February is a full month around here. This month includes my husband and my youngest daughter's birthdays...and my bro-in-law's! Then there is Valentine's day...and Family Day. I'm looking forward to all the celebrations ahead!
The first craft project I am working on is a Valentine's Day project. Ever heard of needle felting? Well, I had heard about it, and when a friend offered to hook me up with some wool roving I said "sure"! Not really even knowing what wool roving was. To be honest, I haven't done that much felting since getting my supplies at Romni Wools. Needle felting supplies typically include long needles with tiny barbs along their sides. These barbs work to grab the tiny fibres and mesh them with other fibres...eventually making a solid piece of fabric. You also need something to place behind the fibres, so you have something to poke the needle into...aside from your finger...which actually hurts. For Christmas, I made cute little snowmen for the kids in my life...and that's all I have done. So, Valentine's is the perfect opportunity.
The plan...needle felted hearts
The supplies:
- wool roving
- felting needle
- foam felting block
- ribbon or embroidery thread
The steps:
** there are a million "how to" videos on YouTube look here for a fun needle felting introductory video **
1. pull small pieces of wool roving out of the larger ball
2. take the pieces of roving and make a pile on your foam felting block, placed in a rough heart shape
3. using your felting needle, repeatedly stab the roving...pushing your needle all the way through to the foam. This action is what binds the roving together, creating felt.
4. pull the shape from the foam block often, as you don't want it to completely adhere to the block.
5. add more wool to your heart to build up the thickness and colouring that you want
6. once you have the shape and density you are looking for remove the heart from the block.
7. Now you can decide what you would like to do with your heart. You could take a length of ribbon and stitch it to the top of the heart. Creating a loop you can then use to loop the heart anywhere...even on a bottle of wine as part of a gift for someone you love. Or, you could stitch a length of thread to the top of the heart and hang the heart...much like a mobile.
Here's what I did with my hearts...
I simply threaded a piece of embroidery thread through the heart making a loop. Then using a vase, brown rice and branches from the yard, I made a Valentine's heart tree. What will you make?
