Needles, Wool, Mistakes, Advice and the One Tip - Amy from Craftygrimsby
1.How did you discover needle felting, what inspired you to have a go and what was the first thing you made?
I discovered needle felting around 8 years ago at my children’s school Christmas fayre. One of the teachers had a stall selling little snowmen, robins and Christmas pudding hanging decorations and she was sitting there making them. I asked her about it as I’m always keen to learn new crafts and she showed me. I immediately went online and ordered some materials and after making a few like hers I got started on some more lifelike shapes like polar bears. It’s the only craft I’ve stuck with for more than five minutes! It’s so addictive and great fun.
2.Do you have a favourite needle felting artist whose work you follow?
I can’t say I have a particular favourite needle felter that I follow but love seeing all the creations posted on the original needle felting uk Facebook page, lots of great ideas and everyone is so helpful and sharing with their tips and tricks.
3.Which projects do you find the trickiest and what has been the hardest thing to learn?
I find pet portraits trickiest and steer clear of them as I find them much more stressful and time consuming.
4.What are your favourite needles to use?
I like to use 38 twisted star needle.
I also just use the small/medium/large ones from Amazon for my multi needle holders.
5.What is your favourite type of wool to work with?
I use carded wool and carded slivers and Love the range of colours from feltbox! I have several hanging shoe holders with all my colours hanging behind my workspace.
6.What common mistakes do people make when they start out?
When people start out with buying cheap kits from Amazon or supermarkets I’m not surprised they find it difficult to get the hang of it. It’s mostly merino fibre which is really tricky to felt and blend away the fibres, carded wool is much fuzzier and felts together so much easier.
7. What is the one thing a beginner could learn today that would make a difference to their work?
A tip for beginners, I’d say don’t feel you need to always use an armature, I rarely use an armature. I make the body shape and make separate wire legs I then stick in once wrapped.
About the artist:
To find her creations and tutorials visit her Etsy shop
Or a workshop page “Craftygrimsby” on Facebook