Core Wool for Felting (2024)

FAQs

What can I use as a core for needle felting? ›

Carded wool and carded slivers

Carded wool is also great for needle felting and carded slivers (long legths) are ideal for working around a wire frame where the finished project tends to be much softer.

Merino is the most common fibre found and popular for felting. It comes in almost every colour imaginable and is normally sourced from Australasia or South Africa. It is very soft with a staple length of about 3-4 inches (length of each fibre) and has barely any crimp.

Pure wool felt that is well made and is at least 1mm thick is an exceptional base fabric to needle felt onto. It can take a lot of wool in a really small space and still not pucker, buckle or get obviously misshapen.

Tops and roving mean more or less the same thing when it comes to needle felting. After the wool has been washed and carded it can then be combed so that all the fibres end up going in one direction to form long lengths that can be wrapped up into a ball.

It's normally sourced from South Africa or Australasia. It has short staples and minimal crimp. However, any wool yarn will work. The fibres of wool cling to one another when exposed to moisture, heat, and agitation.

Alpaca works fine for needle felting, however it tends to be a little Hairier (soft hairy not course hairy). Not great for making dense items or sculpting as it is too fine.

Needle felting isn't an expensive hobby and is very easy to start – you just need wool, felting needles, a foam pad and your imagination.

You may use a foam pad, a wool pad, or even a brush. A firm, flat work surface is a must when needle felting.

Many types of wool are used for felting. However, Merino wool is the most popular for felting due to its lightweight and luxuriously soft qualities.

The wet-felted craft is finished by fulling or agitating the fibers against a rough surface such as a washboard that interlocks wool fiber together. On the contrary, needle felting is most prevalent and a rather easy felting technique that uses up and down motion of felting needles on wool to form felt.

What can I use for core in felting? ›

Quite often Needle felting artists use core wool for the bulking of the form. Carded sliver and wool batt are both common types for core as well as spinning, and weaving.

You will need something to needle felt into as your base such as cotton batting, felt, interfacing, or any woven fabric as well as cheese cloth, silk hankies, two inch foam, and needles.

Felting occurs when wool is immersed in warm and soap and agitation are applied. The warm water opens up the scales on the individual wool fibers, the soap and agitation help move the fibers closer together, and as the fiber cools (or is put in cold water) the scales and the wool fibers become permanently interlocked.

The roving developed a more strong felted skin more quickly. The batting felt more cohesive and started to full or shrink sooner in the process. They were both finished in the same amount of time, and the finished size was the same in both samples, with equal shrinkage in the width and the length.

The main difference between regular wool and wool felt is the process involved. The felting process gives wool felt its unique characteristics and benefits and involves pressing wool fibres to bond them together, making it flat, durable, and stretch-resistant.

However, it actually isn't hard to take the wool from raw fiber to felt. It takes some time and effort but you can certainly save some money processing the fiber yourself. It works best if you wash raw wool outside. It has a definite odor (think sheep poo) and will smell up the entire house.

The carded wool is used for felting in either the wet or dry version. Here you need a product with more loose and free fibres that can be made into a solid material by felting. You can also use carded wool if you want to spin your own yarn in the colours you like.