Thank you! Funny how things turn out - this was just a fun project I did when a felting swap group I was in at the time challenged us to make a self-portrait, and I decided to make a hand. I'd forgotten I even made this video and posted it until I was recently commissioned to make a few more thanks to this video. I won't have updated videos for those, but I'll post photos up on my site once they're complete. As far as other videos, they're old, making/editing videos was always a hurdle for me. I'm more active on my site and Instagram. I do intend to make more of them in the future though. For now, I hope you enjoy what little I had recorded.

How did it turn out?

If I were aiming for speed, just to knock out the background, possibly. The only issue with this particular piece is that it is thick - about a quarter inch thick, due to the prefelt. This is something that the felting machine would have thinned out of course, but then I wouldn't have been able to wrap the edges as nicely as I did at the end. That being said, when I made this, I didn't have a felting machine yet. It's one of my earlier pieces, which I had created to enter into the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for the cover art that year (didn't get it though). I was gifted a felting machine the following year. For detail work, I wouldn't use a felting machine. I do have a piece I did with my felting machine to speed up the process, which I didn't end up filming - the sun & moon 3ft tapestry piece (it's the banner on my website). That one was done on a linen background, so it was thin enough to knock out the background quickly on the machine. That being said, because the machine can be overpowered at times, I still found myself having to go back and fill in spots that it had essentially shredded the fibers and punched them all the way through. There's also a seller on Etsy I found who sells felting machine needles, and I keep meaning to check and see if they have finer ones. I am hoping that it will leave smaller holes as opposed to the ones that came with the machine itself. The next video part for this piece where I start getting into detail work, I wouldn't use a felting machine for those, especially anything that is meant to be more textured. You are correct in that they're great for flat work and knocking out large areas of color for a background.

Thank you!

Oh gosh... at least several ounces, but I couldn't tell you beyond that since I don't really buy pre-dyed wool anymore (which would allow me to better estimate how much I needed). I had to dye up some more in the middle of the project when I ran out of what all I had on hand. With it being a relief, the quantities needed would be quite a bit more than for a flat wool painting. I'd say at least 2 times as much depending on how much you want your art to pop off the surface, possibly more if you felt densely (as I tend to do).

Thank you for responding. I absolutely love your green man!!! I’m going to have to try this!! 🥰🥰

@@michellesonger303 thank you!

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

I'm so glad you liked it! There's a blog post to go along with it as well, since some people do better with written instruction to go along with video starmagnolias.com/blogmain/beginners-guide-to-3d-needle-felting

thank you!

Thank you! I am definitely planning on adding more videos ^_^

I absolutely could. It would depend on the size you were interested in :) Feel free to reach out via my custom requests link on my website and we can talk specifics

@@Starmagnolias where do I find your website

@@michigannewsnow4927 It's starmagnolias.com :)

thank you!

No, just some scrap wool :) (Sorry, going back through comments and realizing I forgot to reply to some!)

Thank you!

Thank you so much! I agree i love using hoops. A friend of mine sent me a ton of them in all different sizes, so I've been working on filling them with art.

for wool painting, I use any breed :) finer wool, which typically comes as roving, will give you more of a painterly texture (like brush strokes) - but this can be achieved with any wool in roving form. Coarser wool, typically found as batts, are much easier to blend through layering, but again, this has to do more with batt form than the wool itself.

Thank you! Good luck, and pls share if/when you do!

Thank you so much!

thank you!

go for it! I'll have the rest of the videos up soon (hopefully) - just need to edit them down lol

Sure! It was to help me visualize the placement of the sheep and their sizes so I didnt need to cover that area with green

There is no music in the tutorial 😉 this is just a preview

Thanks so much! I've started adding color to it, so hopefully can put an update up soon! This is one of the biggest pieces I have done so far 😊

I use a soy based foam 😊

In this case, I was felting on prefelt, which is looser and a bit thicker in that sense than regular felt. It's a great option if you want to hang the finished piece on its own, since the thickness holds its shape better. My main preference is to use 100% wool felt for wool painting. (In this video, specifically this one, other pre-felts can be thin feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/PF-X-Prefelt-Wool-Batt-26-Micron_p_634.html)

Oh thank you..yeah thats neat thank ..great job..🌷

Wool pre-felt. Specifically, this thick stuff feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/PF-X-Prefelt-Wool-Batt-26-Micron_p_634.html

They're polymer clay grips that I made :)

I use a variety of sizes - check out the felting guides on my blog for a guide to felting needles

I use a variety of methods to blend wool. To do it directly on the felt, layer very thin wisps of wool between the two colors until you get the desired effect. Another way I do it is using dog brushes (the same kinds you use to brush dogs) and blend them together much like you'd use hand carders. Except dog brushes are much cheaper. Cat brushes work too if you only want to blend a tiny bit.

I have purchased fleeces from several sources - I can't remember where I got that particular one, but most of my fleeces I buy from Sherry Tenney. She's got a facebook group for selling raw wool. I've also bought fleeces off ebay and fiber destash groups.