DIY Needle Felted Art - Learn the Basics of Needle Felting

May 18, 2011

DIY Needle Felted Art - Learn the Basics of Needle Felting

I just love easy wool crafts! My most recent project is this trio of easy, needle felted abstracts. It's hard to capture on camera, but the abstracts are three-dimensional, with a sculptural feel. The wool I used is really vibrant, so these are a fun pop of colour on plain white walls.

A needle felted DIY project tutorial for beginners

I used my favorite of the three paintings I made for the bedroom as my colour inspiration:

Here are the needle felting basics:

Supplies:

Piece of foam
Felting needle
Piece of felted wool (you can felt an old wool sweater, or buy felt in fabric or fibre stores - the piece will act as your "canvas")
Wool rovings

Where to buy a foam block for needle felting

Felting needle and foam block

Wool rovings

How to Needle Felt:

Needle felting is actually super simple. Sketch out your plan on a piece of felted wool (or free-hand it). Lay your piece of wool on your foam block and grab some wool rovings. Tear pieces of the wool roving off, like you would cotton candy. You want the ends ragged, not cut. Then lay the wool roving on the piece of wool and use the felting needle to pierce the wool roving through the piece of wool, using the foam as a surface to stop the needle. Just keep piercing again & again (& again & again - this is a good craft for tension relief!) The felting needle has barbs and it catches the wool roving, pushing through the piece of wool which tangles the fibres and locks them. Like paint, you just build up layers of rovings - you can layer different colours to create depth or just to mix new colours.

Here is what the back of the wool will look like after you have been needle felting for a bit:

A warning about the barbed needle: it is very sharp and will tear you skin going in and out, so be careful not to poke yourself with it.

Here are my finished needle felted wool art pieces unframed. I used a piece of paper with a square cut out to help me frame up the composition as I worked.

Here is some more needle felted wool inspiration:

It is a Parliament

Although West Elm wrongly referred to a group of owls as a flock in their online description (the collective noun for a group of owls is a parliament), I still long for one of their glazed ceramic owls.

Source

BUT even though I was in a West Elm store last week (while in Houston), fondling all of the merchandise, I exercised restraint and did not buy an owl (or three). Even with Hubby following me around cawing, "put on a bird in it!" I never should have shown him the video, he loves it too much.

Stylish Houston Office

I am back in Canada, safe and sound. Yay (except it is raining and cold, of course). I still want to share a couple more nifty things I found/saw/bought in Houston, then I promise to blog about a few DIY projects I'm putting the finishing touches on.

This post is about an actual workplace office, not a home office, that has some serious style. Wandering around downtown Houston last week, we stumbled across the Houston Pavillions, which, although kind of deserted, is home to the inspiring office space of NRG. Peering through the windows, we thought the space was some kind of hotel lounge or something and had no idea what NRG meant. Later, reading a Downtown Houston magazine, I realized NRG Energy is an independent power producer. Silly Canadian: N. R. G. Energy. Get it? I sure didn't. If you're curious, you can read more here, but I just want to ogle the office space.

Source

So bold.

Fabulous Inspiration: Laura U Collection

So, Thursday was a tad frustrating. First, my purse broke - and it is only a month old, plus it wasn't cheap (well, I guess it was, but the price didn't match the shoddy quality). Then, Anthropologie didn't have the vase I was ogling online. But, really, this was nothing because then I WAS REAR ENDED by a Houstonian. Happily, I'm okay (except for some lingering neck pain) and the other driver is okay and my rental car is okay-ish. The other driver's car has flip up headlights that now permanently wink, but this is me not caring. To top off the day, as you know, blogger was acting wonky and deleted a whole bunch of lovely comments. And fellow bloggers can attest to how much we (at least me) live for nice comments.

But there's an upside. In my cruising about the city of Houston I have found a great deal of inspiration, like the Laura U Collection, a storefront to compliment designer Laura Umansky's design studio. Check out a few of my favorite spaces from her captivating portfolio.

Gorgeous Anthropologie Vase

Any blogger users know that blogger was down for awhile. As a result, many of the lovely comments you left (and this post) were deleted. BAH! I'm re-posting this and will follow-up with a brand new post soon.

While checking out shops in Houston, I found the high style big box central, Highland Village. Among the trendy home stores like West Elm and Restoration Hardware there is, no suprise, an Anthropologie. Honestly, I haven't been blown away by Anthropologie in the past. Sometimes the look cultivated in the stores and online looks too forced. Is that harsh? Well, previous opinions aside, I fell in with love this Curvy Chrysanthemum Vase online:

Photo Source

Aqua plus a red sculptural flower? Yes please. I'm going to give Anthropologie another try tomorrow afternoon. For the air conditioning, if nothing else. Then I'm off in search of local shops and galleries!!

DIY Felted Bead Necklace

This is the part where I complain about the weather: it is tooooo hot in Texas to create or wear this felted bead necklace. But when I was at home in Canada last week, it seemed like a great idea. I've actually wanted to create one of these felted bead necklaces since 2002! Isn't that insane? Surely the trendiness has evaporated and now this felted bead stuff is out, right? So out is it in again? Meh, who cares! A dream has been realized.

First up: a snapshot of the finished piece, then I'll get into the nitty gritty how-to. Now, I don't normally blog about human accessorries but this post provides essential backstory to a home accessories project/post I'll be feverishly working on when I'm back home.

To be honest, I'm not yet 100% sure I love it. But I am 100% sure that the video below is by far the best video for learning how to make the felted beads. I watched many more flashy/professional videos with pancake results (you'll see what I mean). This gal, Sara, is a total pro. I'm including her video because, really, why re-invent the wheel? My instructions are just be a clumsy version of her instructions, as I totally thieved her method. Although I did do something different: I didn't run the water the whole time. Instead, I used small bowls filled with hot and cold water to save water.

Sara's Texture Crafts

This video is flashier, but not as effective a method. But it is just soooo pretty!

Basically, felting a ball is super simple. Start with a wool roving (purchased online or in felt/wool/knitting shops), pictured below, and tear it apart like you would cotton candy. Add a bit of dish soap, a bit of water, roughly shape it into a ball and then start rolling it between your palms like you would a piece of clay. Rinse it in hot water, then cold, to "shock" the fibres into felting (you continue doing this throughout the rolling process). It will feel like it won't work, then it will start to felt. Trust me. Add increasing pressure as your felt ball becomes firmer and when it is nice and firm, set it aside to dry for a day or two. Remember your finished ball will be smaller and denser than the rough ball you created when the roving was dry. Once my beads were dry, I simply strung them with some heavy duty beading thread and the sharpest needle I could find. You can fuss with a clasp (I did - click here for a fab how-to) or just tie a knot and slip it over your head.

Wool Roving

Wool roving pulled apart and ready to shape

Like I mentioned, I did have a couple "pancake" moments before I found Sara's awesome how-to video:

How NOT to create a felted ball - squoosh too hard in the beginning

P.S. I laid out the beads as I worked to get a sense of the pattern I wanted and to make sure I had the right number of each colour. If you don't do this, your project might be delayed a couple days as you frantically make more felted beads and then impatiently watch them dry for two days.

P.P.S. An unwelcome felted bead hazzard: prune hands that lasted two days. Stupid felt. I better wear this necklace all the time.

Felting wool = prune hands

Stay tuned for my home accessories related felting adventure . . .

Where in the World is Tanya?

She's not in Canada anymore! Hubby & I are in Houston, Texas! Woo-hoo. An entire week without me complaining about how wet and rainy and snowy it is.  I have five posts in mind about how freakin' hot it is, instead! Just kidding. Althought it seriously is like living in an oven.

But I have even more exciting news than just being across the border. Yesterday we drove to Dallas and met Dana from mid2mod! If you have been following her blog, you've probably guessed that she is incredibly knowledgeable, interesting and kind, with a great sense of humour - and you'd be right!  We had the best time chatting with her and her lovely family.  The mid2mod store is also fantastic - a perfectly curated selection of mid-century design in a bright and airy setting. It is a shame that I can't fit much into my tiny assortment of carry-on baggage. If you go, bring an empty suitcase or a U-Haul truck.

I currently cannot find the magic cord that connects the camera to the laptop and makes the photos go "whoosh" into blogger (that's the technical term, right?) so I won't be bloggin' about Texas just yet.

But Texans sure are stylish. Check out this gorgeous space I randomly found online, while checking out some tourist-y things to do:

Photo Source

Seeing Spots

Our living room and dining room were among the first rooms to look more "finished". Don't get me wrong, there's lots more to do but this space has looked pretty much like this since we moved in. We painted, added our furniture & art, bought a new light fixture and fireplace doors, but that's nothing compared to other areas of the house. With rooms like this and this, there were other areas in more dire need of our attention. But now that other rooms are coming together, the living rooms is starting to look worn out. First, the sofa shenanigans and now the throw pillows are literally coming apart at the seams. Sigh. Undetered, I went fabric shopping for a fun fabric for fresh new throw pillows and found something great! (Say that ten times fast!)

Picture the pattern a bit crisper than in the photo - a more vanilla-ish white background with cheery aqua, green and deep yellow circles.

I think that once this fabric becomes pillows, they will dress up the sofa (paired with the existing brown print pillows my mom sewed) and the accent chairs (not pictured) nicely. I think the print ties in well with the artwork, a major fixture we tend to decorate around.

Shocking News

This post features artwork that is not abstract. Alert the media. Hmmm, wait a sec. Alert the media if I actually produce something that isn't abstract . . . and you might not actually have to wait that long. Hint.

Anyway, check out the gorgeous styling below. The backdrop of creamy whites and mid-century mod furnishings really makes the rich colours of the artwork pop. Kind of what I'm going for, but I need more whites and brighter pops of artwork. My pieces meet too much in the middle. I'll file this away for inspiration!

Modern Haus

A Kitchen I Love That is Not White

You know how I constantly whine about wanting white kitchen cabinets, even though I painstakingly re-varnished ours (the project is filed under the DIY projects tab here)? I know, I know, my mind works in mysterious ways. Well, I think I might be over white cabinets (okay, not really) because this blush-y beige-y colour, especially paired with vintage inspired pink, is too fabulous an alternative to ignore. Thanks Martha, like I couldn't find enough things to pine for on my own.

Martha Stewart

Bah. I need to pen a blog that doesn't make me want things.

Orange + Green

= Spring! (Well, spring inspired).

I'm really loving the combination of a bright spring green with a citrus-y orange. Check out the fabulous wallpaper in the second photo!

Do you find you prefer different colour palettes depending on the season? You know me & my penchant for warmer weather. I think I'm always looking for ways to make the townhouse look cheerier and sunnier and colour plays a major role in that mission. Last month the grown-up pastels I admired hinted at spring and I've already had my eye on this great shade of leaf-y green. But now I'm seeing that a hit of bright orange is a dreamy addition and really warms up a space. But I think I have to try to choose shades as bold as those in my inspiration folder . . .

Apartment Therapy

Via Desire to Inspire

Art Attack: Black Flower

Via a glimpse of The Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing, curtesy of Things That Sparkle, I was introduced to this fantastic painting. You know I'm a sucker for a silhouette . . .

Is there anything that you pine for the way I pine for silhouettes?

Things That Sparkle

Art Attack: Textalicious

I am really obsessed with the 'LOVE" print by Made by Girl. What really tickles me is that 'szeretet' means love in Hungarian (for folks new to my blog, I speak Hungarian and tend to favor anything that references Hungary or Finland - the other half of my cultural make-up). Because I so rarely see Hungarian referenced outside of Hungary, this print really appeals to me.

Photo Source: Made by Girl

But I think maybe I am on a text-art kick in general. Remember the random letter wall decoration I blogged about & the newspaper art I liked? And check out these fabulously inspiring examples of text-art I have amassed in my inspiration folder:

Brown Button

Lonny Mag via
7th House on the Left

Apartment Therapy

This piece, found on Me Oh My! has a great tutorial. Click here to check it out.

Me Oh My!

It's a Wannabe Decorator's Life

Via Little Blue Deer

What do you think of text as art? Do you prefer vintage signage or do you like the DIY'd look? I think I want to try making some textalicious art. Something really random and personal . . .

Dans le Lakehouse

May 18, 2011