Customer Questions: Waldorf Needle felt project… where to start?

I am after some ‘ long staple’ raw wool ( I don’t really understand the staple lengths at all!), that is not as soft as merino as I am going to needlefelt with it and I have been advised to use a wool that is not as soft as merino as it is easier to start with for my project.( it may be called ‘ wool batting’ I have been told.) I would like it in its natural colour please ( ie not dyed) and I also need some felting needles to use with it ( despite needlefelting for a few months now I am still hit and miss on using the right gauge needle!) Do you have a long staple wool like this and matching needlefeting needles please? Many thanks in advance:)

Ok, let’s see… I’m a needle felter myself, but while I don’t claim to be an ‘expert’ I am happy to pass on my experiences. Here are some pictures of things I’ve made… http://www.flickr.com/photos/8477820@N06/sets/72157623314867965/
 
This is what I would suggest;

• Fibre - You don’t need to use a batt, or wool batting necessarily most people work directly with tops or roving… especially if you are wrapping the fibre around pipe cleaners, as these are the shape defining element to your structure. If you weren’t using these then washed fleece as your core would be best, as you can shape it easier. Batting could then be wrapped around this, although to be honest I rarely use it (as most needlefelters). I do have batting if you wanted to take a look at it, although mostly in dyed colours… check out http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/userimages/Norwegian-Wool(1612442).htm.

The roving for your core that I would recommend is, New Zealand Correidale at http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/userimages/New-Zealand-Corriedale(1581364).htm and http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/userimages/NZ-Corriedale-Shade-Packs(1804963).htm.

Then over the top of this, use Merino… it gives the best finish for Waldorf style projects, as it’s fineness gives that whimsical effect. Using something like Corriedale would give you a slightly, rougher finish.

My felted garden at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8477820@N06/3886283819/in/set-72157623314867965/ is 90% Merino, only using Suffolk for the base cover and shetland for the earth… everything else is Merino over pipe cleaners or needle felted on it’s own.
 

• Needles – Here are my guides;
  • Where-do-my-felting-needles-come-from
  • Dry-needle-felting-needle-gauge-choice
  • How-can-i-avoid-breaking-my-felting-needles
  • In my personal opinion, I would use a 36 needle to start and continue until my shaping is defined and everything tacked into place. Then I would progress to a size 38 to fine tune my project ready for a size 40, which will give me my fine detail decoration. You can view my needles at http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/userimages/Needle-Felt-Equipment(1754537).htm, where I have a 15 pack which might suit your budget better.

 

• Staple – I have a bit about staple on my general terminology article at Learning-the-technical-terms-involved-in-fibre-selection/, essentially staple length is not something you need to be too concerned about when needle felting (more of a wet felting, or spinning thing). I have never come across a wool fibre that won’t needle felt. In my experience it’s the crimp (curliness) of the fibre and scales on the length of the hair (that interlock into each other) that determine if the fibre is easier to needle felt or not. For example, New Zealand Corriedale is quite curly by nature and acts almost like afro-carribean hair (it would make fantastic dreads)… so beginners like using the fibre, as it’s very quick to mold and holds it’s shape easily. It’s in a top or roving form, but would work just as well as batting. A finer and more high shine fibre (with less scales) would take longer to mould… but is still quite workable.

 
I love needle felting because anything goes… but of course I do know there are artists out there who only recemmend one type of fibre, or one form of it. So my real advice is try with what you think will be best for you and then experiment… you may find your own prefered fibres that are different to mine, or someone elses.
 
I hope this helps?

Sara.

www.SarasTextureCrafts.com

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