Needle Felting Next Steps - West Bridgford Library - Adult Learning

About this course

Building on the skills learnt in Needle Felting Beginners, over this three week course you will create a bird, animal or creature. You will gain new skills in creating a wire armature, defined body parts, legs and detailed faces.  Think ahead of time what animal, bird or creature you want to create and what colours of wool roving might be needed to create them (see materials required below).

What will learners achieve by the end of the course?  

• Be able to create a wire armature of a creature. 
• Add basic body shape to a wire armature using wool roving. 
  
• Build up  
  
• Add a top layer of wool to create fur or feathers 
  
• Add detailed features such as eyes, beak, legs or feather pattern. 
  
• Be able to design and create a needle felted creature independently.
  

Resources required:-

• Wool roving (unspun wool, NOT normal knitting yarn) in a selection of different colours (think about what creature you want to make during the course and what colours might be needed to create them!) If there are choices of types of wool, Merino or Corriedale are good options.  
• Needle Felting Needles; you will need standard triangular felting needles (size 36). We recommend buying at least a couple as they can break when you are first learning. I also recommend getting some finer 38 gauge needles to create a smoother finish and smaller details.  
• Garden wire or pipe cleaners to create a wire armature. 
• Foam, dense sponge or felting brush to felt onto. An offcut of blue upholstery foam about 15cm square and 5cm thick (6 inches square and 2.5 inches thick) is ideal.  
• If you struggle with grip or dexterity in your hands, a felting needle holder (for single or 3 needles) can be helpful.   

Depending on your chosen creature, you may need the following : 

• thread or hair to use as whiskers 
• Lambswool or toy filling to create a base layer for larger creatures.  
• beads or wire back eyes 
• acrylic paint to create bird legs 
• beeswax block or balm for beaks 

Supplies can be purchased from: 

• The Bead Shop Nottingham 
• Boyes 
• Hobbycraft 
• World of Wool (www.worldorfwool.co.uk) 
• Amazon 
• Local Markets often have stalls selling blue upholstery foam. 

Booking your place and fee information

If you are in receipt of certain benefits you will be offered the course for free, however if you have a financial barrier which may prevent you from enrolling on the course, please visit our webpage for further information  https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/skills-learning/funding-your-courses/

To secure your place on the course BOTH the following must be done:

• Complete the EVENTBRITE BOOKING, AND
• Complete our INSPIRE ONLINE ENROLMENT FORM for each person attending the course.

You should be redirected to the Inspire Online Enrolment Form after completing the Eventbrite booking.  If you are not redirected, please use the link supplied in the Eventbrite booking confirmation email.

To book and enrol on one of our courses, you must have been living in England and have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years.

Some exceptions may apply if you are living in England with evidence of the right to remain and are from an EEU/EEAU country (completion of a questionnaire will be required).  As we no longer receive funding for our ESFA-funded courses for learners living in the devolved areas listed below, full cost fees would apply to these courses if you live in these areas:

• Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield 
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Greater London
• Greater Manchester
• Liverpool City Region
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland
• Tees Valley
• West of England
• West Midlands
• West Yorkshire

Any questions?

Check the FAQs page, or get in touch:

• By phone: 01623 677 200
• By email: learning@inspireculture.org.uk

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