Hello everyone! This is my first #NeedleWorkMonday so I'll introduce myself. My name is Bruce and I needle-felt.
I have been needle-felting for almost 5 years. I am lucky enough to live in a small town in central France that hosts a wool festival every year, and a felt festival every two years. We run a bed and breakfast and for these festivals our home is full of wool artists and artisans. 5 years ago one of our guests invited us to do a one day course in wet felting. It was fun, but it didn't grab me. She did mention this thing called dry or needle felting. So I bought a needle and some wool and started poking the wool and creating little creatures.
It wasn't long before I had to start selling them to make room for more!
Felt.Buzz was born.
For those of you unfamiliar with needle felting, it is a method of felting wool using a special needle that has notches or barbs along it's shaft that felt the wool as you poke it! Below is a close up of a needle.
It is repetitive. I know a lot of wet felters who hate it. You can get tools that can hold 6 or 7 needles for bigger work. You need something to poke the needle into (other than your thigh or table!) I use bits of left over felt, but I started with an old cushion.
I don't use any glue, stitches or anything else to hold my creations together it is all felted from 100% wool.
Here is a video of what I made in the last week
I have been making lots of sheep brooches for sale in our local wool shop, and have started a dragon mobile for a child of a friend.
If you create stuff using needles why not join #needleworkmonday and show us what you do!
Wow oh Wow!!! Welcome to #NeedleWorkMonday @felt.buzz! It is so good to have you join us! Your needle-felt art is just Amazing!! I am impressed and amazed at the size you can get this type of art! I love your dragons and thank you for sharing the process video. That was the first time I actually saw needle felting in action.
I think it’s really neat that you bought a needle and wool and starting going to work and now look how wonderful it is! Thank you so much for sharing with us today! I really look forward to seeing more of your creations!
Thank you so much, for your warm welcome! I hope I have the time to make some more videos. They are quite time consuming to do, and at the moment I mostly needlefelt in the evenings, so not really good for making videos. But I will share everything I make each week, for sure! I am looking forward to having a look at everyone elses creations now! :)
You are very welcome!! I can imagine how much time it takes to make a video of such. I am really looking forward to you sharing more of your work. I think you will love this community and enjoy looking at other’s crafty work. We have some really talented Steemicans here!!!
I must say I am glad I always stuck to saying “crafters, or my crafty friends” instead of saying “ladies” when I am speaking to the group. I always knew eventually other crafters that were men would join in one day! It is really inspiring having you here and I’m sure you will inspire other men to share their talents or even start learning one ;) Thank you for being here~
I am absolutely blown away by this @felt.buzz!!! The video of you making a small dragon is incredible. Just WOW! The items you make are just adorable, and the patience and creativity it takes to make these is amazing. It is so nice to have you in our group! Happy #NeedleworkMonday to you!
Thank you! It is great to be a part of this and what a fabulous welcome! :)
it's great! one of my familiar woman also knows how to make beads from such a wool. it is very interesting!!!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Too cute! Love the sheep and the dragons too much! Just wonderful!
Thank you! :)
I love needle felting! Did you use any framework for the larger pieces?
Hello! Thank you for commenting. No, I don't use a frame. Just sculpt the wool using my hands. I usually use some rough wool as the base (I was lucky enough to buy about 8 huge sacks of old washed wool that had been hanging around in a barn. I have to rewash it before I use it, because it is dusty, but it is a nice cheap base), and then build up the layers. I need to make at least one large piece for June/July as I have been asked to take part in a local art exhibition, so I will try to video at least part of the process.
I have not seen this type of needlework before, but I am enchanted by your entire post, @felt.buzz. Welcome to the group; I look forward to learning more!
Thank you for giving us a fascinating insight into your craft @felt.buzz Your work is amazing and its wonderful to see someone getting so much enjoyment from what they do. (Following)
Thank you! I am lucky to live in a town where there is a lot of enthusiasm for wool and felting. :)
And we are lucky to see your talented and finished product @felt.buzz
Awesome! I've done some needle felting myself, though mostly I knit. Haven't seen any posts here yet about needle felting, so I'm glad to see you repping the craft. Welcome!!
I havn't seen this technique of needle work before. You have an incredible talent. I hope that in the future you will show us more of your finished dragons. If you have time, you would like to show us the technique of work. All the best.
Thanks! I made a video a couple of years ago of me making a dragon. My technique has improved since then, but you'll get the idea
O, this is incredible. You have a golden hands. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Thank you! :)
I have seen felted items before but I never knew how it was done. Thank you for the explanation. Your work is incredible!
Those are great! There is a lady here in Panama who makes little angels with felt, but they aren't near this cute or neat looking. Love your dragon. I'm sure that will turn out adorable. That's such a great hobby/job! Thanks for sharing it with us. I look forward to more.
Hello @felt.buzz. It's amazing to see the sculptures that can be produced with needle felting ! As you say, it is repetitive but it's also very fulfilling to see the results.
These are awesome! How long does it take to make them?
It can take 2-5 hours. The giant one took much longer, a few days... :)
That is a kick butt dragon you made there!!! How can we buy your stuff if we wanted too?? My wife would love that!
Thanks @awesomemike! I am not selling online at the moment, as I have to build up some stock for local shops (and I need to create a couple of large dragons for an exhibition in the summer too). But I'll certainly on here if I am selling, or if later in the year I have some time to do made to order requests. Thanks for commenting and your interest. You can always treat your wife to a trip to France to buy them direct! ;)
Oh my goodness! This is so cool!! I’ve heard of needle felting but never done it before. That dragon is so cute!!
Thank you! It is easy enough to do. Just need a bit of patience. And you might draw blood every now and then, particularly if you get distracted! :)
Thank you for your feedback on my post! I looked at your work - well done! I want to try my hand at this new form of creativity! Follow and upvote)
Interesting post