Needle Felted Toadstool Knits

Sep 2

3 min read

Discover how to transform your knitwear with sweet, autumnal motifs. Once you have mastered this beginner-friendly needle-felting technique, you can customise all sorts of things -– giving your wardrobe a cute seasonal makeover!

This project is so quick and easy, you will soon be riffling through second-hand shops for more garments to upcycle!

YOU WILL NEED:

A pair of woollen gloves.
A range of autumnal coloured wool fibres. We used Merino in lightning, scarlet, mocha, mink, olive, conifer and elderberry.
(available in our wool shop)
A 38G triangular needle felting needle.
A little foam mat or sponge.

STEP 1

Dig out a plain pair of gloves that could do with a dash of autumn style, or treat yourself to a lovely new pair. Put a small piece of sponge or a small felting mat into the glove so that you have a soft surface to work on.

STEP 2

Take a tiny strand of green wool fibre and rub it in your fingers to make a small stalk. Poke it gently with the tip of the barbed needle so that the fibres tangle in and out of the fabric, creating a firm bond. Continue adding stalks of grass along the cuff. Use darker green strands too for a nice texture.

STEP 3

When you have a row of grass, tuft up a small patch of dark brown fibre and rub it into a rough lozenge shape. Begin poking it gently, pulling the fluffy edges in as you go.

STEP 4

Work around the edge to neaten it. Remember to keep peeling your felted design off the sponge so that it doesn't get permanently stuck to it!

STEP 5

Add a thin, short strip of bright red fibre across the top of the lozenge shape. Felt it neatly, tucking both sides in and curving the strip as you go to create the toadstool's cup.

STEP 6

Take a tiny thin strand of mink wool and twist it in your fingers. Tear it into short lengths and felt them over the brown wool, fanning out from the centre, to look like gills.

STEP 7

Fold a short strip of white wool in half. Felt the folded end in the centre of the lozenge. As you poke it, try to create a soft curve.

STEP 8

Work down, felting the stalk all over. Tuck the fluffy ends up and felt them into the base. it should be a little wider that the top of the stalk.

STEP 9

Roll wisps of white wool in your fingers to make tiny balls. Felt these gently all over the cup.

STEP 10

Rub a wisp of dark green wool in your hand to make a delicate, thin strand. Felt along the length to attach it in a gentle curve over the stalk. Add elderberry purple balls of wool along the top of the strand to look like berries.

STEP 11

Rub a few wisps of vixen wool into a little patch and felt it at the base of the stalk. As you felt, 'pull and poke' the wool at each end to create a tear shaped leaf. Tuck the fluffy sides in with the edge of your needle.

STEP 12

Add a vein of dark brown wool to the centre of the leaf.

TOP TIPS:

Don't forget to keep peeling your design off the mat as you go!
Take your time to felt the design carefully all over so that it bonds well to the surface and doesn't get pulled off.
If you want to be sure that it will last the test of time, apply cold water and soap. Put some bubble wrap inside the glove and place another piece over the top and rub the design gently through the bubblewrap to wet-felt the fibres. Check washing instructions for your gloves before you wash them. See this article for step-by-step instructions for this technique.