2D Needle Felted Festive Tree Hoop

A festive 2D landscape that is perfect for beginners and experts alike!

I'm Kelly Kingdon from @thepowerofk_feltedart of Erin, Ontario, Canada. I've been obsessed with compressing wool into both 2D & 3D artwork for many years. My "stabby zen" practice ramped up during Covid as a necessity for my self-care. I emerged from lock-down with a passion for creating nature themed fine art out of wool. Having utilized materials and products from The Felt Store Canada in my felt pieces, I was thrilled when they approached me with testing their new Needle Felting Start Kit. The kit comes with 6 colors (Yellow, Orange, Red, Kelly Green, Royal Blue and Black) of 100% New Zealand wool roving, and a felting needle to get you started in your craft! And as an added bonus, while supplies last – every purchase of the starter kit will receive an additional 0.5oz of Teal roving for FREE!

Your felting projects will thank you for the vibrant colors and ease of color coat coverage for 2D projects. When blending, the fibre creates a painterly, almost oil pastel appearance. For this test piece, I opted for a seasonal festive layout which would showcase the vibrant primary color palette and timing of the product release.

I am a freeform artist for smaller pieces and I wanted to play with freehand layout for composition. If you wish to draw out your composition, I encourage you to do so in the first step of the project process.

Supplies and tools:

• 1 Needle Felting Starter Kit from The Felt Store Canada (a felting needle is included)
• 1 Package of F-10 Carded Felting Wool – 50g from The Felt Store Canada
• 1 small piece of Wool Felt – approximately 8” x 8”
  • (or a piece of boiled wool if you have the option available to you)
• 1 Surface to needle felt on
  • (The surface needs to be wide enough to lay your wool felt backing onto. Some people use sponge or foam surfaces, but a 13” x 13” Wool Ironing Mat from the Felt Store makes a great surface as well.)

NOTE: The products linked above are currently only available on the Canadian website

Instructions:

Step 1 - Using a 5" embroidery hoop and either wool felt or boiled wool, trace the outside of the inner hoop to mark where to place your design. If you'd like to sketch out the layout, please do so at this stage.

Step 2: Using the teal wool, fill in the horizon and background tree-line. Be sure to layer the fibers to achieve optimal coverage, and vary the heights of the trees for added visual interest. 

Steps 3 & 4: Determine the size of the foreground tree. If you've already sketched the tree, fill the area with bright green wool. Vary the edges to represent natural evergreen foliage. 

Step 5: Using teal, green and black wool, add details to the foreground tree. Build the details from darkest to lightest shades to create depth and texture on the tree. 

Step 6: Using the royal blue & black wool, add details to the background tree-line.

Step 7: Fill in the background sky with black wool. Add dark blue highlights around the tree and edges for visual contrast. Use white wool to fill in the foreground snow. 

Step 8: Add details to the tree. I used red wool to create a garland by rolling a strip of wool between my fingers, then affixed it to the tree with a barbed needle.

Tip 1: To reduce the thickness of the garland, use your needle to push the fibers into the background along the top and bottom edges of the strip—this will create a cleaner, thinner line.

I also added yellow wool balls for ornaments and a star detail at the top.

Tip 2: When creating round or dot elements in your artwork, pre-roll the wool into small balls with your fingers, then secure them by poking around the edges. Avoid poking directly in the center, as this could cause the wool to sink through the backing.

Step 9: Roll as many small white wool balls as you’d like for snowflakes. Position them across the piece before affixing them—this allows you to experiment with the placement and coverage of the snowflake details. 

Step 10: When you’re satisfied with your design, lift it from the backing mat. Place it in your embroidery hoop and trim any excess wool before hanging. 

Whether this is your first time needle felting, or you are a seasoned vet, I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to create this project. If you make this Festive Tree Hoop, please share your versions on social media by tagging @The_Felt_Store and @thepowerofk_feltedart on Instagram!

Happy Crafting!