Needlefelt Monthly

~Needlefelt news on the last Sunday of every month~
~_{(so needlefelters don't have to explain what they're doing anymore)}~
~Edition 2~June 26, 2011~

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Table of Contents

The Basics
What is needlefelting?
What isn't needlefelting?
About Needlefelt Monthly
How can I find needlefelts on dA?

Features
Artist of the Month
Group Features
Artist Features
Needlefelt Commissioners List

Extra
Editorial: Thoughts on Felt
Issue Updates
How You Can Help
Past Issues

The Wrap-up

The Basics

What is needlefelting?

Basically, needlefelting is taking loose wool and stabbing it with a specialized barbed needle repeatedly.  Eventually, the wool bonds to itself, making it able to have defined form. Which can be just about anything, depending on the artist. Just keep on going, you'll see what I mean.

What isn't needlefelting?

Anything made without using a needlefelting needle. Craft felt and wet felting are very simila to needlefelting, and can be used in combination with needlefelting, but are different processes. Needlefelt Monthly won't be featuring anything without at least some needlefelting involved.  

About Needlefelt Monthly

Needlefelt Monthly was created when I decided there simply wasn't enough exposure for all of the amazing needlefelters out there, because needlefelting is such an unknown art form. I try to provide interesting news for anyone who's interested in the little-known craft of needlefelting.

How can I find needlefelts on dA?

Since there isn't any category for needlefelts, it can be hard to find or categorize needlefelt creations. Some artists put their needlefelts in Artisan Crafts > Needlework > Miscellaneous, others use Artisan Crafts > Textiles > Fiber Art, and even others use Artisan Crafts > Dolls, Plushies, & Custom Toys. Depending on the type of needlefelt art I do, I usually switch between all three. Which, no doubt, is confusing. deviantART needs a needlefelt category to cut down on the confusion, pronto! In the meanwhile, when I'm looking for needlefelts, I search with the terms "needlefelt", "dry felted", "needle felt", "needlefelted", "needle felted", "felted"-- because needlefelting is a new craft, not everyone calls it by the same name!

Or you could just look at the features below.

Features

Artist of the Month

NinaBolenArt

Out of all the crazy things I've done (and believe me, I've done some craaazy things), I think NinaBolenArt might just have me beat with the insanely huge swatch of synthetic fiber that they felted onto their Chinese Dragon. An amazing needlefelter, with a wide collection of sculptures in their gallery. Go check it out, people!

Group Features

The groups who are active and who are at least somewhat active in needlefelting. If you're looking for needlefelts, these are a good place to start.

Artist Features

TheHarley

SnowfoxStudios

vriad-lee

LSstudio

Spyrre

doily

FeltAlive

nekofoot

vvvDragonsNestvvv

hiltti

thai-binturong

amber-rose-creations

Kikilin

Needlefelt Commissioners List

k-times-two
tollykit
Lobster-Ball ( fav.me/d34fwwf )
creturfetur ( creturfetur.deviantart.com/jou… )

Want to be added to the list? Note k-times-two--i.e., me-- and you'll be put in next month's issue!

Extra

Editorial: Thoughts on Felt

Felt, for me, is the single artisan craft-related medium that truly calls to me. I dribble and drabble in other mediums-- I have to say, pencil carving is a fun challenge-- but it is felting that really fires up my imagination. Most sculpting isn't posable; with the exception of ball-jointed dolls, but (sorry BJDers) they always looked creepy to me. And plushies, well, first off, I had no access to a sewing machine until recently. More than that, they require a type of forethought that bores me. Needlefelting, on the other hand, allows me to constantly change and rearrange the form; adding wool here or there, taking a little away, is no trouble. It allows me to work in the haphazard way that my brain does.

Felt is, when I think about it, quite a loose term. Most people think of "felt" as those machine-felted polyester-blend 8 1/2" by 11" sheets you find at the craft store. Or, at least, that's what I thought felt was, before I stumbled blindly into the craft of needlefelting.

Now, my first encounter with a picture of a felted object was on Google. Hardly the stuff of dreams. But the little critter enchanted me, even though I paid it little attention. Months later, I went on one of my whimsical searches and found relatively little on needlefelting. Being the wannabe-unique person I am, that intrigued me. A month later, I was starting my first felt creature. A year-ish passes, and here I am, writing articles about felt.

And, felt is quite the strange thing! Those machine-felted things aren't even nice; I've since learned that there are merino wool felt sheets a quarter of an inch thick. There are needlefelters who work on canvasses, wet felters who make coats, needlefelters who felt lightly and needlefelters who felt as dense as they can go. Felt is supposed to be made from prefelt, which is made from wool roving, which is made from carded wool. There are wools that are badly carded, wools that are curly, synthetic fibers that shine, and much, much more.

Which, in that roundabout way of mine, brings us to the main point of this article: the density of felted creations. Personally, I like to felt denser objects. They seem more sturdy to me; like they're less likely to fall apart at the (figurative) seams... but I felt looser when I felt with a widely-spaced needle holder or when something is smaller. Most of my stuff, therefore, is pretty tough.

But I do know there are felters who, in comparison, barely touch their wool. Their creations are soft and plush. I... am always afraid to touch those, though, because I personally feel like they'll fall apart at their (figurative) seams.

But looser felt makes for some amazingly huggable creations. I confess, I want to make certain things just so I can make them a looser felt.

Issue updates

Added Past Issues.
Edited Artist Features.

How You Can Help

Find an artist that you think should be featured? Know a commissioner that's not on the list? Want to nominate someone for Artist of the Month? Have any suggestions? Want to help out? Have some thoughts, wish to write an article? Willing to be interviewed about your needlefelting? Note k-times-two with any concerns, questions, comments, or ideas. Or any combination of those.

Past Issues

These are all the past issues of Needlefelt Monthly. Bear with me; the list is small, but it shall hopefully grow for a long time to come.
(#o1) (#o2)

The Wrap-Up

As always, I'm amazed by what I see out there in the needlefelting world. For those of you wondering why this issue was short, however, I am sad to announce that I cannot possibly find the time every month to collect and showcase every needlefelt thing. Between my ill-guided projects and the lack of another hour in the day, my time has been sucked away into the oblivion of time. I will continue featuring artists whose projects pique my personal interest each month, and the list won't be skimpy, either-- it just no longer will try to be complete, is all. (Also, I've decided this thing was getting far too long for you poor readers. And dA was counting me in as a spammer for all those notifications I sent out...) Thanks for the understanding, and if you feel that I missed someone who deserves to be in here, feel free to shoot me a note, okay?

And, uh. Since I'm still new at this, I'm not exactly sure in which category I should be posting this monthly news... so if you know for sure that I'm posting in the wrong category, drop me a line; I could use some help on that front.

Thank you, and until next time,
Adopt524