Take a stab at dry and wet needle felting

Almost all crafters at some point encounter a felted project. These cute, sculpted pieces — adornments such as pom-poms and holiday ornaments — are made of wool and can at first seem out of reach for a felting novice. Learning to felt wool is actually quite easy and can be a relaxing new crafting activity to add to your repertoire.

The key to is the felting needle, which is barbed to allow you to push the wool in place without pulling any out. The process of poking the wool into place with the needle, or “stabbing,” is what helps a felted piece hold its shape. Another type of felting involves molding the wool while it's wet. This technique is particularly useful for making felt balls.

Dry Felting
- Raw wool batting or roving in two colors
- Thin foam block
- 2 cookie cutters, one slightly larger than the other
- Straight pins (optional)
- Barbed needles

Wet Felting
- Raw wool batting or roving
- 1 bowl cold water
- 1 bowl hot water
- Dish soap
- Needle
- Embroidery thread

Dry Felting
1. Pull apart the wool batting or roving, so you have fluffy, full strands.

2. Place the larger cookie cutter on the foam block. Use straight pins to hold it in place if it's moving too much.

3. Completely fill the cookie cutter with wool.

4. Push the wool firmly into place with a barbed needle, so it fills all the nooks and crannies of the cookie cutter.

5. Add an additional layer of wool, pushing it into place with the barbed needle.

6. Remove the cookie cutter, and push any wool that does not stay in the shape, setting corners and curves into place.

7. Put the smaller cookie cutter on top of the felt shape, and fill it with the other color of wool.

8. Repeat steps 4 and 6 to create an additional shape inset from the first.

9. Carefully remove the felt shape from the foam block.

Wet Felting
1. To create a felt ball, pull the wool roving or batting apart until you have a loose ball of fibers.

2. Add a couple drops of dish soap to the fibers, and submerge the wool in the hot water. Roll the fibers into a ball, and rinse it in the cold water.

3. Add a few more drops of dish soap to any cracks in the ball, and roll the ball between your hands.

4. Submerge it in the hot water, roll it between your hands, and rinse it in the cold water.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have a solid, compressed ball in the size you need.

6. Allow the ball to dry completely.