The art of felting: tidy, cute & addictive

EILEEN Williams from Valley, Anglesey, has always enjoyed arts and crafts, and this week she tells us about her love of needlefelting.

She was introduced to it by her cousin LouiseAnne from Ireland when Eileen visited her last summer.

She showed Eileen some of her work and demonstrated how to do it, and after a visit to a craft shop, Eileen bought some needle felting equipment to try it for herself.

“When I got back to Anglesey I just had to put what I’d learnt from Louise-Anne into practice and I made my first item, a little lamb. It was a bit primi- tive to say the least but it was very cute. I put a little ribbon and bell around its neck and gifted my first piece to my cousin as a thank you.

“In time I made a rabbit which was partially felted over a wooden armature and had very strange ears.

“I’d tell you how I made the ears but it’s my secret. I called him Runny Babbit and he was gorgeous. I was finally proud of something I made and I put it on a crafters group on Facebook and got 512 likes in next to no time. I was made up!

“I’m sure needle-felting is addictive! I just cannot sit still and watch TV without making something, it feels like wasted time oth- erwise. But you have to be very, very careful not to stab yourself because those needles are supersharp!

“Every needle felter gets stabbed by their needles, it’s an occupational hazard, along with breaking those needles which are very fragile.

“When I first started I was always breaking needles but not so much now, fortunately. One of the advantages of needle-felting above my other crafts is that I can continue to create with minimum mess as it’s not messy. When I’m painting my plaques and pet portraits, there’s paint and mess everywhere! I’m not a tidy crafter, that’s for sure!