Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: I needlefelt

I taught myself to needlefelt back in 2020. I'd watched a few timelapses of people doing it on youtube and wanted to try it, so I bought a kit off Etsy and the rest is history.

I am entirely self-taught, using only videos on the internet with the sound muted, and a few articles to learn about wool and needle shapes.

Here's some of what I've made.

Oooh those are so cute!! I really love the King Slime!!

How long does it take you to complete one?

It varies. Sometimes it takes only a day (Both penguins, for example.) Sometimes, it takes several. (The king slime, unicorn, altaria.) The gryphon took me a few weeks on and off, and was by far the most difficult thing I've put together so far.

I'm currently working on one, on and off, that I've had to tear up a part of and reattach three times. But now that it looks right, I'm hoping the rest of the process will be relatively painless.

Needlefelting is a pretty forgiving craft, but it still requires an amount of patience that I didn't really learn from digital art. I think, once I got used to the slower pace, that aspect of it became part of its appeal for me.

I am currently learning to needle felt x3 how long did it take before you didn't need kits anymore?

I don't even have a question I just wanted to say how great your work is.

Funny story about that...

The kit I bought only came with some sample wool, a basic guide, 3 types of needles, and a small pad. I thought it would come with more instructions given the images...
It did not.
I was paralyzed with fear for the first few hours of owning it. In 2020, I hadn't really done much with physical media in over a decade except doodle with colored pencils and sometimes do coloring books.
How could I possibly learn to needlefelt without a guide?!

But the kit cost me $60 and I figured... eh, you know what, either I sit here and never use it, and accept I'm out $60, or I take a crack at it and hey, even if I mess it up, I can at least say that I tried it, right?

I had an image in my head I wanted to do... I figured I'd make a fox. I drew foxes a lot as a teenager so it was a comfortable place to start. I picked out colors I liked, forest green and brown, and then summoned all the accrued knowledge I'd gotten from just watching people felt on youtube.
I started with a base shape and went from there, doing my best to imitate internet crafters...



He's kind of funky. The eyes are not at even spots which is evident when you look at him from above, his front legs don't fully touch the ground, and his fur is patchy and stringy because I didn't know how to control my needle yet. (How hard you poke and how far the needle goes in, as well as whether you poke straight or at an angle affects the final look.)
But he was my first project and I love him.

I also discovered that I really liked needlefelting.



I was a lot more careful with the model, though, the nose is a bit long on this guy for his species. The wool's applied a little too loosely but the overall improvement was noticeable once I knew where some of my weaknesses were.



It looks really cursed.
What I learned from this guy is that you should be VERY careful with really small things like eyes. The king slime I did, specifically the eyes and mouth, took directly from the mistakes I made with this guy. Also, I learned that if you need to rip off and reattach something, fray the wool at the point of reattachment first, otherwise you get that bit under his "ear" that sticks out like it was soldered back on.

Oh, and also, if ever felting something flat, don't poke hard into the mat unless you're looking to recolor your felting mat. The gryphon's wings were an iteration of that lesson.

TL;DR; I never... actually started with a kit. Would I recommend it? Honestly? It was my first choice. But the way I learned was essentially trial by fire, and I think if I had a kit, I might've been dealing with a different kind of paralysis where I assume that nothing I freehand will ever be as good as what I could make with instructions. I am currently going through that anxiety now with LEGOs, so my observation isn't entirely unfounded...
But people learn differently. I've always been a "learn by doing" kind of person. I would say that you should figure out how you learn best and lean into that.
But if you've got extra wool, maybe don't be afraid to try experimenting either.

Haha thanks. If I weren't concerned about how fragile wool sculptures are, I'd probably find a way to sell them, but I actually don't know how to set them. I know some people use beeswax to seal it but I have no idea how and I'm not sure I want to play with hot wax to find out.

Next I should probably learn how to wet felt... That's how you get those smooth tight felts.

Dang xD that is crazy and funny lol.

I have gotten a few $5 kits and do my best I have only made two. (One was a dog and go figure the real dog ate it) xD the 2nd was a chicken x3
Dog

chicken

I'm pretty happy with them but yeah idk how to start freehand cuz honestly I only wanted to learn to needle felt so I can one day make my mom a pokemon (A Pichu) cuz it's her favorite pokemon of all time and Pikachu takes all the spot light so finding a Pichu is not easy x3 lol so I want to make her one out of needle felt.

Well, my first practical advice would be: Get some great needles, and get wool from a good shop.
The crafting discord I'm in likes a few stores on Etsy. The one I've started using is GreyFoxFelting. (Not sponsored lol.) I think if you asked for good recs for needles on r/needlefelting you might get quite a few hits on good places to get some.

I say "good needles" because poor quality needles break more often and fray your wool. I got mine from DesertBreese and I like them well enough. You also want to consider their shape and size. (Bigger number = finer detail.)

You also might wanna get a pen holder for needles unless you want the lovely experience of blowing out your wrist overtime... The pen is so much easier on my hand, haha.

Anyway...

Other than that, and once you've got some good supplies, get some reference images of a Pichu and just try. Your felts so far honestly look really good, so I think you can do it with patience.

If you don't want to do a Pichu first try, pick another pokemon you like to start. Maybe a first evolution since they tend to have simpler shapes.

Feel free to post whatever you do freehand in here. I'm not sure how good I'd be at giving someone else critique but I can try.

Thank you I will do that and give it a good shot. I think there is a craft store not to far from me where I can find good supplies. It's worth a look at least. I appreciate it