All About: Machine Needlefelting

The introduction of stand alone needlefelting machines or needlefelting attachments for sewing machines has opened up a whole new area for exploration. Following are sites that provide helpful information and supply resources for those otherwise expensive replacement needles:

Comparison of Needlefelting Machines
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/Felting_machines.htm

Should I Buy a Generic Felting Attachment?http://www.tryourdesigns.com/GenericFeltingAttachment.htm

Babylock Embellisher Tips
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/babylock_embellisher_tips.htm

I Took the Machine Out of the Box – Now What?
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/FirstTips.htm

Needle Size Recommendations for Needle Felting/Punching Machines
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/needle_size_recommendations_for_.htm

Felting Needles and the Babylock Embellisher, Fab Felter, Pfaff Smart 350, Huskystar ER-10, and Bernina Needle Punch Attachment:
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/Felting_needle_info.htm

Machine Needlefelting Needle Supply Source - Packages of 5, 25 and 50 - these are hand felting needles that have been cut to size to work with all of the needlefelting machines - they are a lot less expensive & they work very well
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/CutFeltingNeedles1.htm

Avoiding Needle Breakage on Needle Felting Machines
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/AvoidingNeedleBreakage.htm

How to Make Felt Using a Needle Felting Machine
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/DownloadableFiles/FlatFelt.doc

3 minute vidcast using an embellishing machine.
http://beates-fabric-art.blogspot.com/2007/07/if-i-punch.html

Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.tryourdesigns.com/frequently_asked_questions.htm

Frequently Asked Questions – Fiberella
http://www.fiberella.com/html/faq_s.html

Tips for Using Vilene with Needle Felted Fibers http://www.tryourdesigns.com/VileneTips.htm

Embellisher Mini Lesson – Linda Schmidt
http://www.quiltingbee.com/special-events/_SalesArchive/Ads-2005/Spring-2005/LindaSchmidt_embellisher.html#Lesson

Pattern Making with the Embellisher - Linda Monk
http://www.purplemissus.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/postcard.pdf

Embellishing Scrim onto Velvet - Linda Monk
http://www.purplemissus.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/scrim.pdf

Autumn Leaves: Playful Techniques for the Embellisher - Paula Scaffidi - Step-by-step Instructions
http://fiberella.com/AUTUMN_LEAVES.pdf

Paula also shares several video demos for this - note file sizes are large; no sound is included:

Create a leaf demo
http://fiberella.com/Create_a_Leaf_output.wmv

Tacking the roving lightly at first
http://fiberella.com/Tack_the_roving_lightly_at_first_output.wmv

Blending Colors
http://fiberella.com/Blending_colors_output.wmv

Adding soft vein lines
http://fiberella.com/Adding_soft_vein_lines_output.wmv

Adding crisper lines
http://fiberella.com/Adding_crisper_lines_output.wmv

Paula's Website
http://fiberella.com/index.html

Embellish and Stitch – Valerie Campbell-Harding & Maggie Grey – this is a 60-page book covering a variety of techniques using an embellishing machine. http://embellishandstitch.com/
Sample pages can be viewed:
Superior Surfaces - http://embellishandstitch.com/but1.htm
Heat Treatments - http://embellishandstitch.com/but2.htm
Using Hand Tools - http://embellishandstitch.com/but3.htm
Combine with Stitch - http://embellishandstitch.com/but4.htm
Pleats, Tucks and Folds - http://embellishandstitch.com/but5.htm
Experimenting with removing needles - http://embellishandstitch.com/but6.htm

BLOGS dedicated to machine needlefelting:

Fembellish Journal - N. Rene West has posted a series of mini tutorials on machine needlefelting - she shares lots of information about her techniques - its well worth the time to browse through her postings (Note: postings are in reverse order - the earliest ones are found on Page 3):
Page 1: http://fembellish.wordpress.com/category/felting/
Page 2: http://fembellish.wordpress.com/category/felting/page/2/
Page 3: http://fembellish.wordpress.com/category/felting/page/3/

Her Majesty Margo Blog (Margo Duke)
http://www.hermajestymargo.blogspot.com/

Needlefelt Challenge
http://needlefeltchallenge.blogspot.com/

Embellish with Barbs - This blogring is open to anyone that needlefelts, either by machine or by hand
http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=embellish1;action=addform

Embellishment Machine – This blogring is for anyone who is working with an embellisher or needlefelting
http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?action=addform&ring=daro