Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make your sculpture?
To sculpt with wool I use a process called felting, which refers to compressing and matting individual fibers into a united solid mass through use of heat, pressure, moisture, or mechanical means. Most people are familiar with wet felting, in which hot, soapy water is used to shrink knitted or crocheted items into smaller, dense versions. I do not use hot water and soap—instead I use tools adapted from industrial use and work with the dry wool fibers directly.
In industrial use, machines compress wool into flat sheets of felt mechanically by repeatedly plunging hundreds of sharp, barbed felting needles into loose wool to mat the fibers together. I use the same tools by hand, on a much smaller scale. I begin with cleaned, brushed, fluffy wool that has been prepared to be spun into yarn. I unite the fibers together by poking the mass repeatedly with a hand-held felting needle, which causes the microscopic scales that cover the fibers to interlock and mat together. In order to shape a piece I poke the wool all over and in particular directions, adding more wool, compressing the surface, and making the felt increasingly dense. The process is time-consuming and deliberate, as every centimeter of the piece must be worked to fasten down parts, create detail, and tighten the surface. To achieve the form I want I must continually strike a balance between the overlapping additive and subtractive processes of building up and pushing down the material. The resulting forms are largely self-supporting and seem to swell into space with the contradictory appearance of being both solid and porous, firm and soft.
Do you use molds?
No, I do not use molds; I only use a felting needle… see above.
Is it solid wool, through and through?
Most of my felted wool sculpture is solid wool—that is, as much as wool fibers compressed together with some amount of trapped air can be solid. However I occasionally use foam rubber or Styrofoam as a base for sculpting over, to bulk up or minimize some of the tedious and repetitive felting. This is not ideal, as it compromises some of the plasticity characteristic of felted wool and limits the way I can change and adjust a piece as I make it. Plus it feels terrible to thrust the needle into foam rubber or Styrofoam.
Do you use an armature?
Felted wool is quite self-supporting—its combination of light weight and structure makes armatures unnecessary except when it comes to ankles of standing figures. In that case I use wire.
Do you teach classes?
Yes, I occasionally teach classes when the right mix of date, time, and venue can be found. Please email me at stephaniegmetz@yahoo.com if you like to be added to my “workshop-interested” mailing list. To see work by my students go here.
Is your work for sale?
Can your teddy skulls be mass-produced?
I do not and cannot mass-produce my felted wool sculpture. Nor do I wish to do so.
Can I post your work on my blog?
Yes, but I would appreciate credit, a link back to my site… and for you to let me know so I can read your blog too.
Where can I get felting needles?
Felting needles can be found at yarn shops that feature spinning supplies… and now they can also be found in many big-chain craft stores. I suggest using the largest gauge (lowest number) size you can find. And know in advance that you will hurt yourself with them at least a few times. This is not an ideal art form for young children.
Did you invent this technique?
No. Felting needles were invented to allow large-scale industrial felting: huge beds of thousands of felting needles can mat wool into flat fabric in a uniform way. People have been using felting needles to create three-dimensional work by hand for many years, either as stand-alone pieces or to adorn other felt or fabric items. I’m just using an available tool and technique in my own way.
How did you get into felting?
In 2002 a friend showed me an article in Sunset Magazine about making felted cup cozies. I was fascinated by the thought of taking loose fibers, wrapping them around a glass, rubbing the whole thing around spiritedly in hot water and soap, and ending up with a ‘solid’ wool cup. I had never thought about felt or how it might be made before that, and the transformation of the material intrigued me. I went to my local (and now regrettably closed) yarn shop on a whim to try it and the proprietress instead talked me out of that ‘messy’ wet-felting technique and directed me to the book “The Felting Needle: From Factory to Fantasy” by Ayala Talpai which included several felting needles and instructions on how to use them. I launched right into making realistic studies of the figure in felt… then just kept going from there, following the material where it led me.
Do you do any other kinds of artwork besides felt sculpture?
Yes; although I am now focused on felt sculpture (and prepartory drawings) I also occasionally work in printmaking, painting, and figure drawing. To see some of this older work, go here.
Where do you get your felting supplies?
I buy most of my wool in bulk from www.theflyingewe.etsy.com; she also sells smaller amounts of roving in a rainbow of colors, as well as needles, needle holders, and other related needle felting items.
