Cookhill WI

At the September meeting of Cookhill WI, members were introduced to Needle Felting. Felting is the process of compressing and matting fibres together to create a dense fabric the oldest known fibre craft. Thousands of years ago our ancestors felted wool to create blankets,clothing and yurts. Traditional felt is made through a process call wet felting. However our speaker this evening introduced the members to the dry form of felting where the fibres are tangled and compressed using a felting needle, without soap or water. Needle felting requires the use of very sharp, barbed felting needles to matt the wool fibres together. The tiny barbs near the tip of the needle only work in one direction, as the needle is pushed down. As the needle is inserted into the fibres, the barbs snag onto the fibres and pull them down, interlocking them. Repeated stabbing of the fibres with the felting needle ('needling') will result in a firm felt mass. This is the basic principle of needle felting. The craft of needle felting is extremely versatile. By gradually adding fibre and defining the shape through needling, detailed three-dimensional structures such as animals can be created entirely from wool fibres. Members were given a needle and wool, a shape and they began the task of felting. Lovely items were created using the different shapes. Members were encouraged to take the materials home and to continue to develop their skills and who knows what could be created.