I think I’ve made about a million needle felted hearts. They are one of those things that you make… and then you love it so much that you think how gorgeous one would look in turquoise, mint, mustard, gray, teal, violet… until you have about a gazillion of the sweet little things spilling out of every nook and cranny in you home… and you can’t decide which gorgeous little one you love the most!
Sound familiar? … Not? … WHAT? … well, let me set you straight… you haven’t lived until you’ve made a bucketful of little needle felted hearts and given them to all your friends and family (and neighbors and kid’s teachers too.)
At first, making needle felted hearts was really hard and I struggled to get them perfectly voluptuous. But, on about the 79th one, I discovered I’d created my own little method and I was churning them out like a pro.
Here are my special tips and tricks to making the perfect little needle felted hearts :
1. Break off a piece of wool a little longer than the length of your needle. Your piece should be quite thick.
2. Roll the wool between the palms of your hands as if you were making a snake out of playdough. The wool snake will firm up so that it is easier to work with.
3. Holding the wool in your left hand, bend the ‘wool snake’ in half and pinch the V.
4. Still holding the V in your left hand, use your right hand to tuck the bottom arm of the V into the inside center of the V.
5. Tuck the top arm of the V into the inside center of the V… can you see the heart shape emerge?
6. Still holding it in your left hand, carefully needle felt the top seam of your heart, where the two bent over pieces of wool connect. Use short and well controlled jabs with the needle as your fingers are very close to where you are working and you don’t want to stab yourself and bleed all over your sweet little heart.
7. Continue needle felting this seam until you can set your heart down and it will hold it’s shape.
8. Set your heart on your foam board and work along the outside edges of your heart, encouraging the wool to form a tight V at the base of your heart. Work on one side and then the other.
9. Felt on the front and back of your heart, neatening it up into the perfectly plush little shape you desire. If it’s bumpy or wispy, keep needle felting it until the surface of your heart is wonderfully smooth and uniform.
10. Voila! Look at your stunning little heart. Aren’t you clever!
And, here are a few more photos of my most recent needle felted heart collection.
Sneak peek… shhhh… this is what I’ve made Kitty for Valentine’s Day… this sweetest little pink gnome holding a happy heart. It’s because I’ve been feeling really guilty as the tooth fairy has failed to come 4 nights in a row to collect her first molar!
Now that you are an expert heart maker, I’ll be showing you how to make this cute gnome too. Tune in tomorrow!
NOTES:
a.) For those of you who are now so in love with needle felted hearts and really want to make some for yourself but have no wool or needles, here is a kit from my shop that has an assortment of my favorite colors – Needle Felting Kit.
b.) For those of you who are now so in love with needle felted hearts and really want to make a needle felted heart for yourself but are still feeling a little nervous of the sharp needle, here is a kit that will teach you how to make one using a cookie cutter that will protect your fingers – Needle Felted Heart Kit.
c.) For those of you who are now so in love with needle felted hearts and really want your own but don’t want to bother with making them yourself… I’ve made them for you! You can get them, in any color, in my shop – Needle Felted Hearts.
Happy crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni
17 Responses
How about for those of us who would love to needle felt their own gnomes, but could never be good enough at it to give them as gifts for Valentine’s Day? I don’t suppose you have any in your shop? Pretty please? :-)
Hi Trace… for you, I maka da gnome :-)
I’ll make one just like her for you – I’ve listed her in my shop here – https://themagiconions.com/shop/product/needle-felted-valentine-gnome/
Blessings and magic,
Donni
Lovely tutorial and trick of the trade! Thanks.
Let me see what you make, Karen :-)
thank you for this beautiful post! i’m new to this, and now very excited to get started. :)
Such a pleasure, Melinda… enjoy, And, I’d love to see a photo of your hearts when you have made one :-)
xo Donni
Thank you for this great tutorial! It’s my first day needle felting and your tutorial is the best I have seen. I actually feel like I am starting to get this. When I post my hearts to my blog I will be linking back to your post. Thanks!!
HI Bree… oh my… I’d be so excited to see yours :-)
xo Donni
hi Donni,
May I ask what size of needles you recommend for this project? I will be teaching this craft to a group of folks and need to order supplies. I’m not sure what size to order. Thank you!
Hi Tara,
I use a 36 guage needle in my kits. I like them, especially for beginning needle felting, because they are sturdy and strong, do a lot of work for the felter and are wonderfully robust and don’t break easily.
Hope this helps.
I’d LOVE to see photos of our group working together :)
xo Donni
Ohhhhh…..So cute!! I ‘just’ started needle felting and this looks great for a newb like me to tackle :) Is there a way to attatch a cord for to attatch it to a phone or bag as a charm?
Many thanks for the great tutorial.
Hi Jane,
So excited for you to start your needle felting journey.
Yes, you can use a needle and thread… or needle and a little hemp string or ribbon. If you ‘giggle’ the needle through the wool, should work well.
xo Donni
Thank you Donni :) That makes a lot of sence! I already have one adorable little heart, and can feel quite a few more just waiting :D
Hey! I just wanted to add soething here if that’s ok with you!
I LOVE this tutorial! I’m just learning to properly needle felt too.
I got sick of stabbing myself when I’m working on small projects like hearts etc. I use two small pieces of cardboard alove the < end of he heart to avoid stabbing myself! ;)
That’s so clever!!
Did you know that you can also get finger protectors … little rubber finger guards that help a lot too.
xo Donni
Thanks for sharing. I was using metal cookie cutter. This works much better and is easier to make different sizes.
Thanks for letting me know this was helpful <3