3 Things You Need as a Beginner Needle Felter

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the felting supplies? Then don't miss this short list of the 3 things you need as a beginner needle felter!

Seeing needle felters using all kinds of tools in their videos can easily get a beginner needle felter confused about what kind of things they need to buy if they want to make some similar wool figurines. Have you had the same experience? I know full well how easy it is to go overboard when you try to put your woolly order together. (My husband can testify to that.)

But, in order to get started you don't need to buy anything fancy or complicated. In this post I'm going to talk about the 3 things you need as a beginner needle felter. Also, I will mention 5 more things to ensure that your first encounter with needle felting is a great, fun and relaxing experience.

The 3 things you need as a beginner needle felter

1. WOOL

This one is obvious, however, there are lots of different types of breed and when you get on the page of an online shop, it could be extremely difficult to figure out what you need. Also, wool can be processed in more ways.

Since as a beginner you don't need to know everything to get started, I'm going to tell you the most important pointers that can help you make the right choice for your needle felting. It may sound strange but not all wool is suitable for needle felting or for beginners. Moreover, not all kinds of wool is good for sculpting 3D figurines.

Which wool you'll end up using is a personal preference, so I'm not going to go into the details of different breeds and country of origin. You can easily check them on the wool shop's website. Instead, I'll show how you can make an informed choice.

First, though, I'd like to ask you to pay attention that you choose a shop that sells wool only from a mulesing free farming. It means that the animals are not harmed physically for their wool.

Fibre softness

Whichever wool you end up buying, as a beginner you can get better results and smoother finish by choosing medium or coarse wool, such as Corriedale and Shetland - my two favourites.

'Medium' and 'coarse' refer to two out of three categories of wool softness. The third category is called 'fine'. Fine wool is, for example, Merino that you may have already seen in needle felting kits. Unfortunately, that is not a very good choice for beginners because it is difficult to needle felt it into 3D shapes.

Carded batt or slivers VS. tops/rovings

Corriedale top on left and carded Corriedale batt on right

Wool can be processed in different ways and that is what these titles refer to.

Wool tops or rovings are long and rope-like with all the fibres combed in the same direction. Whereas carded wool means that the fibres are shorter and brushed in all direction. Carded wool comes in batts which are basically sheets of fluffy wool; or slivers which resembles to a ball of extra big yarn.

My advice: Choose carded wool if you are a beginner to have a successful first attempt.

If you want to know more about why I recommend these pointers, read my "The best advice for beginner needle felters" post.

If you need help figuring out how much wool you need to buy for your needle felting projects, read my "How much wool you need to buy for needle felting" post.

2. NEEDLE FELTING NEEDLES

Needle felting cannot be done without special needle felting needles. These have notches along their shaft that catch the fibres and tangles them. By poking the needle into a lump of wool it gets compacted more and more.

Different gauges

The needles come in different sizes to match them with the fibre softness. Their measurement is in gauge. Use 40 gauge needles to fine, 38 gauge to medium and 36 gauge to coarse wool.

Different shapes

The needles also come in different shapes: triangle, twisted triangle, star and twisted star. Star needles usually do the job faster because they have more notches.

My recommendation is to use 38 gauge star or twisted star needles for medium carded wool. Or if you only have access to triangle needles, then use a 38 gauge triangle. Plus, for extra smoothness I like to finish up the figurines with a 40 gauge twisted star.

I've also found that European needles are the best I've tried so far.

3. A MAT

The mat is your surface you'll work on and you have several options to choose from. It's usually a personal preference but also what you work on depends on what kind of needle felting you are doing, 3D or 2D. The first two surface options below are my favourites.

100% (or almost 100%) Wool mat

This is my go to choice because it's environmentally friendly and you can make your own. I made my first mat - still my favourite - about two years ago and it's still perfect.
You can also buy a wool mat. Even tough they are not the cheapest option, that's usually a one-time purchase.
It's good for 3D felting and making flat pieces, although you have to turn those pieces often so they don't get stuck to the mat too much.

100% wool pressing/ironing mat

This is a 1.5 cm / 0.5 inch tall mat usually used by quilters and it comes in different sizes. I found that it is perfect for my 2D pictures and making flat pieces.
I believe it's possible to use it for 3D needle felting as well, however, this mat is very dense making it more possible to break your needle.
It's also environmentally friendly and will last for a very long time.

Foam mat

It is the cheapest option. You can get dense foam that could last you longer, but eventually tiny pieces of it might end up in your felting when the foam starts breaking up. If you needle felt a lot, you'll have to change it regularly which is not environmentally friendly at all.
You can use it for both 2D and 3D felting, and that's why it's a popular beginner choice.
I heard that some needle felters use upholstery foam as well. Personally, I don't agree with using it if you're in the UK because upholstery foams are treated with harmful fire/flame-retardant chemicals. You can read more about the danger they pose here.
In any case, if you do choose upholstery foam, please check whether it was treated with harmful chemicals or not!

Brush

Brush is good for needle felting flat pieces, but not for 3D projects because it cannot really provide a good enough support. Personally, I've never used it and I don't miss it at all.

Hessian or burlap bag filled with rice or buckwheat

Hessian felting mat from clairescraftcreate.com

An environmentally friendly option that is suitable for 3D felting. However, the surface is uneven and rice can move around as you work on top of the bag.

If you live in the UK, then here are my two favourite shops to get my wool goodies:

https://worldofwool.co.uk and https://clairescraftscreate.com.

5 more things to help you get the most out of your first needle felting fun

1. Detailed tutorials

If you don't like trying things without a step-by-step guide, then it's best to start experimenting with a well-detailed one. Make sure it either has loads of pictures of each step or choose a video tutorial. But bear in mind that although sped-up videos are fun to watch, they are not tutorials.

Check out my beginner-friendly tutorial about how to make needle felted pumpkins. Click on the photo below!

2. Your child-like curiosity

Needle felting is an interesting and very versatile craft. You can get the most out of it if you allow yourself to experiment.

3. Patience

Creating a rather firmly felted wool sculpture takes time and usually up until the 50-75% of the project your piece won't look like the figurine you want to make. That's why it's important to be patient and not to give up.

4. Embracing imperfections

Needle felting, like everything else, gets better with practice. Especially because you'll have to learn new kind of hand movements and get the gist of how to shape the wool with a needle. It's a given that you won't get the exact result you want at the first try and that your sculpture will look differently than others. And that's what I call unique and customised! Embrace it!

5. Finger protectors

Please keep in mind that the needles are sharp! Vert sharp! Until you get confident - and even after that when you do small projects - use leather finger protectors for your own sake. Believe me when I say it hurts to stab yourself. A lot!

Do you have all the things you need as a beginner needle felter?

I hope this quick overview armed you with the knowledge on how to choose what you need to buy for your first needle felting projects. Luckily it's not that complicated. Let me know how you liked this little guide in the comments below!

Happy felting!