The Truth About the Art of Needle Felting

When most people hear the word "felt" many think of a sheet of felt sold in art stores. If you have heard of "felting" as an art form you may have heard of the art of needle felting but, more likely are only familiar with the wet felting process, or wet felting used to give a felted texture to knitting. Even if you are familiar with this art form, this article may change your perception of what can be created with needle felting. If you are familiar with both wet felting and needle felting skip to #3, for those who have never heard of any type of felting:

1. What is felting or felted?
Felting is creating something made of interlocking fibers. Felt or felted is another way to refer to those interlocking fibers. One way to create a felted object is by wet felting, rubbing soapy wet fibers together. You can also wet felt a knitted object, by washing it. This can be used to create an object durable enough to be worn.

2. What is needle felting?
Needle felting is very different from creating a felted object out of knitting, or any other wet felting process. It does not involve knitting and it is a dry process of interlocking fibers or felting. Is it done with special barbed felting needles. These needles have also been used to root doll hair, but are available in more sizes for needle felting. The barbs on the needles catch fibers and enable them to be sculpted by hand. Typically, objects created this way aren't durable enough to go in the wash, but can be worn as jewelry. More commonly, they are 3D sculptures, or 2D felted pictures for display only.

Now for some common misconceptions: