How much wool should I buy for a needle felting project?
I have been asked this questions many times over the years and understandably so. If you have never needle felted before or have just begun, how do you know how much wool you will need for a project? I have taken some pictures with information on the weight of wool needed to make a certain needle felting project that I hope will be a good guide for you to follow.
Wool will shrink down to about half of it’s size when needle felted, a good thing to understand when you are out shopping for wool. This is a good place to start, but I hope to offer more guidance with the pictures below.
Each of the sculptures in the pictures are solid Romney wool. Next to each of the sculptures is the amount of wool I used to make the sculpture. This is a good visual guide to understand how much it shrinks down when felted. Below each picture I include the weight of wool and the size dimensions of the sculpture.
The dragon is 2 inches tall.
I used .2 ounces to make this dragon.
This Bear Creek Snowman is 7 inches tall.
I used 3.2 ounces of wool to make him.
This loon sculpture measures 12 x 6 x 5 inches.
I used 6.6 ounces of wool to make this needle felted loon.
The Bear Creek Bunny is 4 inches tall.
I used .5 ounces of wool to make this bunny.
This giraffe sculpture is 12 1/2 inches tall and 8 inches long.
I used 4.2 ounces of wool to make this giraffe sculpture.
Please keep in mind that you will always want to buy more than you need because it is not fun to run out of wool before you are finished!
If you would like to learn more about needle felting you can read more articles here or try out one of my easy beginner needle felting kits!
Thank you for sharing. Very informative.
I saw that the above photos give examples of how much wool to use for each project. But what I want to know is what kind of scale you use to get such tiny measurements as .2 ounces or .5 ounces? Thank you.
I use a postal scale or my kitchen scale.
Thankyou for your comments I wondered if the giraffe had wire. At the moment am making bears but hope to expand. Great blog thanks Teresa
Thank you for this great info. I’ve been looking for a place that has felting classes near me. I can’t seem to find one. I was wondering about how long it takes to make a small 2 inch animal?
Thank you Teresa for this information I should imagine you get asked the same questions over and over again.. If its written down like this It will save you lots of time. Thank you xx
Teresa I just joined your blog and was wondering if you sell the non colored wool. I could not find it on the website. Thanks
Yes, you can find colored wool here -https://bearcreekfelting.com/product-category/needlefeltingsupplies/wool/
Another great informative and to the point article, thanks heaps Teresa, Oh to be closer to the action of your farm and enjoy the many beautiful moments you have with your sheep and your craft. Thanks again for making things easier to do
Lots of great information. I just started felting and it is quit addicting! I even started my grandkids on it this past weekend and they had a blast making their own little project. You have a wonderful and informative site! Thank you…
As a newbie to needlefelting, this article has been most helpful…thank you. Also, very beautiful work!
thank you Teresa. I will give those a try
can you use anything other than wool? I’m highly allergic, but I want to try felting
Wool is the best for needle felting. You may want to try camel, alpaca, goat or angora rabbit. These fibers will not felt as well as wool but you may not be allergic to them.
Mille mercis, je profite mieux de votre blog!!!!
Bises
Eliane
J’aime beaucoup votre blog mais je ne peux que regarder les images dommage qu’il ne puisse pas y avoir la traduction comme sur d’autres blogs.
merci à vous
Eliane
Merci d’avoir posé la question. J’ai ajouté un bouton de traduction en haut de la colonne de droite.
Do you have armatures inside any of these? Like wire in the giraffe or styrofoam in the duck,or are they all solid wool?
They are all solid wool. The giraffe has wire in his legs.
This article is great. I’m the leader of a felting group that is part of the Central Va. American Sewing Guild. I will differently let the ladies know about this information and your site.
Thank you!