Needle Felting Made Easy! How to Needle Felt Animals

Needle felting, a delightful crafting pursuit, grants you the joy of turning raw wool into enchanting sculptures. Whether you’re venturing into this craft as a complete novice or honing your expertise as a seasoned needle felter, this blog post is ready to provide you with a wealth of valuable insights and tips. Within its pages, discover a treasure trove of knowledge to aid you in the creation of truly splendid felted masterpieces. Immerse yourself in this informative read for top-notch guidance, promising to elevate your skills and have you crafting marvelous felted wonders with ease and finesse in practically no time at all. Happy felting crafters!

Needle Felting Made Easy Key Points:

Choosing the Right Materials:

  • High-quality felting needles: Invest in fine and coarse felting needles for different tasks.
  • Wool roving: Select natural wool roving in various colors to bring your creations to life.
  • Felting pad or mat: A soft surface to work on and protect your needles.
  • Optional extras: Consider wire armatures, felting handles, and googly eyes for more complex projects.

Understanding Your Tools

  • Learn about the different types of felting needles and their uses.
  • Understand the purpose of your felting pad or mat and how it helps in the felting process.
  • Experiment with optional tools to see what works best for your projects.

Mastering The Basics

  • Learn how to properly hold and use felting needles to avoid accidents.
  • Practice the basic poking and stabbing motions to shape and sculpt your wool.
  • Start with simple shapes like balls and cylinders to get a feel for the process.

Creating Sculptures with Depth

  • Gradually add layers of wool to build up your sculpture’s volume and form.
  • Pay attention to proportions and symmetry for realistic results.
  • Use reference images or real-life objects for inspiration and guidance.

Adding Details and Textures

  • Experiment with different felting needle sizes to achieve varying levels of detail.
  • Create textures like fur, feathers, or scales by altering your poking technique.
  • Blend and mix colors of wool roving to achieve realistic shading and highlights.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • Learn how to fix loose or unevenly felted areas by reworking them with your needles.
  • Address fuzziness by gently felting the surface with a fine needle.
  • If your sculpture becomes too firm, use a coarser needle to soften it.

Improving Your Techniques

  • Once you’ve mastered the basics of needle felting and crafted your fair share of adorable animals, it’s time to elevate your skills to the next level. Exploring advanced techniques can open up a world of creative possibilities.
  • Consider delving into the art of wire armature construction, a method that allows for more intricate and poseable creations.
  • Multiple-needle felting is another exciting option, enabling you to work on larger projects efficiently while achieving a smoother finish. Layering techniques provide a way to add depth and realism to your creations, as you blend colors and textures with finesse.
  • These advanced techniques will not only challenge your abilities but also empower you to bring your needle-felted masterpieces to life in new and captivating ways.

Following the Step-by-Step Video Tutorials

  • To make learning needle felting even more accessible and enjoyable, I’ve put together an extensive library of step-by-step video tutorials. Whether you’re seeking quick tips or want to follow the entire process of crafting an animal from start to finish, my videos are designed to replicate the experience of a live workshop. They’re unhurried, ensuring you grasp each technique, and they’re fantastic for boosting your confidence and skills with every completed project. You can easily follow along with the videos, pausing and rewinding as needed, allowing you to master each aspect of needle felting. With over a decade of teaching and curating inspiring kits since 2014, you’re bound to discover the perfect projects that pique your creative interests.

To sum it all up, needle felting isn’t just a craft; it’s a wonderfully satisfying journey into the realm of creativity. Regardless of whether you’re a newbie embarking on this fluffy adventure or a seasoned felter perfecting your skills, the treasure trove of insights, tips, and those comprehensive video tutorials we’ve discussed here will undoubtedly work their magic, boosting your felting prowess and enabling you to create wonderful needle felted animals. And let’s not forget our trusty companions : practice and patience. They’re the unsung heroes, steering us toward confidence and proficiency in the world of needle felting.

So, just go for it! Enjoy turning simple, soft wool into beautiful needle felted animals. Let your imagination run wild in this fascinating world of needle felting. Your artistic potential isn’t limited to the sky; think of it as a canvas, and your creativity guides the way!

Ready To Start? You will love these as well!

Want to Start needle felting today?

Instantly download a needle felting pattern and get started straight away! On the hunt for inspiring needle felting patterns? There are patterns for all abilities on the website, from nervous beginners to confident needle felters, there is a pattern and video tutorial for you.

EASIEST EVER NEEDLE FELTED SHEEP VIDEO TUTORIAL!

Felt along with me, workshop style. Step by creative step.

How to make easy needle felted animals from simple shapes

Everything you need to know is covered, from needle felting your basic body shape at the start to putting it all together, in simple bite size chunks that will give you the creative confidence to continue with this fabulously addictive craft.

Within each video tutorial, I meticulously dissect the process of needle felting animals, simplifying each step into easily adaptable body shapes that suit the animal you’re crafting. Whether you’re a beginner eager to dive into the world of needle felting, an improver seeking to enhance your skills, or simply someone craving a creative escape, these tutorials are tailored just for you. Designed in a workshop-style format, each video serves as your personal guide, leading you through every stage of your creative journey. Along the way, I share invaluable tips to streamline the process, ensuring efficiency without sacrificing quality.

From mastering the fundamentals of shaping your basic body outline to seamlessly assembling your creation, every aspect is covered. The content is presented in digestible, bite-sized chunks, giving you with the confidence to persist and thrive in this wonderfully addictive craft. Whether you’re crafting a charming penguin or a needle felted hare, these tutorials provide the foundation and encouragement you need to unleash your creativity and bring your projects animals to life. So, grab your felting supplies, settle in, and let’s start needle felting together.

If you are working from one of my NEEDLE FELTING PATTERNS just follow the written instructions alongside the video tutorials.

1 BASIC BODY SHAPE – 12 minutes

2 BASIC HEAD SHAPE – 12 minutes

Learn to master the creation of a basic and simple head shape for your needle felted animals. Achieving a firm shape is essential for the success of your project, serving as the foundation upon which you’ll build the rest of your creation. Through careful guidance and practice, you’ll learn the techniques necessary to craft a head shape that not only looks great but also provides stability and structure to your final piece.

3 BASIC LEG SHAPES – 21 minutes

Welcome to The Felt Hub series of needle felting projects dedicated to helping beginners master the art of needle felting! In this installment, we’ll focus on creating firm legs every time, without the need for wires. Firm legs are crucial for providing stability and balance to your needle felted creations. Whether you’re new to needle felting or looking to refine your skills, this tutorial will guide you through the process step by step, giving you the skills necessary for you to achieve professional-looking results without any hassle.

4 HARE AND FOX EARS – 15 minutes

Crafting needle felted ears is a breeze once you’ve mastered the right technique. With my straightforward needle felting tutorials, you’ll be up and running in no time, ready to bring your creations to life. Whether you’re aiming for petite and perky or large and floppy, you’ll learn how to craft fabulous ears in any shape or size. So, let’s dive in and start felting those adorable ears!

5 SHEEP EARS – 15 minutes

Discover a quick, effortless, and efficient method for crafting charming needle felted sheep ears in just fifteen minutes.

6 FACE DETAILS – 11 minutes

7 SEWING ON BEADS FOR EYES – 8 minutes

8 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER – 35 minutes

Now you can create any size and shape you want

How To Needle Felt Cute Animal Faces

LEARN TO NEEDLE FELT WITH CONFIDENCE

I love creating new needle felting video tutorials for you all, and anything that gives you the confidence to try this amazing craft is a win win for me. You can felt along with or without a a Lincolnshire Fenn Crafts Needle Felting Kit and all you need is a cuppa, felting needle, mat and your wool stash. My videos are perfect for even the most nervous of beginners and this one shows how to create really simple, but super cute, details for your animal faces, in just ten minutes! I’m not kidding, it really is only ten minutes.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

This has always been my mantra and the video tutorials on this blog and YouTube are designed to do just that. They are the building blocks of needle felting; a perfect beginners introduction on how to get it right from the very start.

As well as standalone video tutorials they also perfectly compliment my range of needle felting kits; if you have purchased a kit then you can happily needle felt along with each tutorial as you work through the different stages of your project.

I hope these short videos will help you build confidence as you needle felt along with me, workshop style. It’s such a wonderfully addictive craft. No sewing, wires or tricky patterns and all you need is enthusiasm.

Click For All YouTube Video Tutorials

JUST STARTED NEEDLE FELTING?

Then there is so much on this blog to help you get needle felting with confidence. My Dos And Don’ts For Beginners is a great place to start!

DO YOU NEED A FELTING KIT, TOOLS, OR WOOL?

If you don’t have any needle felting supplies at all then my online shop has everything you need. From wool, to felting needles, and complete starter kits; for nervous beginners to confident needle felters. I have designed and put together every single kit myself, and there is a huge range to choose from.

VIDEO TUTORIAL – HOW TO NEEDLE FELT SHEEP FACES

These techniques can be used on almost any animal, from sheep, dogs, seals, rabbits… the list is endless. It’s not hard but just takes practice and, if it goes wrong, don’t worry. Just pull it off and start again; that’s what learning a new craft or technique is all about.

The Lincolnshire Fenn Crafts Sheep

Est. 2013
© 2013 Lincolnshire Fenn Crafts