Felting for beginners: a description of the technique with a detailed master class. DIY felting

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:47

The ancient art of wool felting has become a fairly common hobby among skilled needlewomen in recent years. Also called felting or felting, this technique can be used to make a huge variety of cute little things: jewelry, toys, as well as clothes, jewelry and even shoes. Perhaps this is the easiest task that a beginner needlewoman can easily handle. The felting technique involves two types of felting: wet and dry. The first requires certain skills, while the second is suitable for people with any level of training.

What do you need for felting wool?

To master felting with your own hands, you need to stock up on the necessary materials and tools. The main thing that comes in handy is natural wool and special needles. Material of any color and shade can be bought at a needlework store, and needles of different thicknesses are also sold there. To create flat figures, you will need silicone molds, and for voluminous products - a synthetic winterizer so as not to waste precious woolen threads, whichsignificantly lose in volume after felting. For ease of use, prepare a sponge so as not to prick your fingers and the surface of the table. Now on sale you can also find ready-made sets for felting, especially useful for beginners.

How are needles different?

Those who master the felting technique with their own hands should know that the felting process is carried out with metal needles of different thicknesses with a bend at one end to make it comfortable to hold, and notches for tangling the fibers at the other.

The most voluminous ones are used at the initial stage of creating crafts to give the initial shape, then they are replaced with thinner needles to complete the process. To give the final shape, add small strokes and the necessary details take the thinnest needle. At the final stage, a thick awl will leave noticeable holes at the puncture sites. To be fully equipped when starting the felting technique, it is advisable for beginners to stock up on not one needle, but several, since when felting wool in a shape or an unsuccessful push, they often break. To increase the speed of creating jewelry, it is recommended to use several needles at the same time, there are special holders for this.

Dry felting technique

A technique such as felting (this is especially true for beginners) allows you to create soft beads, toys and flowers, that is, three-dimensional elements, from the first attempt. The amount of woolen fibers that exceeds the final version in size is placed on the bulk sponge, since the material will sit down by a third. These fibers can be placed insilicone mold, for inexperienced users it is desirable without a bottom (so as not to break the needle and not prick your hands). To create a bead, just roll the wool into a ball shape.

Now you need to pick up a thick needle and stick it into the ball, turning a little each time. The notches at the end will catch the fibers, they will become tangled and decrease in volume, and the figure will acquire a dense structure. The needle must be acted very carefully, do not hit on a grand scale, and do not hold the workpiece on weight. It is also lowered perpendicular to the felting plane, turning the product itself. When the figure takes shape, the needle is replaced with a thinner one.

How composite crafts are made

If you have already created a simple decorative element using the felting technique, you can start creating more complex designs consisting of several parts. For example, to create a nesting doll, you need two balls, which are piled together and wrapped with a layer of wool of the same color. Then the face, clothes and other details and decorations are rolled with a thin needle. To make a large-sized toy in the felting style, it is better for beginners and experienced needlewomen to use a padding polyester as a base. It is also shaped with a large needle, and already a woolen layer is piled on it, which is intertwined with the main one, becoming an inseparable product. The advantage of dry felting is that in case of unsuccessful completion, the appearance of irregularities does not have to be redone all over again, it is enough to add the right amount of fibers and attach them with a thin needle tomain product.

Wet felting technique

It's quite another thing - felting with warm soapy water, which turns wool into felt. For felting, you will need wool, a wooden rolling pin, thick cellophane and nylon fabric. So, let's get down to the technique of wet felting. The master class for beginners consists of the following steps:

• A soap solution is created: one bar of soap is rubbed on a grater and poured with hot water (2 l). The mixture is thoroughly mixed until the soap dissolves and infused until thickened (about 2 hours). Although you can use liquid soap from the store.
• A bedding is spread on the table (preferably a pimply polyethylene film), on which wool is laid in layers. First, the background, then, in accordance with the scheme, a certain pattern of pieces. Each subsequent layer is laid perpendicular to the previous one. The thickness of the workpiece should be 3-4 times thicker than the expected web, and the fibers are evenly distributed over the entire surface.
• The finished "picture" is sprayed with water from a spray bottle to fix the pattern, covered with nylon and moistened with soapy water. They pass through it with their hands, for impregnation they roll it with a rolling pin with great care so as not to shift the pattern. Wipe excess liquid with a towel.
• Start the felting process itself: rub the fabric with your hands in different directions

In the technique of wet felting, it is not difficult for beginners to make a scarf, and experienced craftsmenmake mitts, slippers and even bags. It is believed that this is a more complex and time-consuming process, and it is worth starting it, having mastered the dry method.

The benefits of felting

Compared to other techniques and hobbies, felting for beginners has several obvious advantages:

• no skill required and no space to work;
• while felting, you can chat with friends or watch movies;
• calms the nerves, acting as a stress therapy session;
• adds variety to everyday activities.

And ready-made wool products will please family and friends, give them a piece of your warmth.