DIY Network

Needle-Felted Sun on Denim Jacket Felted on the back of a ready-made denim jacket, this sunny face will light up your world. From "Uncommon Threads" episode DUCT-110

Wendy Hallman shows how to let the sunshine in -- and capture it on the back of a denim jacket for everyone to enjoy!

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	Needle-Felted Sun
	PDF Click here to download the sun pattern.

Needle-felting entails taking wool or fiber and using a special needle called a felting needle, poking the fiber numerous times until it's the shape and density you like. When you poke into the fibers, the felting needle, which has barbs on its shaft, grabs the top fiber and brings it down through the underlying fibers, entangling it and there by making felt. The more you poke, the more entangled the fibers get, and the denser the felt will become.

Materials:
denim jacket
NZ Wool Tangerine-2 oz.
NZ Wool Yellow-2 oz.
NZ Wool Blue-1/2 oz.
NZ Wool Black-1/2 oz.
NZ Wool White-1/2 oz.
felting needles, at least two, size 38
foam-rubber work surface
10" embroidery hoop
optional: hot soapy water in a spray bottle, clear water in a spray bottle, towel

Safety notes:

• Please be aware that felting needles are extremely sharp and brittle. Keep the needles away from children!

• Before using the needles for the first time, disinfect them with alcohol wipes. Run the wipe from the top end of the needle to the tip a few times and let dry.

• When using a felting needle, watch where you're poking at all times. To keep it from breaking, try to hold it straight while entering and exiting the fibers, as bending will cause it to break.

1. Wash and dry the jacket according to manufacturer's care label.

2. Print and cut out the sun and circle pattern. Carefully trace the sun pattern onto the back of the jacket.

3. Place the embroidery hoop over the traced pattern on the jacket so the fabric you'll be working on is stretched across the bottom, not the top, of the hoop. Lay this over the piece of foam. The fabric should be flush with the foam, and you'll be reaching into the hoop to needle-felt.

4. Start filling in the sun's rays using the orange wool and the felting needle (figure A). Pull off small tufts of the orange wool. Lay the tufts over the rays and, starting on the outside edges and working inward, use the needle to poke, or needle, and guide the wool inside the lines; overlap slightly into the middle of the sun. Needle very well until the wool is dense and firmly attached to the denim. You should see none of the fabric showing through the orange. If you do, add more orange wool and needle firmly.

5. Working with the yellow wool, pull off thin tufts and stack them, three layers thick, in the center of the sun. Make the first layer run horizontally, then one vertically and the last horizontally. Cut out the circle pattern and lay it on top of the yellow wool, centering it inside the rays. Needle-felt densely around the edge of the circle by keeping the pokes close together; this will make a defined edge (figure B). Remove the pattern and fold any yellow wool that falls outside the edge back upon itself and needle into place (figure C). Needle the yellow circle until it holds together well.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

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