What type of wool should I use for needle felting?
The most frequent question I get asked is what would be the best wool for needle felting.. Follow me in this series as I answer this along with other frequently asked questions.
First of all needle felting is a dry felting process using a barbed needle to tangle the fibers.
The cool thing about needle felting is most fibers will felt to each other. but some are better then others. Let’s take a look at this. Fiber comes in different forms. There are fine fibers like Merino. By itself it is very soft and fine making it difficult to felt with a needle. Romney is a great medium course fiber that needle felts really well. Corriedale is another breed that is popular with needle felting. Compared to Romney, the fiber is a bit smoother and the felting needle doesn’t seem to grab it as easily and quickly. Since the needle doesn’t grab the fiber as easily it may take longer to felt. It is an excellent fiber for spinning.
Overall for needle felting, I like to use carded batts consisting of short fibers. This preparation allows you to pull small chunks of off at a time and blend colors easily . If using longer staple lengths, such as roving, they must be tangled up or cut into smaller pieces. This makes it easier to felt the fibers together.
There are so many sheep breeds out there. If you are interested in learning more about the different breeds of sheep, Fleece and Fiber Source book is a great resource for your collection.
You can learn more about needle felting with my free tutorial https://www.anitahotchkiss.com
Here is a great beginning project https://anitahotchkiss.com/needle-felting-for-easter/
Happy Creating!
Anita