other skilled and new felters, and groups for specific kinds of felting! Come join us. It is very easy to become addicted to felting, and experimenting while finding other's techniques helps too. Let me know how it goes for you, and feel free to ask anything at all as you go along. I appreciate your interest and hope I've been of some help to you. Happy felting!