Free Guide to Machine Needle Felting for Quilters
Transcript of 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
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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
FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS 2 Q U I LT I N G D A I LY. C O M
MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS
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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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FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS 3 Q U I LT I N G D A I LY. C O M
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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
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MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS
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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.
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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
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MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS
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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
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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
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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.
FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS 9 Q U I LT I N G D A I LY. C O M
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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.
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field OF f lowers
by PaTricia boLTon
Adapted from Quilting Arts Magazine® June/July 2008
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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.)
FREE GUIDE TO MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING FOR QUILTERS 12 Q U I LT I N G D A I LY. C O M
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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.