Vehement Solutions for Trivial Problems: 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.