Crafty Tips Arts & Crafts Directory
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Fulling & Felting

Fulling & Felting

Fulling and felting are techniques used to turn natural fibers into fabric and other creations.

Fulling is when natural fibers are first woven and then shrunk to create a tighter weave of fabric. Traditional felting uses needles with sharp edges to cause the fibers to meld together and is often used to create small stuffed animals and figurines. These artisans offer their techniques and free patterns to help get you started. Don't miss their finished items for sale - you will be amazed at what these folks create.

All the website owners have also included their favorite fulling and needlefelting tips.
Category picture
courtesy of: Sunfleur

Fulling & Felting Sub-Categories

Great Fulling & Felting Websites

Alpaca Fiber Art

Discover what you can make with luxurious alpaca fleece. Hand felting instructions and projects. Needle felting 3 D characters.

Fulling & Felting Crafty Tip
If you have a thin spot in your felt, use a felting needle to fill in with dry fleece. Wet felt the area and you will never be able to tell that the fleece was added.
 
 
Sunfleur

Needle felted flower pins to embellish hats, scarves sweaters and jackets. Little needle felted animals to hold and display. Pins are often embellished with beads and fun fur.

Looking for wall art? Be sure to visit my Art pages where you find my needlefelted paintings

Needle Felting Crafty Tip
Needle felting can be done on many surfaces, not just on wool with wool. I have needle felted on canvas, denim and silk (yes, silk!) Protect your needles by keeping them in small drink stirrers.
 
Kay's K9s: Handcrafted Miniatures by Artist K. Turple

Handcrafted Needle Felted Miniature Dogs (and Cats!) by artist K. Turple. Each needle felted dog is a one of a kind work of art. Commission a needle felted version of your own dog or cat! Sculptures can be created as small as 1:12 scale, or larger if preferred.

Needle Felting Crafty Tip
If your felted creation appears too fuzzy in photographs due to stray fibers, try giving it a trim with some scissors. Just be careful not to snip your work!
 
Red Suede Kitten

Red Suede Kitten makes original handcrafted felt jewelry. Each piece is made by hand in Melbourne Australia. The range includes felt cloud brooches and necklaces.

Felting Crafty Tip
Felting can be a great physical outlet for your creative energy. It can be therapeutic to felt outdoors in summer in the fresh air. Also, any water you splash around doesn't create a mess as it can indoors.
 
Felting Lessons

My website is devoted to felting, with free step by step instructional videos on how do wet felt. All of the felting videos are free. Find inspiration with my project gallery and inspiration pages.

Wet Felting Crafty Tip
When laying out fibers for a wet felting project, use a high powered flashlight to look down into the layers. Seeing thin spots is much easier this way!
 
 
Created and Felted By Claire Louise

Beautifully sculptural and tactile in form, Claire Fairall designs and makes original felt bags.
 
Claire has developed an innovative fusion of knitting and felting techniques in order to create her felt bags and pouches.
 
Her kits are an ideal introduction to the art of knitting and felting. Claire regularly develops new knit felt patterns which cover a range of abilities.
 

Felting Crafty Tip
To produce a good felt for a knitted project with no visible stitches showing try using multiple strands of a 3 or 4ply yarn. This will knit up just the same as a thick yarn but should give much better results.
 
Karen Rao - Felt Artist

UK feltmaker creating unique wall hangings inspired by the sea. Karen's individual method of feltmaking results in tactile and dramatic seascapes, rich in texture and depth. Karen's felt art is either freehanging or canvas mounted. These look stunning as stand alone pieces or as a dynamic set of contrasting colours.

Needle Felting Crafty Tip
After you have created your piece of felt art, add more fibres by needle felting to produce greater definition and drama.
 
Felt accessories by Ilze

I present to you my Etsy shop where I offer handmade felt and crochet accessories. You will find felt flower brooches, felt iphone cases, hair accessories and other crafts made from felt, yarns and other materials. I always like to experiment and make something new. I am inspired by colors, nature, flowers, sometimes even from shadows and my own mood. I make each piece with love and patience because I enjoy what I'm doing and I hope others also will enjoy results of my work!

Crafty Tip
Don't throw away felt pieces that are left over after wet or needle felting. You can gather left overs, roll them in to a ball and, if needed, cover with wool fibers in same or different color. Then make a felt bead using your regular felt bead making technique. Only be careful not to break felting needle, because felt from wet felting is more dense.