Needle Felting

Needle felting with a barbed needle or needles to felt wool roving into shapes is an increasingly popular craft. Using STYROFOAM brand foam as a base is an easy way to needle felt dimensional creations.   

                                                   

  Tips for Needle Felting with STYROFOAM*

1. Cutting STYROFOAM* brand foam is easy. 

To cut, wax a serrated knife with a candle

and then cut through the foam shape.

2. Cut all shapes at once and wipe with a soft cloth.

This will make your project come together more quickly

and will prevent small lumps from showing.

Also wipe work surface clean before continuing

to keep bits from clinging.

3.  A foam slab makes an ideal workspace for creating a needle felted project.

4. Basic shapes like foam eggs and balls can be needle felted easily with larger pieces created by joining several foam shapes together.  Dimensional details like limbs, petals and wings can be needle felted separately and then securely attached directly to the wool-covered foam piece using a felting needle.

5. The foam is easy to hang onto while poking the roving in with the needle and felts up quickly. Use the new Clover Needle Felting Tool for satisfaction and safety.

6. Start with an easy shape to get a feel for technique; a large egg is a good place to start.  Wrap egg with roving and trim excess, then begin felting where roving overlaps.  Insert very end of needle, just past barbs, into foam using straight up and down motion.

7. More roving can be added if needed and thin strands of different colors can be added to create pattern. Each needle felted piece will be a unique creation.

8. National Nonwovens has a great selection of wool specially packaged in 6 pack coordinated colors. Several projects can be created from one package as it takes only a small amount to cover a foam shape. The possibilities for beautiful and unique decorative items are endless from holiday to home decor.

9. Clover offers tools and templates for needle felting.