Inspiration Source

I was inspired to felt by admiring and being intrigued by someone’s felt creation.

Materials

You will need a felt base for the wool to stick to. I had some ‘craft felt sheets’ lying around the house which I used for the base. You can purchase them on Amazon or hobby craft or the range shops. I find that white felt base is best to use as darker colours will show through and take more wool to cover up. 

I bought a felting kit from hobbycraft.co.uk which contained basic colour wools and 5 different types of felting needles. 

I am still exploring the uses of the different needles. I looked up a video on YouTube for beginners to give me a visual guide as to what to do. This way of learning visually and step by step really helps me. 

The creative result is based on a photo of a place we love to visit as a family in Holywell Bay, Cornwall.

My felted Happy Place

This is how it worked for me

Whilst felting I find I am totally focused and concentrating which helps me stop unhelpful thoughts and thinking loops and take a break from family drama and emotions. It helps build my baseline as I find I am remembering the happy times on the beach, fond thoughts of my husband and I can hear the waves crashing on the sea which I find soothing. Using my happy place creatively to calm myself.

In this particular picture I was aware of shapes and curves and I learnt from Ocean View Instructions (Youtube)  a technique of rubbing the wool between my hands to create a long thin 3D style shape to achieve shaping and curves. 

Applying this technique triggered a memory of playing with wool as a child and wanting to create with it but not knowing how. I also find felting less pressure than painting as the movement of stabbing in felting does not have to be as precise as with a paintbrush and also you can remove bits of wool at any time unlike painting. The stabbing motion of the needle feels very therapeutic and de-stressing and there is a primeval feel to using that motion with wool. This picture for me makes me feel the ancient constancy of nature and life and how insignificant our worries are in the grand scheme of life on Earth.

Have fun felting!

© 2021 Jackie Goldsworthy

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