The secret to steeking and other adventures in needle felting

One of the thigs I love about knitting, spinning, weaving, felting.... is that certain aspects of each craft can be carried over into each other and make life alot easier. My most recent expereince is needle felting and knitting. I finally had the courage to finish a chunky lace dress that I knit about a year ago. I needed some gumption to finish it because it turned out wider than expected and required sewing and cutting of the side seams to tailor it. I was also supposed to crochet the neck edge which I put off as I am not a confident crocheter.  After a year, I forgot that I was "supposed" to crocet the neck edge and just picked up and knit a ribbed neck edge.

For the tailoring, I zigzag sewed the side seams and cut away the extra "fabric" and then proceeded to cut off the extra bulk, and was planning on hand stitching the ends, but they kind of all came undone up the sewed edge. My dress is 100% wool, so I thought why not just needle felt in all those pesky ends. It looks finished and is very secure.

Before

After

This technique can be applied to other uses as well. Our friend Katy knit this cute pear with Patagonia cotton and stuffed it with roving and lavender. She crocheted the leaf and then needle felted it onto the pear.

This is a sweet little gift she is giving to her Grandma for her stash to deter moths. Merry Christmas everyone!