What's on top of your Christmas Tree? A star, an angel or a fairy? What's it made of - plastic, wood, ceramic or glass? My guess, probably one of those. I wonder if any of you have a fairy or a star made of wool as your Christmas decor.
Yes, that's the trend here these days and many people have it as a hobby here. It's called "Needle Felting". It's to punch wool fibers with certain needles to make the pieces tangle and form whatever shape you want to make. It could be done with the hands and these days there are already needle felting machines that could save you the possibility of being poked by the needles they use.
The needles used in Needle felting has a sharp point and its other end looks like that of a crochet needles just with a hook at the end. Unfortunately, the ladies tending thes Needle Felted fairies were too busy to show me so I could take pics. So, I just surfed the net to show you.
Most of the time, they use Merino wool to make these because they are soft since they are combed - making them easy to work with. At the same time, they are so snugly and I did snuggled this white fairy carefully for a very short time since I didn't really want to deform it since it looked so delicate and normally, I'd itch when I get in contact with wool.
It's not really allergy - it's that the wool has that effect since wool is made up of scales. The thicker the wool the bigger the scales. This scales rub on the skin and causes skin irritation - the itch. I do have a problem with that which I only found out this year so I ditched my woolen coat. Needle Felted dolls won't cause that because they are combed and finer.
Merino wool is often used for Needle Felted dolls and they are perfect for the damp weather we have here because it can endure damp better than cured wood and is not breakage- prone.
These Needle Felted dolls are not glued. They were just punched with those special needles used for felting. As I wrote above, wool has scales and by punching these scales by moving those needles up and down. When one does that the scales rub each other and gets tangled and helps you make the form you desire to design and let it stay in place. Too much squeezing would of course put it out of place again and that's the only disadvantage I was given about it.
All of these dolls are hand made and have no replicas. I was drawn to them because of the colors and the softness appeal. I was scared to touch it because I automatically itch with wool but with these cute little things, I could even snuggle and put them on my cheeks.
The tools used for needle felting are wool, a sponge mat(used as a surface other wise you could get poked and bleed since the needle felting needles are really sharp) and those needle felting needles above. For the wool, aside from the Merino wool, some also use Lincoln, New Zealans, Rambouillet, Romney, Drysdale, and all sorts of soft wool.
Some Needle Felters use molds which can be bought in Needle Felting stores or hobby shops. Is it easy to do? I was told it is addictive. And if a hobby like this could make you money - then who wouldn't want to get hooked with it?
Aside for the pictures I sourced, I took each of these pics with my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition.
Here you can find other articles I wrote about artworks and creativity.
- Pittige Tante
- Made from Real Leaves - Pro - Sustainable Living
- Optical Illusion from A Piece of A Metal Art
- Gable Stones and Ornaments From Soapstones and French Limes
- Wood is The New Hip But Which One?
- An Ode From One Once Frustrated Minnow To One
- Behind The Scenes of The Entries for This Week's Photo Challenge