Needle Felted Wreath

I made this needle felted wreath today, and I’m not sure what to do to hang or decorate it.  What do you think?  Should it have a ribbon, or would that be too busy?  Should I just do a loop on the back?  Also, if I do a ribbon, what color should it be?  The roving for the leaves is a combination of colors (green, orange, yellow, red, and brown).

It’s very pretty, Kate. Can you tell us more about how you made it? Was it hard?

As for hanging it, I’d just put a hook on the back of it. I think adding a ribbon would away from the wreath.

Needle felting is actually super easy, and it only took me a couple of hours to make the wreath.  Basically, you start with carded wool, called roving.  You can buy it in all kinds of colors, or you can dye it yourself (I haven’t tried that).  Then you use a special kind of needle with tiny barbs on the end of it.  When you poke the roving over and over, you actually cause the wool fibers to fuse together, making a permanent design.  It’s my favorite new craft!

For the wreath, I used a foam wreath form, undyed natural roving, dark brown roving, and a variegated brown/orange roving for the leaves.  I wrapped the natural roving around the wreath form and used a multi-needle tool (just a way to work more quickly) to felt it around the form.  Then I did the branches in dark brown using a single needle.  I used a single needle for the leaves too.  For some of the leaves, I formed the leaf first using the single needle and then attached it to the wreath to give a 3-D effect.

Hmm.  Sounds more complex when I write it down.  It really isn’t hard at all.  If I get ambitious, maybe I’ll do a tutorial or something for my next project. 

Hi Kate - I think the wreath is beautiful!.

I agree with Holly about the ribbon possibly taking away from the wreath itself.
This is the first time I have ever heard of needle felting - it seems very interesting and fun!

It’s a really interesting craft.  I’ve heard that it’s only about 25 years old.  The needles were used in making mattresses, and about 25 years ago, someone figured out that they’d work for felting.

There was an article in Martha Stewart Living a couple of months ago that got me into it.  Also, I just found this cool video on making needle felted sweaters for kids.  I’m waiting for a new order of roving to give it a try, but I’ve already shrunk down one of my husband’s old sweaters!

I love the wreath; needle felting is something I’ve always wanted to try, but it looks hard whenever I read the descriptions. Maybe I just need to be brave and go for it!

As for the ribbon debate, I’m going to be the one who disagrees with the group. I think a ribbon bow would be really cute. I’d go with brown for the ribbon, unless one of the other colors is a better match for where you plan to hang it.