Needle angle that is!

When you begin needle felting an object the best angle is 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the surface of the fiber (not the work surface). The needles are thrust deep into the fiber and quite often out the other side. This is the powerhouse of needle angles. It is meant to move the most amount of fiber, concentrating the fiber into the desired shape! Deep needling completely through an object will cause a fuzzy appearance on the far side. When you are first forming an object or in the middle stages of refining an object that fuzziness is good! It may not be the finished surface that you eventually want, but it is a clear indication that you are really felting your object!

As work continues, the needling angle should start switching to more of a 45 degree (or variant) angle. You’re refining the shape and the firmness and a medium angle gives you the correct power and direction to move fiber where it is needed while increasing firmness. At this angle needles may or may not be thrust completely through the object and out the other side.

For finishing, needles are almost parallel to the surface itself! You no longer need to alter the shape or firmness significantly, you only want to smooth the surface and that is best done with needles held at a shallow angle and oriented so that the first barb on the blade is closest to the surface of the object.

In reality, you’re likely to switch back and forth between these angles as needed while you work. You may also be changing the size of needle with which you are working. It’s not uncommon for me to switch between #38stars, #40s and #42 and back again as I work, but I always finish with #42s

ROTATE and/or ROLL your object often!!

If you find that a lot of fiber is sticking in your work surface, you are not rotating/rolling your object frequently enough. A certain amount of fiber will always end up in your work surface, but it shouldn’t be a lot. This is most likely to happen when you are deep needling without moving your object so keep your object moving!