Needle felting.

Hi everyone!
Well I thought you might like to know what I've been up to recently.
Well, I have been doing a bit of needle felting!
Now I confess, this is a new craft to me, so I may not be doing it perfectly. However, there are are loads of videos on Youtube, if you are interested.

When I "retired" last year, I had a voucher for quite a lot of money for a local craft shop. I had just seen Kirsty Allsop trying it out on one of her television programmes, so treated myself to the essential bits and bobs.
These are:

The "wool"

 

                                     

The felting needle & dense foam.

That is pretty much all you need. You can use a multi needle but they are very expensive. You can also use a type of brush thing instead of the foam, but I just got the cheapest stuff, until I get better!

So. I watched a few videos on Youtube, and then decided to use a cookie cutter to help me achieve the shapes I wanted.

I decided to make a flower, so using green "wool" and a larger cutter I set to work.

Just one word of warning! The needles are VERY sharp, so you learn pretty quickly to keep your fingers out of the way! I stabbed myself a couple of times, and it HURT!.

This is how it looked, (the flower, not my finger)!

When you have 'matted' the felt together, lift gently from the foam, otherwise it gets welded to it. Then do a bit more 'needling'. (Don't think this is the correct term, but hey ho).

Then I made a different colour flower, using a slightly smaller cutter.

Then I 'needled' them both together.

Quite pleased with the effect.

Here is another one I have made. I added beads and a brooch pin on the back.

I think it would be quite nice to wear for Remembrance Sunday.

(I always buy poppies and lose them, so this way I could still buy a poppy, but would still have something to wear if I lost it).

If you are interested in having a go, watch some of the videos on youtube, and then pay a visit to your local craft shop.

Oh, and remember the alpacas our friends Jane & Gary have? (The photos are in an earlier blog).

Well, Jane has promised me some fleece when they are next clipped. It is really soft, so I am looking forward to having a go with that.

So that's all for now.

The village show is on Saturday, so I will let you know how I get on.

(By the way, my plums are still embarrassingly small and under ripe, and my tomatoes are only just turning red, so no entries in the fruit & veg classes). Boo!

Bye for now!