Are you scared of Merino Wool?
Elephant in process pict, before ears & fine detail
Before now I had been too scared to try & use Merino for any of my Needle Felt Sculpture. I was a die-hard Romney Wool fan & thought that Merino Wool would be too fine & slow to use for dry felting. I’ve read so many good things about Merino, but then so many needle felters complain about how difficult it is to work with.
Well…
I think I was bored a few months back, running low on wool & decided to order a small batch of the Merino to experiment with later. I’ve avoided it, but last week it was conveniently sitting on top of my wool stash & I grabbed some. Boy am I glad I did! It’s amazing….
First try using Merino Wool. Spent extra time sculpting the core wool so that it’s just a skin of Merino Top.
Gotta love the “Junk in his Trunk” (I mean his backside)!!
So many needle felted sculptures are so detailed & I’ve always wanted to achieve that amount of fine detailing, but thought I was doing something wrong. Come to find out that it was simply the wool I was using! Romney isn’t fine enough to get really precise detail, but Merino is. Not sure it’s for everyone, but step outta your comfort zone & try something new. You might be pleasantly surprised with the results!
I’m in love…
Now just gotta get down to painting him grey!
I always love doing wrinkles & stuff. Merino makes this so much easier.
Close up of detail. Amazed at how fine I can get!
Oh, Merino wool is heaven.
I have been using it from day one, and it’s so soft and wonderful. I make plushies out of it, and it really is one of the best things to work with for me -ever-. It gets dense but doesn’t lose the softness to the touch. <3
I know! I’ve been working with it for a while now & sometimes I go back to Romney for quick stuff. It feels so clunky & even though it is faster, I miss the Merino! Although I haven’t tried wet felting with it. But I think Merino is too expensive for the kinds of thing I make that way… Keep it for the GOOD sculptures!!
Thanks!
Chrissy M.