Needle Felting

Needle felted sunset on consignment denim jacket, Feb 2024

I've been sewing clothing ever since I was a young teen, and lately it hasn't been calling to me as a hobby like it has in the past. There are a number of reasons for this:

• I have a lot of really great clothes already. And ever since the pandemic started in 2020, I've been working mostly from home I don't really take the opportunity to wear many of them
• Also related to the pandemic, clothing has gotten a lot more casual so there isn't such a need to sew well-tailored jackets for work
• I can often buy clothing on consignment for less than it costs to get the materials to make it myself

So, it's time for a new hobby. I tried a little bit of needle felting in 2011 after meeting a lovely orthopedic surgeon at a "Fishbone" fellowship orthopedic event in Maine. This surgeon had a busy practice and had adopted a handful of kids, and she woke up at a ridiculous hour (like 4 AM) to do just a little bit of needle felting before starting her busy day. She took my name and address and after the event she sent me a big box full of felting supplies, including some felting needles, various colors of wool and a foam felting pad. What a dear. At the time, I felted a little sheep Christmas ornament, then tucked the box away.

I've decided to try needle felting again because it's portable and can (mostly) be done while watching TV. I ordered a couple of kits, a wool felting mat, needles, and a bunch of colors of loose wool roving from Living Felt. My first project was to needle felt a sunset on a $12 consignment denim jacket. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I had a great time blending the colors. I wet felted it afterwards to help it stay adhered to the jacket. Of course, I had to shorten the sleeves on the jacket, as I frequently do.

Next, I tried some three dimensional needle felting, creating an easter egg bunny and a Santa from a kit. Each figure took about 4-5 hours total, and they were very relaxing to work on.

Santa, in progress

I'd purchased another kit for pumpkins and completed those, learning how to blend wool colors together.

I wanted to felt fruit for arranging in a bowl, so I worked on these 8 pieces, doing all of the design for shaping, colors and blending myself.. I'm definitely getting more confident with being able to get some of the shapes I want. 

Felting with a view of the lake

I completed the apple leaf by felting onto a (dry) disinfecting wipe as a stabilizer.

Ready for Halloween

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

This has been my go-to for years, from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook.

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar (I usually halve this)
• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (9 rectangular sheets or 18 square crackers)

Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter in pie pan in oven- watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Process crackers in food processor to turn them into crumbs. Add crumbs and sugar to the melted butter in the pie pan and mix then press into bottom and up sides. Bake 5 min, then cool.