Felt is a soft, warm, and beautiful material that is easy to make and use. Natural wool, simple tools, and a rewarding process have brought feltmaking into the repertoire of many artists. The creative results captivate crafters with very diverse aesthetics. As with any hobby, there are tons of wonderful fibers and supplies that make creating felt even more satisfying. Consider this Felting Gift Guide a wish-list for the fiber artist in your life.
One of the best things about working with wool is that it comes in so many lovely colors. This Outback Fiber Color Palette is the ultimate in roving. With a minimum of 50 different colors, this is a deluxe present that would be a fun surprise for any felter.
Needle felting is my prefered method of making felt, and my prefered supplies come from Made by Moxie. Get anyone started, or just make them very happy with this Mega Kit of Ultimate Felting Enjoyment.
If you ask a fiber artist what their most coveted tools would be, I bet the majority would list a drum carder. Fair warning- Once you get one, your home will turn into the community felt studio.
If a drum carder is the most wanted, hand carders are the most practical. A nice pair of hand carders makes everything better.
The modest washboard is not just for jug bands anymore! This tool is a great surface for agitating fibers. Washboards are perfect for the knitter who loves to full handknits into felt.
One of the best things about felting is finding unusual wool with great textures and rare colors. Shopping etsy for wool roving is really fun, but Colorbomb Creations is good place to start for really eye popping blends, like this Shout Loosey Goosey Hand Dyed Wool.
Certain painters can never have enough paintbrushes, and certain needle felters are never happy without a quiver full of assorted needles. Maple Splendor carries 16 different types of color-coded felting needles, and they offer them in sets that will make anyone feel complete.
Just because an artist likes working with wool felt, doesn’t necessarily mean they like creating the raw material. These pre-made Woola La felt flowers are great for the crafter who is looking to add warm texture to their projects.
There are so many lovely books written on the subject of feltmaking, and I personally, would recommend the one that I wrote- LOL! Feltique, by Nikola Davidson and me, Brookelynn Morris, is a guide to feltmaking in all its forms. Each chapter covers a different method, including: wet felting, needle felting, knitted-then-fulled felt, and working with commercial felt. The projects are amazing and easy to follow, and the photographs are stunning, if I do say so myself.
The Art of Felt, by Francoise Teller-Loumange is a how-to book disguised as the prettiest art book ever. Follow the author through photographs of beautiful skies, and learn to recreate the mood, light and clouds in immaculate detail. This book is abstract and filled with practical methods at the same time.
And please, don’t forget to visit the Maker Shed to find kits for making felt and for making art with felt. They are all accessible, economical, and cool.
In the Maker Shed:
Want more? Stop by the Maker Shed. We’ve got all sorts of great holiday gift ideas, Arduino & Arduino accessories, electronic kits, science kits, smart stuff for kids, back issues of MAKE & CRAFT, box sets, books, robots, kits from Japan and more.
Holiday Shipping Deadlines in December:
04 (Fri) – Deadline for microscope shipping
11 (Fri) – postal shipping deadline
14 (Mon) – ground shipping deadline
18 (Fri) – FedEx 3-day shipping deadline
21 (Mon) – FedEx 2-day shipping deadline
22 (Tue) – FedEx overnight shipping deadline
*Customers experiences on orders with these ship methods placed after these dates may vary, the dates listed are what we call “safe dates”
USPS (Any Method):
Due to the high volume of mail that the postal service deals with around the holidays, order by Dec. 10th, however, many packages are lost or delayed in transit and we do not replace or refund any orders lost using this ship method, we strongly encourage you to not use this method in December.
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