**After you read this post, please go to my main page and if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, there is a list of all my posts. Many were designed to help new people to discover “the joys of needle felting!”
I am most happy when I am doing something creative with my hands. I love working with fiber as it is so soft and the possibilities are endless! My passion now is needle felting. I specialize in creating Custom Sculptures of people’s pets! I love how much joy owners have when they recieve their little replica pet sculpture. I have about 100 examples of recent orders that I have done on ETSY. com. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5095756
A day doesn’t go by that I’m not stabbing wool with my needle..or my finger!OUCH!!
Yes this is a needle felted pomeranian..not a real dog!
the drool is finally wiped away. I wish I had tour talent. Bravo!
By: Linda on August 29, 2008
at 4:49 am
Thanks so much!
By: gourmetfelted on August 29, 2008
at 5:06 am
Wow, I totally thought that was a real dog…Amazing!!
By: MamaSheg #2835 on September 2, 2008
at 3:33 pm
Just curious Gerry, how did you do thenose on the Pom? It looks sooooooo real…I love the mouth too. you ARE amazing! Cindy~
By: Cindy on September 14, 2008
at 6:24 am
I make my own noses and I am going to have a tutorial on it! Someone in Africa needs noses and can’t find any. They are shaped from clay and cooked for 10 minutes. That’s it. I make a bunch in different sizes so I always have a nose for the size feltie that I make! For making the mouth, I make a regular mouth felted very firmly, then…gasp..take an exacto knife and slice it open!!
By: gourmetfelted on September 14, 2008
at 1:32 pm
Hi Gerry,
I love your weblog,just found it to-day! I haven’t been felting much lately,but looking at you blog is inspiring me again! I felted another pug a couple of months ago,just wondered if I could enter the felting competition with it?
Keep up the good work.
Best Wishes
Dee (ebay id Adore62)
By: Dee on September 18, 2008
at 11:41 am
I was wondering where one can find the small glass colored eyes? Or does everyone paint their own on a bead?
By: Karen Roesner on October 3, 2008
at 3:55 pm
I buy my eyes from jnc shop. He sells on ebay. I think that the eyes and noses make the dog. When I make my dogs I mark the eyes with pins with balls on them and the nose with black wool and when I put the glass eyes in and the sculpted nose, they are 100% better.
HAPPY SCULPTING!
By: gourmetfelted on October 3, 2008
at 4:22 pm
Hi there gourmetfelted, i am new to this site, i myself am just learning about felting, i have several books and now just need to buy all my supplies! any reccomendations where to purcahse supplies for starting out?
Debra says hello! She told me about this wonderful blog!
I have been making my own handmade soaps for 8 years now, and i just love animals, so i was attracted to learning how to make own felted kitties!
Lisa in Ontario, Canada
By: Lisa on October 18, 2008
at 10:00 pm
HI Lisa!!
I’m so glad that you found me!!
If you tell me what you’d like to work on, I can make a custom needle felting kit for you. I would reccommend something easy like my pumpkin kit. You can read how to do it in my blog and I have the wool, needles, batting, and foam…everything that you’d need to get started! You can purchase it in my etsy store.
http://gfelted.etsy.com/
This goes to my shop and look at the right sidebar for needle felting kit and click on that and it’s there. If you’d like to make something else, I can put some wool together for that also. It’s up to you!
By: gourmetfelted on October 19, 2008
at 12:38 am
Oops I done it again posted in the wrong spot! What is wet felting and how does one do this?
By: Karen on October 22, 2008
at 4:37 pm
Hi Karen, It doesn’t matter where you post! I look at all my new posts for the day so I see them no matter where they are! Wet felting is really wet! You wet the wool and add a little soap and rub, rub, rub, It takes a while. Make sure that it is not superwash wool or roving, This will NOT felt no matter how much you rub it! You can try felting on a bar of soap. You just lay the wool on the soap in a crisscross pattern, wrap it around and wet it and rub, rub, rub. After a while the wool will shrink onto the soap shape and you have soap with a built in wash cloth! Pretty cool!
By: gourmetfelted on October 22, 2008
at 4:50 pm
Go on my main page and go to the bottom and read my” getting started needle felting” and “my tips of the week” have everything that you need. Lots of people have learned felting HERE and don’t even use their books anymore. I have posts”how to felt” “which needle to use” “which fiber to use” “how to make a core” “how to apply long fur” etc. Everything is here and we have lots of fun and fun contests too!
By: gourmetfelted on November 7, 2008
at 6:41 pm
To find out all these posts click on GOURMETFELTED WEBBLOG on the top of the page and go all the way to the bottom and you can see all my posts.
By: gourmetfelted on November 7, 2008
at 6:44 pm
Hi,
I came across your needle felted Maltese. It is so amazingly real looking! I’ve never done any needle felting before… but now I’m very interested. Is it difficult to make a needle felting Maltese? Do you sell a “Maltese dog kit” and instructions?
Thanks for sharing the photos of all the wonderful creations you’ve made! They are great!
Jessie
By: Jessie on November 10, 2008
at 3:50 am
Thanks so much! I’m glad that you left a comment too!
I haven’t gotten organized yet to make a maltese kit, but I do have a pumpkin kit and sheep kit which are both great for beginners. It is a good way to get the feel of felting and they are not to hard. I may be making a maltese kit sometime soon.
By: gourmetfelted on November 10, 2008
at 4:01 am
gourmetfelted,
I just wanted to say thanks from the bottom of my heart for the work you have put into this web sight and your tips and all the help you freely offer us newbies. I really am amazed at the gift you have offered me in the tutorials . I just want to add your work is remarkable and I am humbled and yet encouraged!!! I look forward to many more days surrounded with wool fibers, sharp needles and like gheppeto making my puppets come alive.yours truely, stacie
By: stacie on February 1, 2009
at 3:42 am
Hi Stacie, Thank you so much for your kind words on my work and site!! I am so happy to hear that you have been helped by my site! I enjoy felting so much that I want everybody to try it!!HA! When I was first starting felting it was so hard to find much help and I struggled and struggled with some things, so I figured that wouldn’t it be nice to help people so it would be easier for them. I always try to improve something on each sculpture that I make. I like to make my dogs with a realistic look with a touch of whimsy. It is so much fun experimenting with different fibers. You can never stop learning in this art. Thank you so much for your comment…you made my day:)
HAPPY FELTING!
By: gourmetfelted on February 1, 2009
at 3:53 am
Hi Gerry,
I wanted to thank you for entering my Peter Rabbit into the felting contest. I did notice the criteria you set to distinguish between beginner and advanced..and while I am honored that you put my rabbit in the advanced category..I am merely in beginner status. To date, I have only created 10 needle felted pieces. Every one I have made thus far is located in my Needle Felted-NFEST set on my flickr account..so you are free to check it our ther under Thinkoutsidethebox2008 just for confirmation…Please feel free to contact me with any questions..Thanks so much.
Rachel
By: Rachel on February 6, 2009
at 2:59 am
Hi Rachel,
I moved your bunny to the beginner’s division. It looked so good to me that I figured that you were an advanced felter. Sorry for the mix up!
By: gourmetfelted on February 8, 2009
at 6:33 pm
I do alot of polymer clay but have just started needle felting and am having a ball.I love your blog and have really learned alot just in the few hours I have spent on it. I am having trouble finding a place to put a question and so am trying here. I have had a great time looking at your photos on flickr and noticed how you are able to put the dogs legs in a variety of positions. How do you create your dogs so that they can do this?
By: CJ on February 11, 2009
at 1:17 am
Hi CJ. Welcome to my blog! I’m glad that you were helped here.
Some of the best new felters I noticed were the polymer clay people. You have such an advantage working in 3D already. I had to train my mind to think 3D instead of flat like a painting. I make a wire armature inside of all my dogs. See TOP POSTS on the right column and the second one is a tutorial on making a wire armature. It’s like a stick figure inside the dog. You have to be careful when you are first wrapping the wool around the wire and felting in on. You have to be gentle with the needle so it doesn’t snap as felting needles are very brittle. HAPPY FELTING!
By: gourmetfelted on February 11, 2009
at 5:19 am
Thank you for your reply. After I sent the question, I found the subject area about amatures. It is very clear. Thank you.
By: CJ on February 11, 2009
at 5:32 am
I hope it’s ok to say “hello” and introduce myself a little here? I just found your blog; I’ve been glued to the screen reading all the posts for the last hour.
What a wealth of information! It is so very kind of you to share your knowledge and the beautiful work you have done. It is all lovely.
My first encounter with felting was a little pumpkin I saw in a friend’s magazine. It was love at first sight! I had no idea what I was doing but bought some needles a small bag of coriedale roving (which I’ve found is a bit laborious lol but so far the only thing I’ve tried, oh, other than the poly stuffing which worked great!) and went to play. I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and usually have several projects going. :} I enjoy learning to work with new mediums. Even at that, this is something different and really wonderful.
I live in a small town out in the desert and local resources are shall we say ‘limited’. The lady at the one and only store which might carry felting supplies looked at me like I’d asked for fish sweaters when I asked about supplies. So the internet has been a real boone in my search to learn. I’ve been devouring youtube and anything else I can find (and fit into the slim downtime I have after the kiddos go to bed
Sorry this has turned into a novel. I’m just so excited to find your blog and the information! Thanks again for being so generous in sharing.
By: kiku on July 13, 2009
at 1:49 am
Hi Kiku,
Thank you for your appreciation. When I started needle felting a few years ago I had to flounder around and learn things on my own..sometimes by the hard way. I thought that it would be nice to help people ENJOY felting more! I will be hosting a needle felting contest in the fall open to all with lovely prizes!! Keep an eye out! Please feel free to ask any questions that I may not have covered. I’d love to hear from you! Thanks so much for your comment!!!! You made my day!!
By: gourmetfelted on July 13, 2009
at 6:19 pm
I will eagerly watch for the contest– I’ve loved seeing everyone’s entries! And continue to scour your blog for all the good info
I’ve admired the little dogs and yours are so beautiful! My hubby was watching me scroll through the posts and kept asking, ‘Is that one real?’ lol
I’m eager to learn the techniques and apply them to animals of all sorts.
By: kiku on July 13, 2009
at 8:04 pm
Hi Kiku,
Thank you so much for your kind words on my sculptures. I would LOVE to see one of your dogs. You could send a photo or two to my email address and I can post it on my blog if you don’t mind.
gfelted@verizon.net
HAPPY FELTING!
~Gerry
By: gourmetfelted on July 21, 2009
at 3:39 am
Oh, I don’t have any dogs I’ve made. . . yet
. I just admire them in general because they look so real! And the details are fantastic. I figured those same techniques can be applied to so many things.
I just felted my first figures last week (a little fairy & a mouse). Not very realistic but my kids have enjoyed playing with them. And I enjoyed making them. My skills are limited but I’m learning!
By: kiku on July 21, 2009
at 3:46 pm
Hello, I am learing SOO much from your website!! THANK YOU!!! I have really jumped in with both feet by purchasing thirteen kitchen garbage bags of raw llama fleece. I have been really busy washing and carding it to try my hand at needle felting. Now I have lots on natural colors.
Most of the fleeces are very wooly but some are more like hair. I thought they could be perfect animal tails and manes.
Would you be willing to share your techniques for adding the fur to the squirrel tail? Thanks for such a great site!! marsha
By: marsha kay on July 29, 2009
at 1:22 pm
Hi Marsha,
Welcome to my blog! I’m so glad that my blog could Help you to enjoy felting more! I did something similar when I first started felting but not that many bags! You must be VERY excited! Llama is nice to work with!
To do the squirrels tail you have to study a real squirrel closely. I layered the colors one by one and carefully trimmed it. It took about 4 hours just to do the tail. The trick is to copy a real squirrels tail and you have to notice every detail. I was quite surprised at the colors in a squirrels tail!! They totally don’t look like what you would guess them to be. Look carefully~
HAPPY FELTING!
By: gourmetfelted on July 29, 2009
at 2:02 pm
thank you. Is the tail fur added to a wire armiture that has a felted covering? Do you start on one side with all the layers and then felt the other side in layers> Or is it felted all the way around? thanks again. marsha
By: marsha kay on July 29, 2009
at 2:17 pm
The tail has wire in it and then it has wool felted on as a base for the long fiber. I did one side in many layers and flipped it over and did the other side. Felting all around could work too. Best to experiment sometimes and see what works best for you!
HAPPY FELTING!
Gerry
By: gourmetfelted on September 10, 2009
at 5:24 pm
Hi Gerry,
Thank you for telling me about this wonderful site! What a lot of great advice and photos to see. It’s so generous of you to give up your time to help others to enjoy the art of needle felting!
My 11 year old son Logan attempted his first needle felted guinea pig yesterday! He tried to make it tiny like my felted animals and I think that was his mistake! He had a few poked fingers (I did tell him the needles were sharp!) He wasn’t happy with the resuly, but I am going to encourage him and shall show him this great site when he gets home from school,
Thanks so much for sharing your advice and tutorials with everyone.
I think your felted creations are fantastic, you are so talented,
Katie
By: Katie on September 10, 2009
at 12:09 pm
Hi Katie,
Welcome to my blog! Thank you for you rkind words on my blog and work! I’m always glad to help a fellow felter!
That is such a wonderful thing to teach your son crafts! My mom always encouraged me to be artistic! My whole adult life has been involved in art and crafting and I have her to thank!
I think that kids should have thimbles when they start needle felting. Felting Needles are very sharp and painful! It is too easy even for ADULTS to poke their fingers, and kids may have less dexterity. Better safe than poked, especially in the beginning!
I use a wire armature and felt the wool onto that, so the needle is pointing inward mostly. Less pokes that way!
Keep up the good work!
HAPPY FELTING!
~Gerry
By: gourmetfelted on September 10, 2009
at 5:31 pm
Hi Gerry,
That is very good advice, I bought some thimbles when I first started felting, but couldn’t get on with myself, my little felted creations tend to be too tiny. I told my son to put on the thimbles, he did have one on, but still managed to poke himself. Luckily he didn’t stab hard, but a child could easily hurt themselves so it is a good idea. The needles are SO sharp!!
Logan is very artistic and follows my passion for painting and crafting, he is very good at drawing and spends every day practising. He thought your needle felted animals were amazing by the way! He couldn’t believe that they weren’t REAL dogs. He kept saying ‘WOW’ to every animal!!!!!
What sort of wire do you use for the armatures?
Love this blog
Katie (and Logan)
By: Katie on September 10, 2009
at 6:17 pm
Hi There!
I think it is fantastic that you share so much information of your craft with others! I find that there are 2 kinds of people in the world – those that hoard their knowledge (which only helps themselves) and those that share their knowledge (so that everyone might benefit from this person and go on to expand the knowledge so that the craft or whatever can grow). I truly appreciate you being the latter!
That being said – your artworks are an inspiration. I have made needle felted mice in the past but all my roving is a natural cream colour. Where do you get that pure white roving? Is it really as white as it seems? What kind of roving is it? I find a sudden desparate need for pure white roving!!! (my fingers are just itching to make a fox)
Thanks from Katlin in Canada
By: Katlin on October 12, 2009
at 8:45 pm
Hi Katie,
I use 22 gauge stainless steel wire for my armatures. I figure it is less likely to rust that way. For larger sculptures I would use thicker wire or double the 22 gauge.
HAPPY FELTING!
By: gourmetfelted on October 13, 2009
at 3:12 pm
Hi Katlin,
Welcome to my blog! Thank you soooooo much for leaving such a lovely comment! You made my day! So many people read my blog and never say thanks!
When I first started needle felting a few years ago, it was so hard to find any help…I had to struggle a lot. So I thought that it would be fun to help other people so they would enjoy felting more.
Everyone has their own style, so even if several people felt the same thing, each will be unique and different from the others.
I am so glad to be an inspiration! That is so heart warming
I do have white wool that I carefully wash with organic peppermint soap and dry in the sunshine! I have it in my shop and I do have red fox colored fiber if you need it!
http://www.gfelted.etsy.com
Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have about felting or wool! I’d be happy to help!
HAPPY FELTING!
~Gerry
By: gourmetfelted on October 13, 2009
at 3:20 pm