Do you want to achieve a smooth, professional finish to your needle felted artwork?
Does your work look a little fuzzy or blobby?
Read on for three effective tips to get you felting like a pro.
1. Stabbing effectively
This seems like a simple solution, but how you felt or stab the wool effects the overall appearance of your artwork
Have the holes made by your felting needle really left their impression on your work? The chances are that this is because when you stab down with your needle, you are forcing too much of the tool into your work, make sure you stab using the barbs of the needle at the fine top not the shaft of the needle, or are you using the incorrect needle
I always recommend a triangular fine needle.
Did you know the higher the gauge the thinner the needle, I always use a 38 or 40 gauge fine needle in work
I have linked the needles i recommend below
Fine felting needle recommendations
2. Don’t Overload
Try not to overload the wool, I recommend using thin layers , build up the layers of wool as you go, you can easily “overfelt” the work by this I mean If you stab too much in one area you can make the piece go stiff or hard, so use thin layers build the sections slowly but felt over the entire area,dont get bogged down with one feature
When the artwork goes hard from over felting you will also be more likely to break needles.
3. My top tip for getting the professional finish is to keep moving your artwork make sure you lift the piece off your felting pad, you can also rub the felt piece, gently between your thumb & finger tip, as to smooth out the finish and remove stab marks this will help you get that professional finish
I hope you find this post useful if you have tips or tricks you find useful make sure you share them with us .
Happy Felting
Karen