One of the most popular new products in the store, Artfelt is quickly becoming our favorite felting method.  This clever paper allows you to control your felting design as precisely as needle felting, yet get that amazingly smooth wet felt finish without the time and physical labor of either method. Artfelt paper was invented in Germany by Gerhard Schoppel, a name already familiar to many yarn lovers.  He enjoyed felting with his daughter but wanted an easier method. Here’s how it works – You start by designing your felt.  Whether it’s a pouch, coasters, scarf, or something totally different, the process begins when you lightly needle felt fibers onto the special Artfelt paper.  Because the needle felting will not be the only thing holding the fibers together, there’s no need to spend a lot of time attaching firmly, a light tack will do. Once you are happy with your design, you wet the fibers and roll up the paper with a sheet of plastic to keep the layers from felting to each other.  Using a couple rubber bands and a knee high stocking to secure the roll, the felt then gets tossed into any standard dryer.  The agitation from tumbling in the dryer encourages the fibers to wet felt together, while the needle felting and paper hold everything in place so your design stays intact. When felting is complete, pouring boiling water over the project quickly dissolves the Artfelt paper, leaving you with a great piece of felt to use in all kinds of projects. Of course, that’s just the beginning.  By layering your fibers differently you can encourage highly textural, ruffle effects.  Playing with negative space in your design is a snap with Artfelt paper.  Sewing the paper into a specially shaped base lets you create three dimensional projects.  Even extremely detailed portraiture is possible because of the needle felting step. We can’t get enough of Artfelt, and we’re sure you’ll love it too!  We have starter kits available if you just want to try it out, and we also sell large pieces of the paper for your own creative concepts.

Read more