Needle
felting can be a fun creative outlet, and just like any other craft,
the right tools for the job help you create your best work.
This post is to share some of our favorite tools, all of which are available through our
Sarafina Fiber Art Website.
In
addition to the wool for your project, you will need to have at least
two tools: Needle Felting Needles and a Needle Felting Surface which
receives the very sharp felting needles.
Sara's favorites are the 36 Star, 38 Star and 40 Twist.
The 36 star is the largest size, and strongest needle (it will grab a lot of wool).
The 38 star is the mid size needle, and is our most used for overall felting.
The 40 twist is the smallest size needle, great for tiny details.
Sara
designed the Stabbit Wabbit to be eco friendly, long lasting, and a
nice firm surface. It has 2" marks for easy measuring of your wool
roving. We recommend using 3 lbs of uncooked rice to fill it. This firm
felting surface is what receives the point of the needle as it passes
into the wool.
If
you decide that you have become addicted to needle felting, like the
rest of us, then you will want to look into further tools that will
allow you to accomplish more. As you hone your skills and develop
sculptural techniques, the right tools can save time, create
consistency, and make your felting world easier.
Sara
uses this pink pen tool to hold either two or three needles. She also
takes the extra pink guard off the front of the tool as you see below to
allow for deeper penetration of the needles into the wool.
Sara uses this punch tool with 5 needles. This tool is wonderful when you have a larger flat area to felt.
Replacement Needles: We recommend
Sarafina Fiber Art Size 40 Twist.
The
Zullitool is a Sarafina original tool that was designed by Sara to help
with making forms and shapes for your sculptural wool project. They are
individually crafted by an artist in New York for our shop out of
Cherry wood, and coated with several coats of boiled linseed oil for a
smooth finish.
Click here for the
Zullitool Video
The
Digit Widget is a Sarafina original tool that was designed by Sara to
help you with those teeny toes, fingers, claws, feet, etc to keep their
lengths consistent. They are individually crafted by an artist in New
York for our shop out of Cherry wood, and coated with several coats of
boiled linseed oil for a smooth finish.
Click here for the
Digitwidget Video
Don't
hurt your fingers trying to bend the end of wire, use these flat edge
needle nose pliers to make nice loops and bends. They also have a wire
cutter in the back of the jaw of the pliers so you can easily cut your
project wire down to the correct length. Two tools in one!
These
micro tip scissors are made to get into small spaces and works to help
you get the detailed edges you need from your fiber. They are a nice
compact size that fits easily into your tool tote. There is a slide lock
to keep the jaws from opening, and a spring loaded grip so that working
with these is easier on your hands.
This
round handled seam ripper is a great tool to have on hand to help pull
out problem areas of your project. The choice to use a seam ripper will
allow the edges of the wool you are removing to have a frayed edge which
allows you to blend the seam easier than a sharp edge from scissors
would.
Click here for the
Troubleshooting with Wool video.
This
is a Sarafina Original Product: Wool Wax and Hand Healer. It is handy
when you are trying to wrap tiny fingers, toes, or snowman noses. It
helps smooth and hold the wool into place when it is difficult to get
your needle into small places.
Check out the
Tiny Toes Video to see how Sara uses the melted wax to hold the wool in place.
Swax is a Sarafina original product. Sara wanted to create a medium that could be used to both secure and smooth wool.
Swax can be tinted with our
Powertex Powdered Pigments. Alone it is a semi transparent light ochre color. (It will tinge white wool. Perhaps, down the road, we will be able to provide a truly clear version. Also keep in mind when you use blue, it may warm towards green).
You will also need an applicator for the swax. We suggest
Colour Shapers for this task.
These
reference charts are hand drawn by Sara to help you make better
armatures and shapes by helping you keep your sculpture in the right
proportions. These double sided drawings are printed and laminated to
withstand lots of handling.
We
are happy to offer long 2-3' long horse hair for the use of whiskers
for your critters. The tail hair comes from local well cared for horses.
You will need a needle to thread the hair through your sculpture, then a
tiny dab of crazy glue to hold it in place, and a sharp pair of
scissors to cut them to the right length.
Use
Sarafina Woodles to attach longer fibers to your needle felting
sculptures. We have three colors for your projects: Gray/Brown, Heather,
Off-White.
Check out the Sarafina video:
How To Attach Long Fibers Using Woodles.
As
we expanded our Fiber Art horizons, we found that hand carders are a
helpful friend when blending small amounts of wool, flicking open lock
ends, or smoothing un-carded fiber. We decided to make our own to the
standard of quality, aesthetics, and function that we want for our
creations.
Our Sarafina Hand Carders
are individually crafted by an artist in New York for our shop out of
cherry wood and contrasting walnut, and coated Tung oil to accent the
wood's beauty. The smooth rounded handle is at a slight angle and
incorporated into the body of the carder making it strong as well as
comfortable. The body is further rounded for easy rolling motion. The
cloth is 70 TPI - a nice weight for the most variety of fibers.
The carder body is 9" x 4" with an 8" x 3" carding cloth. The handle is 5.5".
