What are Felting Needles?
Felting needles are used to commercially felt without soap and water. While machines employ hundreds or thousands of these needles, they are handy individually for the felting artist. Sculptural possiblities not before imagined are now possible. Felt and felted items can be created entirely with needles, or the dry felting (needle) techinque can be mixed with traditional wet felting. The needles are also wonderful for details. The average needle is three-sided, with a very sharp point that has miniscule barbs on it. The needle is punched repeatedly through the fiber, and the barbs mix the fibers, locking them together. Voila! Felt! We use a pillow stuffed with polyester fiber-fill, or a piece of foam rubber as the working base. Keep fingers well out of the way of the needles — they can draw blood. The needles should not be driven at an angle and pried or jammed, as the metal they are made of will often break rather then bend. See some needle felting we have done. Needle Felting Suppli
