Needle felting is a process which uses barbed needles to interlock wool fibers to form a more condensed material.  Wool fibers have scales which when rubbed against each other catch and lock into place to create this denser material called felt.  Felting needles are used to entangle the fibers.  As the felting needle is moved up and down, the barbs on the needles catch the scales of the wool and entangle them into place.

When designing a soft sculpture teddy bear in mohair or similar fabric,  all of the design thought process goes on before the scissors touch the fabric. The 'skin' is then cut, sewn and stuffed, like working from the outside inward. In needle felting, one starts from the inside - the basic shape or skeleton -- and builds up the muscles and final outer surface one bit of wool at a time. There is no pattern and it's almost impossible to get identical pieces. It takes many hours of needling and layering the wool to create these truly one-of-a-kind works of art.