I had my first go at needle felting today, this is definitely a must do for craft club, easy but fun and effective! I ordered the equipment (felting needles, a foam block and wool roving) from Blooming Felt and also found some more roving on offer in Hobbycraft when I was stocking up on punches. Click the picture below to click through to the original full tutorial on Honestly...WTF.
I bought a cheap long sleeved T-shirt in the sale for just £4 in Internacionale (incidentally found a few nice tops in there including the geek and nerd ones, and it's not somewhere I ever normally shop, I just thought it would be good for a cheap top) in case I messed it up!
I followed the tutorial without needing to read it as the pictures are pretty self explanatory. It's so easy to do and seriously therapeutic - you basically stab the wool roving into the sponge, through the sleeve where you want it, over and over. (Make sure you put the sponge inside the sleeve so you don't stab through both layers!) I used the same template shape as the tutorial, a heart cookie cutter but will definitely do stars on another top and will use one of my dragonfly cutters to make a shape on the front of a vest.
It doesn't take long (the hardest bit was trying to line them up) and you can do the stabbing/ironing while watching telly, just watch you don't stab your fingers! I will try to make them a bit neater at the edges next time, that just takes a little practice - the second one already turned out better than the first.
The felting supplies cost just £1 per needle (I bought a couple as I read it was likely that you'll break one when you first start but I didn't, I think if you just make sure you keep it vertical you're fine), £4 for a large sponge which I cut into a smaller size for a sleeve and still have a large block, £1.50 - £2 for the wool roving and I already had the cookie cutter to get the shape. I also bought a handle for the needle for £3 to make it easier. I used less than half a pack of the wool roving so it's really not an expensive hobby and so effective! I wore my top under my NERD T-shirt for AOW Hen Do this weekend and so many people commented on my heart elbow patches :)
I bought a cheap long sleeved T-shirt in the sale for just £4 in Internacionale (incidentally found a few nice tops in there including the geek and nerd ones, and it's not somewhere I ever normally shop, I just thought it would be good for a cheap top) in case I messed it up!
It doesn't take long (the hardest bit was trying to line them up) and you can do the stabbing/ironing while watching telly, just watch you don't stab your fingers! I will try to make them a bit neater at the edges next time, that just takes a little practice - the second one already turned out better than the first.
The felting supplies cost just £1 per needle (I bought a couple as I read it was likely that you'll break one when you first start but I didn't, I think if you just make sure you keep it vertical you're fine), £4 for a large sponge which I cut into a smaller size for a sleeve and still have a large block, £1.50 - £2 for the wool roving and I already had the cookie cutter to get the shape. I also bought a handle for the needle for £3 to make it easier. I used less than half a pack of the wool roving so it's really not an expensive hobby and so effective! I wore my top under my NERD T-shirt for AOW Hen Do this weekend and so many people commented on my heart elbow patches :)
4 comments:
I've seen and loved this (I want to do stars on mine) but worried it was too expensive or not as easy as it looked really. And now I find it is and I can and I will try and do this by next winter.
I was admiring the hearts too even if I said nothing.
hi roz, im mezz..im in the owl group for the post swap...thought id pop ova and say hi.
love the elbow patches!
mezz
OMG I love your outfit ! Heart patches and tulle for the win. Rock it girl!
Hi Mezz :) That's actually Bex in the post above but her heart elbow patches are fab aren't they! I fancy some star ones myself. Roz x
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