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PijangibearsI was wondering, how do you root hair on needlefelted areas. I have no idea how it is done, but
the effect is gorgeous.
Can anyone help me on how I do this.
Joanne Livingston was kind enough to create this tutorial showing how she does it: http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/ … 20a%20face
Becky
PijangibearsBecky, thank you for the link :thumbsup:
Which needle do I do it with? A normal felting needle? Or a special needle?
A felting needle is right. 
Becky
There are some special needles that are good for rooting ..I found the crown ones that doll makers root hair with are good...and stuffing the head with wool makes it easier to root...I get mine from a spinning supplier..I buy the washed fleece ..it is great for stuffing. You can get it all on eBay.
PijangibearsThank you so much, ladies - I sure wanna try it.
Jenny, I didn't know, that you root hair on your bears.
desertmountainbearI have never heard of crown needles before. I went to look and see what they were. Do they have more barbs than regular needles? I use a 40 to root, but now I want to find out about these.
Joanne I have no idea...the website I buy from says that these are especially for rooting ...I think maybe the barbs are near the end of the needle.
I have occasionally rooted hair...not often..I like it though it's very therapeutic!
This is where I get my bits an pieces from....its worth a try...they have lots of wools too
http://www.worldofwool.co.uk/products/1 … eedles.htm
PijangibearsThank you for the link, Jenny. Yes, it seems like a special needle for the job.
Posts: 19Apologies for bringing this thread back to life, but is there anywhere else where I can find this info? I haven't had much luck!
PijangibearsWhat especially are you looking for. Needles or rooting hair? ?
Posts: 19Rooting hair. I'd like to be able to integrate a felted face into the fur in a more gentle way, ie with a gradient of fur going into the felting, and my experiments in inserting mohair so far have been unsuccessful.
PijangibearsDessert mountain bears had a tutorial about that, but She talking it down. Try to write to her, Perhaps She will help you.
I’ve tried this. It takes patience (just like needle felting). One thing that helps a lot is to get “whole” bits of mohair from the fabric (rather than trimming the pile and trying to root those trimmings). The way mohair fabric is made, longer strands are caught in the warp and weft of the backing.
If you work with whole strands, they are bent or kinked in the middle once you remove them from the backing. Use your felting needle to poke that bent middle into your needle felted area until it’s firmly rooted. (You should be able to tug on it and it will stay put.) Once you’ve done that hundreds of times, you can trim and shade the fur to get the effect you want!
Becky
Posts: 19Thanks all! I tried that method Becky, but I can't have felted them in for long enough as they weren't very secure. I shall try again.
Yes, it takes some doing, and I remember that even after doing my best, maybe 1/2 of the fibers came out, so only 1/2 were adequately secured. I imagine you would get good at this with practice (as Joanne Livingston has done. Her DesertMountainBears are sublime.).
Best wishes for success. I personally think it's worth it - to achieve the exact shape you want but to also have the look of fur. (I'm not a big fan of needle-felted faces if they're just left as-is.)
Becky
