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Textile/Fabric Art Projects

Dry (Needle) Felting a Zebra

Needle (or punch) felting is a soap and-water-free way to make fantastic felt art works.

Contemporary fibre artists and felt makers have adapted this commercial process to be used by hand. Using a Felting Needle, it is now possible to make elaborately detailed, well controlled, two and three-dimensional pieces of art from Merino Wool Tops that would be difficult to achieve using traditional wet felt making.

Felting needles are made from hardened steel, usually with a triangular profile, and are very sharp. They have tiny barbs or notches near the point of the needle. The brittle needles are likely to break if they are flexed, they require a straight up and down action into the loose fibre. When the needle is repeatedly poked in and out of a mass of loose wool, its "barbs" tangle and interlocks the fibre and eventually makes felt.

Needle felting doesn't require strength, but it does require patience and concentration.

The needles are very sharp, so a block of foam rubber is an essential piece of equipment to prevent the needle pricking the artist’s fingers.

Suitable for:

Primary levels

Materials:

Synthetic Wool Tops Coloured, Merino Wool Tops, Florist Wire, Plasticine & Foam Rubber block

How to Make a Zebra by Needle Felting

1. Use the Synthetic Wool Tops to dry felt the core body, neck and head. A length of Florist wire might be used to give the head and neck more stability by dry felting around the wire.

2. Use a Felting Needle to cover the core with coloured Merino Wool Tops, add stripes of a contrasting colour and tufts of colour for the tail and mane.

3. Add eyes and nostrils with black Wool Tops.

4. The ears may be dry felted separately and attached to the head using the Felting Needle.

5. Thread two lengths of Florist Wire through the body for the legs, make sure the four legs are the same length either side of the body. Dry felt the Wool Tops around each of the wire legs. Use deep jabs of the needle where the legs join the body.

6. Poke the end of each wire leg into a ball of Plasticine to enable the zebra to stand.

Hints

  • Always work on a block of foam rubber!
  • Do not work too fast as the needle is likely to break if it is pushed or pulled on an angle.
  • You can increase the thickness of any line by adding or laying another piece of wool over an existing one and needling.
  • The finished felt design can be framed, incorporated as a feature panel in a bag, or sewn on to a cushion.

© Copyright Zart Art 2009. Activity and teacher notes written and designed by Zart Education.

Key words: Art, craft, activity, activities, children, kids, school art activities, textiles, sewing, wool tops, zebra, animal