Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting for Quilters

FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS 1 Q U I LT I N G D A I LY. C O M

MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS

©F+W a Content and eCommerce Company

13

Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting

for Quilters

1 Needle-Felted & Hand-Stitched Fiber Art: Working in a Series JANE LAFAZIO

2 Stepping Out: Take Machine Needle Felting to The Next Level LESLIE TUCKER JENISON

3 Field of Flowers POKEY BOLTON

2




So many fibers, so little time! I used to look at my little bits of

this and that—fancy fibers, silk and wool roving, hand-dyed gauze, threads, and vintage lace—and wonder what I could do with them. They were too good

to throw away, too small to be used. Or so I thought, until I learned how to do needle felting with a machine.

Suddenly, I could use those fiber bits to create unique pieces of fabric, embellishments, backgrounds and more. Machine needle felting projects took over my studio: I was hooked.

In our Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting for Quilters, you will learn from three pros how to design, create, and embellish machine needle-felting projects and incorporate them into your fiber art.

The first machine needle-felting how-to comes from Jane LaFazio, who has taught many workshops on needle felting. In “Needle-Felted & Hand-Stitched Fiber Art: Working in a Series,” she shares advice on how to use the needle-felting machine, how to store your supplies, and step-by-step instructions for creating your felted art.

FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE

NEEDLE FELTING

FOR QUILTER SEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Vivika Hansen

DeNegre ONLINE EDITOR Cate Prato

CREATIVE SERVICES DIVISION ART DIRECTOR Larissa Davis PHOTOGRAPHER Larry Stein

Projects and information are for inspiration and personal use only. F+W Media, Inc. is not responsible for any liability arising from errors, omissions, or mistakes contained in this eBook, and readers should proceed cautiously, especially with respect to technical information. F+W Media grants permission to photocopy any patterns published in this issue for personal use only.

Next, in “Stepping Out: Take Machine Needle Felting to the Next Level,” Leslie Tucker Jenison explains how to incorporate needle felting into a small, stitched quilt, using Timtex as a foundation.

Finally, in “Field of Flowers,” Pokey Bolton shows you how to design a landscape composition for needle felting using photo-editing software. Then she walks you through the needle-felting process.

Our Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting for Quilters will help you create well-composed designs that make use of all those fabulous fibers we love so much.

Warmly,

ViVika Hansen Denegre

Editorial Director

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Adapted from Quilting Arts Magazine® June/July 2010

by Jane LaFazio

NEEDLE-FELTED & HAND-STITCHED fiber art

WORKING IN A SERIES




With my reinvigorated interest

in needle felting, I’ve discovered

that needle-felted cloth is easy and

relatively quick to create, and it makes

a fabulous surface on which to hand

sew. Lately, I have been working on

a group of colorful pieces that I call

my “Rainbow Series.” These smallish

needle-felted pieces (approximately

9" square) are perfect for my mode of

working, since I love to hand stitch in

the evenings and do creative design

work during the day in my studio.

And I’m especially enthralled with

them because every inch of each one

is original and made completely by

me.

Directions1. A day or two before you plan on

needle felting, dye a variety of

sheer fabrics (see Hand-dyed

Sheers).

2. Select a base on which to place the

sheers and roving. I use prefelt, a

thin wool felt product; it’s available

in packages of 9" squares in an

assortment of colors. The color

of the base is important since the

needle felting will bring the color

forward to the front of the piece.

(I’ve also used Lutradur® or a

tightly woven scrim for the base.)

3. Select colors of wool and silk

roving that are analogous to

the sheers you’ll be using. (For

example, I used red, orange, and

yellow roving with the sheers in

those same colors.) Arrange the

roving horizontally along the base

in a sort of landscape pattern. Place

bits of dyed batting and snips of

ribbon and thread until the surface

is completely covered. You can also

use bits of paper here; I’ve added

shiny gold origami paper to some

of my pieces. I’ve even included

cut pieces of failed knitting

projects in this layer since they add

wonderful texture and interest, and

the needle felting keeps the yarn

from unraveling.

TIP: I keep all of my needle-felting

materials in a large, soft-sided bin:

merino wool roving, bits of ribbon

and dyed batting, and prefelt squares.

Nearby, I have a jar of thread ends left

over from hand sewing. I also have a bin

of sheers: organza, scrim, cheesecloth,

tulle, and lace. This way, when I’m

creating my needle-felted bases, I have

a variety of materials at the ready,

including colors or bits that I may not

have thought to plan for.

I bought a needle-felting machine

over a year ago, but didn’t use it

much because it was costing me a

fortune in broken needles. I finally

wised up and took a short lesson

from the location where I’d bought

it. I learned that I’d been running

the machine with the presser foot

way too high—it needed to be

closer to the fabric. I still break

needles on occasion, but not

nearly as many.




4. Place the roving-covered prefelt

under the needle-felting machine

and do a quick run to tack

everything down. At this stage, I

also add a few pieces of beautiful

recycled sari ribbon, placing them

horizontally with the ends hanging

over the edge of the background

in some places, and quickly needle

felt them in place.

M A T E R I A L S

• Needlefelting machine

• Sheer fabrics, including silk gauze, silk organza, cheesecloth or scrim, and inexpensive sheer lace yardage

• Ranger Adirondack® Color Wash™

• Foam core board (or any flat, moveable surface)

• Freezer paper

• Plastic gloves

• Base for needle felting, such as needlepunched prefelts (see Resources), Lutradur®, or tightly woven scrim

• Merino wool roving

• Silk roving

• Bits of ribbon and thread

• Bits of dyed batting

• Yarn

• Sewing machine with freemotion stitching capabilities

• Perle cotton embroidery thread

• 6strand embroidery floss

• Embroidery needles

• Small sharp scissors

Optional

• Bits of failed knitting projects

• Gold origami paper

• Recycled sari ribbon




5. Cover the roving, ribbon, and

other bits with torn pieces of

your dyed sheers: silk

gauze, silk organza,

cheesecloth, scrim,

and cheap lace.

Slightly overlap

the fabrics, staying in

the loose landscape format.

Needle felt everything down

securely.

6. At this point, look closely at the

piece to see if the colors and

shapes are balanced and if the

composition is pleasing. If you

need better color balance, add

more sheers or other fabrics to

even out the design.

7. Using wool roving, form circles

on top of the needle-felted piece;

needle felt the roving to secure it.

Again, look closely at the design;

you may choose to use roving or

yarn to add more circles, or circles

within circles.

8. Once you’re happy with the

design, needle felt the whole piece

securely. In some sections, needle

felt from the back to pull or change

the color slightly on the front.

9. Using your sewing machine,

free-motion stitch in circular

shapes, either within the

roving circles or as part of the

background.

hand-dyed sheersI’ve been enamored with silk gauze for a long time, and have dyed it with tea, coffee, and rust, but I only recently thought to dye it with a variety of colors. I use Adirondack Color Wash, which comes in spray bottles. These acidfree, nontoxic, and waterbased dyes are perfect for use on paper and fabric, but are also very staining so be sure to wear gloves. Here’s the process I use for dyeing sheer fabrics.

1. Begin by covering the surface of a foam core board (or any flat, moveable surface) with freezer paper in order to protect it from the dyes. This board will be used to carry the wet dyed fabrics to another place to dry.

2. Wet the fabric with water and then spray it with the dyes. With gloved hands, squish the fabric to distribute the dye—but not evenly. I like to use an array of colors for each color set since I want the fabric to be variegated. Let the fabric dry completely, and iron it to heat set the dye.

Color I recommend working in analogous colors when dyeing your sheers. Analogous colors are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, like yellow and red, green and blue, and blue and purple.

For my “Rainbow Series,” I colored the sheers in three color groups using the following dye colors, creating quilts in each of these color ranges:

Yellow to red: butterscotch, terra cota, cranberry, magenta, red pepperBlue to green: butterscotch, lettuce, pesto, streamBlue to purple: stream, denim, magenta, eggplant




10. Next is the hand stitching, my

favorite part! It is best to have

a vast selection of embroidery

threads (a combination of single-

strand perle cottons and some

6-strand embroidery floss). Use

many different threads, some

the same colors as the piece,

and some contrasting. Be sure

to highlight the roving circles

with hand stitching; I often use

a ladder or blanket stitch here.

Stitch the background with

running stitches, tiny Xs, lazy

daisies, or buttonhole circles. Try

to cover every part of the piece

with hand stitching. You can also

couch some yarn or stitch silk

ribbon onto the piece.

11. To add another layer of interest

and to reinforce the circle theme,

add sheer circles on top of the

hand-stitched needle felting.

Place a piece of dyed silk gauze

on top of the piece, and free-

motion stitch a circle. Then, with

small sharp scissors, carefully cut

around the circle to remove the

excess silk, leaving a small sheer

bubble on the surface; you will

be able to see through the gauze

to the hand stitching underneath.

You can also add a decorative

stitch over the machine line on

the bubble.

12. Steam iron the piece to finish.

janeville.blogspot.com




That’s how I’d been feeling about

my new needle-felting machine: I’d

spent many happy hours felting one

thing to another, but I’d been less

than satisfied with the results of my

experimentation. The relationship

seemed unstable.

Then it occurred to me to use Timtex

as a foundation. I felted some hand-

dyed cheesecloth, wool roving, and

wool yarn onto the surface. As an

afterthought, I cut some irregular

shapes from an un-loved piece of

hand-dyed, ruched silk. As I began

to felt this into the mix, I felt the

stirrings of a new romance. Oh!

The lovely contours—and look at

the fabulous texture. I was in love.

Suddenly I had created something

with the Embellisher that truly excited

me. I carefully removed my small

rectangular piece from the machine,

and I was smitten.

After much admiration it became

clear that it was time to take the

relationship to a new level. Could

I combine this new “boyfriend”

with my long-term commitment

to art quilting? Yes. I created two

separate pieces—one needle-felted

and the other quilted, cut them in

half irregularly, then stitched the two

distinct halves together to create a

single piece. I was quite pleased with

the result.

Directions1. Using 1 piece of the heavy-weight

stabilizer as a foundation, create a

small needle-felted piece with your

assorted fibers.

2. To prepare your second surface,

fuse your fabric to the second piece

of stabilizer. The quilting on this

second piece may be done before

or after the pieces are joined. I

quilted a portion of the second

surface before joining it to the

embellished surface; I added more

quilting and satin stitching after

the 2 pieces were sewn together.

3. Overlay the embellished piece onto

the new one. I cut an irregular line

through both with a rotary cutter,

using care to avoid cutting through

the raised contours.

4. Using a zigzag stitch and

monofilament thread, machine

stitch the edges of these pieces

together.

5. Once the 2 surfaces have been

stitched together with a zigzag

stitch, a satin stitch can be used

to cover the joined edge. To free-

motion satin stitch, lower the

feed dogs on the sewing machine,

decrease the stitch length, and set

it for zigzag stitching. Keep a firm

stepping OUTTAKE MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

by LesLie Tucker Jenison

Adapted from Quilting Arts Magazine®

June/July 2008

M A T E R I A L S

• Needlefelting machine, such as the Babylock® Embellisher

• Sewing machine

• Thread, including monofilament

• 2 pieces of heavyweight stabilizer, such as Timtex™ or Peltex

• Rotary cutter and cutting mat

• A variety of fibers to experiment with: wool roving, silk hankie, cheesecloth, yarn, loosely woven silk, cotton cloth

• Lightweight fusible to stabilize cloth onto Timtex (I prefer Mistyfuse™.)

• Cloth for quilted surface

• Steam iron for pressingSometimes, it seems, your relationship with a technique or project

is like the one you have with certain boyfriends. Yes, you’re having

fun, but it’s not clear where it’s all going. The uncertainty begins to affect

the enjoyment, and creativity stalls.




grip on the edges and move the

piece slowly forward and sideways

while running the machine.

6. Using a ruler and your rotary

cutter, trim the outer edges of the

piece and then finish with a satin

stitch.

7. Appliqué leftover shapes from the

felted piece to the quilted portion

with a free-motion satin stitch.

You may wish to add more satin

stitching to the quilted side for

balance. Press for smoothness.

Note: Because the Timtex is quite stiff,

it is not necessary to further stabilize the

piece for the free-motion stitch work.

Remember, when working with a new

technique it is best to start with a

small project, as you will be more

likely to take chances with it. Take a

deep breath and repeat after me, “It’s

just cloth, fiber, [fill in the blank]!”

Before you know it you’ll be taking

out those old discarded “boyfriends”

and regarding them with new eyes.

Summon your courage and invite that

boyfriend out for an artist date. It

could be the beginning of a lifelong

relationship.

leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com

tipVarying the width of the zigzag stitch adds texture and interest. It is best to try this on a practice surface first to become comfortable with the technique.




field OF f lowers

by PaTricia boLTon

Adapted from Quilting Arts Magazine® June/July 2008




Directions1. Take your digital camera and

photograph fields of flowers. Try to

capture flowers up close as well as

flowers in the distance. Download

your pictures onto your computer

and choose a favorite photograph

to inspire your needle-felted

design.

2. Open your photograph in a photo-

editing software program (such as

Adobe Photoshop) and alter it to

achieve the colors and effects you

want to replicate in your needle-

felted piece.

Note: I opted to turn my photograph

into a watercolor sketch, which helped to

simplify the shapes and color schemes. I

achieved this by going to the Filter menu

Summer’s at its peak, affording

an opportune time to capture

with needle felting all things that

bloom. With silk roving, bits

of novelty fabrics, and a digital

camera, the following activity is a

fun way to practice needle felting

while also playing with some of

your photo-editing software, such

as Adobe Photoshop®.

M A T E R I A L S

• Digital camera, computer with photoediting software, and a printer

• Small piece of muslin or felt, painted or handdyed in colors that match the fields in your photo (In this example I painted a 7" × 9" piece of muslin in various shades of greens, light browns, and yellows.)

• Piece of WonderUnder® cut the same size as muslin or felt

• Fabric scissors

• Iron

• Needlefelting machine

• Scraps of sheer fabrics in the colors of your flowers

• Bits of synthetic sheers, tulles, handdyed cheesecloth or scrims, and silk roving (I particularly like the “Strata” packs by Oliver Twists for needle felting because these packs offer a sampling of handdyed silk fibers, including tussah, throwster’s waste, and degummed cocoons in coordinating colors.)




in Photoshop, choosing Artistic, and

then Watercolor as the effect. I wanted

my flowers to be more variegated, so I

also changed the colors of the flowers

by going to the Image menu, choosing

Adjustments, then Replace Color. I then

picked reds and pinks to replace the

prominent yellows, and voilà: I had

a much more interesting and colorful

composition.

3. Print out your digital masterpiece

and use it as a reference for

placement of the fabrics in your

needle-felting creation.

4. Paint or hand dye a piece of felt

or muslin to match the grassy

fields in your photo. The rule of

thumb for landscapes is lighter

colors in the foreground, darker in

the middle, and light grays in the

distance.

5. Set your iron to the hottest

setting (cotton) and iron the

WonderUnder to the right side

of your background. Peel off the

release paper and put the release

paper aside as you’ll be using it

again.

6. Cut bits of silk roving, scrims,

organzas, and tulles in colors

that match the fields in your

printout and place them on your

background. When it’s sufficiently

covered with bits, place the

release paper on top, and with

your iron set to the medium, or

silk, setting (you do not want to

accidentally burn your specialty

fabrics), iron for 3 seconds so

that the bits of fabric adhere to

the background, making it easier

to machine needle felt them into

place.

7. Take your piece to your needle-

felting machine and needle

felt the entire piece. Add

more bits of fabric and silk

roving as needed to cover the

background.

8. Referring to your digital printout,

cut flowers out of sheers and

needle felt the flowers in place.

9. Embellish your piece with free-

motion embroidery, French knots,

and beads.

pokeysponderings.com

tipIf you don’t have a digital camera, a sketchbook and a handful of watercolor pencils will do.

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Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting for Quilters