Needle Felting - Book Cover

Needle Felting

My New Addiction (like I need one!).

Needle Felting is really quite easy after you watch a few You Tube videos explaining the supplies you will need and how to go about working the felt. 

I watched a couple of those videos - supply list in hand headed out to Hobby Lobby.   Totally surprised that they carried everything I needed.

Go to the yarn/cross stitch area.  You will see a bunch of Needle Felting Supplies.  To start you will need:

• Needles (extra because you will break them!) 
• finger protectors (because you will stab yourself!)
• a piece of wool
• styrofoam (lay your work piece on this when you are punching/stabbing)
• roving (you will see these in packages of different colors)

Note: Roving is wool that you can pull from the end to make as thick or thin as you want in order to create your design.  

So here are a few photos of my first book cover - or a piece of felt that I am going to use to cover a book I bind myself.  Not sure if I will use plain paper, lined paper, or naturally dyed paper.  But, atlas, the book cover is made.  

So here I am - fully concentrated being very careful not to stab myself since I did that right away.  Decided to put on one of those finger protectors I purchased at the last minute - and now so glad that I did.  (Ignore all the other supplies laying around). 

Here you see me stabbing or punching the felt into the felt square.  Important:  it is a 100% wool felt square, and the wool I am needling or pounding in is called roving. 

Note the very important finger protector. 

I am doing a random design. 

Working it . . . 

It is a lot of fun!

A different angle of working it . . . 

Have added more roving and making it a fuller design. 

The finished piece!  Yay!  So once you have added all the you want in your design - you flip it over and iron it with the setting of your iron on wool.  This helps in "setting" the punches.   I am really proud of this first piece and ready to tackle something a little more challenging!

I'm thinking I may run a zig zag stich around the outer edges for a more a finished look in one of the colors within the design.  

Yay!  Happy Day!