Needle Felting Fibers
This page is a "work in progress"! It is a challenge to see some of the subtle differences between colors online - I take the photos, crop and edit them and try my best to make the photos I upload look like what I see in front of me, but all our monitors are different. Another issue that makes it hard to sometimes tell subtle differences is that one batch to another of the same color can come from the mill looking a tad brighter or duller, more mottled or solid, based on dye-lot differences. For example, the Tundra I have in stock right now (9/19) came so much to the yellow side of the usual yellow-green that it is, that it almost looks like Straw!
Anyway, you get the idea. Some nuance is missed online that you can see better in person! I will be adding photos in the gallery here to the left that show colors together so at least you can see them in context of other "pinks" or 'greens", for example. We'll start working on that next week.
The fibers I recommend most for needle felting are the Felting Fiber, the Bergschaf Mixed Bags and the DHG Maori Fiber that you'll find here. Each of these products come in "batt" form. These products have a short, but not TOO short, staple length which is ideal for needle felting (the "staple" is the length of the fiber when shorn). The Maori by DHG and the Felting Fiber are blends of wool from several breeds of sheep whereas the Bergschaf is a single breed. They are universally used and liked by my local customers. Most choose based on the colors they need/want.
The biggest differences are
1) nature of color - DHG Maori colors are carded from a single color of fiber so the batts are solid vs. the Felting Fiber batts which are carded together from various different colors of fiber so the batts are heathery
2) the range of colors - DHG offers a great range of animal/skin tone colors and the Felting Fiber has a great range of jewel tones
3) batt shape - the DHG Maori batts are nice and uniform. Technically, both of these products can be used for wet felting too, but since the DHG Maori batts are more uniform in their format (not color, but structure) they are easier to layout for wet felting compared to the Felting Fibers, which can be really fussy to layout evenly! And yet, the hat shown in the gallery left was wet felted using the Felting Fiber. So it can be wet felted and I often use it for a shot of color or design, but rarely use it to wet felt the body/base of a project because the batts are too uneven.
4) the Bergschaf is a bit coarser than both the DHG and the Felting Fiber
While there is a slight price difference per "package"but notice that the weights are a bit different too: you get 2 ozs in the Felting Fiber and 50 gms (1.75 ozs) in the DHG and the Bergschaf Mixed Colors is a 100 gm or 3.5 ounce bag!
Another wool that SOME of my customers like for needle felting is the KAP Wool Merino. I have put that product online under the Fibers for Wet Felting, because that is the use I recommend it for. But about half of my needle felting customers like it (the other half hate it!) so if you want to try it, you'll find it on that page!
You can find a lot of pre-packaged Needle Felting Kits (both Tapestry and 3-D styles ) here on this page.
