One of the first things we did when we moved to the mainland was go to a local needle felting workshop. I’d spotted it on a local facebook page and having often thought it would be fun to learn, signed us up. Linda, the lady running the workshop, was so encouraging and passionate, not to mention how inspiring her own work was – her pieces were stunning, that when we got home we ordered some carded corriedale slivers, core wool and some extra needles. So come Christmas time and wanting to make some handmade decorations for friends, needle felting was my craft of choice!
I decided on Holly, Ilex aquifolium, as my subject matter because of it’s connection to Christmas, and because I had two shades of green in my slivers collection. Using a holly leaf template I’ve had since childhood I traced out my holly shapes on a felt sheet and cut them out, getting 4-5 a sheet.
It was then on to the fun bit, the needle felting. It was not until I completed 2 leaves that I realised I could attach the hanging tab by needle felting it right at the beginning, as shown in the image above. Taking small sections of corriedale slivers I slowly started to build up the front.
The Holly, also known as Common Holly, English Holly and European Holly, is a flowering broadleaved evergreen tree or shrub in the Aquifoliaceae family. It is one of the few native evergreen species in Britain and although more associated with gardens it is actually one of the tree species that is part of the Caledonian Pine Forest. Holly is dioecious, meaning a tree will have either male or female flowers but not both. Interestingly it does not start flowering until it is approximately 20 years old! Pollination is by bees and other insects, but it can also spread via offshoots coming from the root system.
The holly tree is connected to various folklore and mythology, especially relating to winter and Christmas time. It is meant to bring protection and good luck and branches are often used as decoration over the Christmas period with this in mind. This winter I made a holly wreath with some branches from the tree that grows at my parents, along with some Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana). While the cutting of boughs for decoration is fine, it is said cutting down a whole tree will bring bad luck. Holly is also meant to protect against lightning and malevolent, mischievous spirits and faeries.
Once the front is nearly felted I turned my leaf over and started covering the back. The hardest part was felting the edges and getting the spiky bits defined. For this one I mixed the 2 different shades of green slivers and I quite liked the effect it gave.
Once the leaf was finished it was time to add some berries. Holly berries are poisonous so it’s much safer to have felted decorations than the real thing if you have small children or pets. Maybe next year I’ll needle felt a whole holly wreath!
References and more information can be found at:
- Trees for Life – https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/trees-plants-animals/trees/holly/
- The Woodland Trust – https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/holly/
- The Wildlife Trusts – https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/holly
- World of Magick, (2019). Magickal Herb Journal. London: World of Magick Limited
- Cunningham, S., (2019). Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Woodbury: Llewellyn Publications