What is needle felting?

Needle felting is shaping wool using a specially designed needle.  

How do you needle felt?

To needle felt, you start with wool roving or batting.  You can create a simple shape with the wool using your hands, but this shape won’t stay in place when you let go of it.  In order to keep your shape and make it firm, you place wool on a foam pad and repeatedly poke into the wool using a felting needle.  

The foam pad will protect the surface you are working on and poking the felting needle into the wool will secure, condense, and sculpt your wool into shape.

By poking more often or deeper into one part of the wool, you will create a more dense, more indented section.  By poking less often or more shallow into the wool, you will create a softer, fuller portion of wool.  Use this concept to shape and sculpt your wool into any shape you’d like.