Layers of Meaning

Fiberella - machine felting

Paula Scaffidi is the woman who introduced many of us in the South to the Babylock embellisher and machine needle felting. Fiberella.com is Paula's new web presence. There is a wealth of resources on the site, making it the perfect place for novice and more experienced user (these machines are pretty new - how experienced is anyone?) There will soon be a forum to discuss needle felting and embellishing issues.

A good starting place is the FAQ page (Frequently Asked Questions) Paula was an art instructor for over 20 years and it shows in the clarity of her information. Some of the opening questions discuss the differences between the Babylock, Bernina and Brother machines and component parts: "How machine needle felting works is mostly about the needles. The needles on BabyLock's Embellisher, Bernina's Punching attachment and the Brother attachment are all designed to basically do the same thing. The have little barbs or hooks with soft shoulders above the hooks (I think of the tiny hooks on a crab's leg). As these needles travel down through layers of fiber, fabric, yarn, etc., they pull fiber from the top layer(s) and move some of this material down through, underneath the bottom layer."

Best of all, there is a complete tutorial on site, presented in a variety of ways. The completed object is a felted leaf that can be added to scarves, landscapes or other fiber pieces. The Techniques page, shows a variety of leaves; a link to Resources has full directions for the leaf (.pdf format). For visual learners, there are four short videos that show Paula creating a leaf on the Embellisher.

Image above is Old Stream , a purse featured in Paula's gallery.