As part of the Handmade Fair, we got the option to sign up to a skills workshop. Now, let’s be honest, Soph and I aren’t great at making decisions at the best of times (unless it involves whether or not we should order more wine), so when faced with whether we should attend a cake decorating workshop, a paper cutting workshop or a soap making workshop it was pretty tough to decide! In the end though, we went for needle felting…and we weren’t disappointed.
The workshop started at 11am and, given that neither of us knew anything about needle felting (part of the reason we decided to do it!), we weren’t sure what to expect. Hoping it would all become clear as we entered the tent, we went in and sat down only for confusion and slight bewilderment to set in as we found a three-pointed needle and sponge in front of us! What on earth???
Luckily, Jayne Emerson (check out her website for needle felting inspiration and goods!) appeared in a timely fashion and began to take us through the motions of how to use these foreign tools to create a festive robin decoration (in my case)/a tropical multicoloured feathered friend (in Soph’s case!). If we had been left unattended for much longer I am not sure what would have happened!
Making our new little creatures involved cutting out a pre-made bird pattern using craft felt and then stabbing (sorry, no better word for it!) different coloured carded wool onto this felt to layer up the texture and colours. We then had to stab the two sides of the bird together after stuffing it with felt to make its tummy nice and round and attaching a ribbon and feather.
All the stabbing sounds harsh, I know, but it was actually quite refreshing and as for the results? … well there’s definitely room for improvement but as a first attempt I’d say it went pretty well.
I definitely can’t wait to hang up mine this christmas!
So, lessons learnt? – needle felting is fun, relatively easy when using the ‘cheats’ method of using craft felt as a base (usually I think you have to use all carded wool but correct me if I’m wrong!) and also serves as a nice form of stress relief. You just have to watch out for your fingers!
Hook, Knit and Stitch 