Rustic Fiber Academy

Rustic Fiber Academy Learn how to needle felt with Rustic Fiber Academy. An online community, dedicated to teaching needle felting to anyone who wants to learn.

Courses for all skill levels and so much more. Rustic Fiber Academy is a learning platform for needle felting artists of all levels. With over 100 in-depth tutorials, we teach the fundamentals of wool sculpting—covering techniques like armature building, realistic detailing, and working with natural fibers. Whether you're just starting or refining your skills, our courses are designed to guide you step-by-step and help you grow with confidence as a fiber artist.

When I first started needle felting, I really thought I needed to pick a lane.I saw people who made dogs, people who mad...
08/28/2026

When I first started needle felting, I really thought I needed to pick a lane.

I saw people who made dogs, people who made foxes, dolls, birds, wet felted pieces... everyone seemed to have their thing.

And I thought I needed a thing too.

Except I didn't want one. 😂 I wanted to make everything.

I wanted to make an animal I'd never made before just to see if I could do it. Then a bird. Then a fish. Mushrooms, flowers, feathers, landscapes... whatever caught my interest.

And I actually struggled with that for a while. I thought I was supposed to narrow it down. Pick what kind of felter I was going to be and stick with it.

I'm really glad I never did.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with finding your thing. I really admire artists who know what they want to focus on and become incredibly skilled at it. Their work becomes so distinctly theirs that you can recognize it before you even see their name.

I just eventually realized that wasn't how I wanted to work. I wanted the variety. I wanted the challenge of figuring out something new.

I also used to think finding that "thing" was how you found your style. And now I think style is something that comes with time.

You make a lot of things. You try stuff. You figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Certain details keep showing up. Certain ways of doing things start to feel like yours.

And eventually you look back and realize your style was developing the whole time.

You didn't have to decide what it was going to be first.

I definitely wish I had figured that out a little sooner. 😂

08/27/2026

Trying to get anything done when you have a cat.

This is also exactly why his studio time is limited.

He doesn't come out here and curl up somewhere while I work. Nope. He needs to see what I'm doing, get into what I'm doing, stand directly where I'm working and make sure I'm paying enough attention to him.

So he gets his little studio visits... and then he gets evicted. 😂

Please tell me other people's cats are like this too.

I added a few butterflies to this piece yesterday for Dolly.I was finishing up the calf in the lavender field when I hea...
08/26/2026

I added a few butterflies to this piece yesterday for Dolly.

I was finishing up the calf in the lavender field when I heard that Dolly Parton had passed, and adding butterflies just felt like the right little tribute.

Butterflies were such a big part of Dolly's life. She talked about chasing them through the mountains as a little girl, and they eventually became a symbol she carried with her throughout her life. And after seeing the recent clip of her wearing butterfly wings and saying her "little butterfly wings are getting kinda tired," they seem especially meaningful now.

So a few butterflies found their way into the lavender field.

This piece is also the second half of my Cow & Calf course, and as of today, the Calf & Lavender Field course is available in the Rustic Fiber Academy. I also added the butterflies to the tutorial, so if you'd like to add a few to your own lavender field, I'll show you how. Or, of course, you can leave them out and make the piece your own.

But these butterflies are for Dolly. ❤️

08/25/2026

There are so many different ways to make feet, and this is just one of them.

My husband and son both tie flies, and I’ve watched them use a fly-tying vise and bobbin plenty of times. At some point it occurred to me that those might be pretty handy for all the tiny little things I’m always trying to wrap.

So I finally stole them for a project. 😂

I don’t normally use thread when I make feet, but I did for this particular set of bird legs, and the bobbin worked really well for getting around those tiny toes.

But the vise is probably the thing I’ll keep using the most. Bird feet, mouse feet, little toes and fingers...just being able to hold an armature taut while I wrap it makes things so much easier.

I may have to get my own now.

08/24/2026

Sometimes the best way to get creative again is to make something small.

This stump has been perfect for that this summer. It’s a big project, but most of the things I’m adding to it aren’t. I can make a tiny mole, a mushroom, a feather, a moth, whatever I feel like working on that day.

It’s become a place for me to just play. I don’t have to sit down and commit to hours of work or even have much of a plan. I can make one little thing and usually, somewhere in the middle of making it, I’m already thinking about what I want to make next.

Creative begets creativity.

Now that I’m back in the studio full time, I can definitely feel that momentum building again. And I’m ready to see where it goes.

If you could make anything just for yourself, what would you make?Take away the practical stuff for a minute. You have t...
08/21/2026

If you could make anything just for yourself, what would you make?

Take away the practical stuff for a minute. You have the space. You have the funds. You have all the materials you need. And let's give you all the time you need too.

You don't have to think about whether it will sell, whether it will do well on social media, whether it fits with what you normally make, or whether anyone else will even understand why you want to make it.

It can be huge. Tiny. Completely impractical. Something you've had in the back of your mind for years. Or something you just thought of right now.

What would you make simply because you want to make it?

I'll put mine in the comments. I really want to hear yours too.

08/20/2026

I’ve been cleaning the studio this week and making a few changes before I really get back to work out here.

This is one of my little splurges.

I spend SO much time leaning over my felting projects, and my back is not a fan. I’ve tried a few different setups over the years, but somehow I’m always still hunched over something.

So I decided to try a watercolor easel as my felting surface.

I can move it up, change the angle, bring my work closer to me and hopefully spend a lot less time folded over my table.

I’ve only just started using it, so we’ll see how it goes, but so far I really like it.

If you want to know which easel I got, just ask. I’m not making anything from sharing it. I just know I can’t be the only one whose back is getting tired of needle felting. 😂

08/19/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about where inspiration comes from.

We have SO much inspiration right in front of us now. You can open Instagram or Pinterest and find a thousand things you want to make in about five minutes.

But I think sometimes that can backfire.

Because now you’ve seen what someone else made. You have that image in your head. And when you try it and yours doesn’t look like theirs, suddenly you’re comparing. Something that was supposed to inspire you is now making you question what you made.

But it’s also scary NOT to look.

It’s hard to start making something when you don’t have a picture in front of you showing you where you’re going.

I think that’s why I like to start small. Really small. Make one little thing. Try something. See what happens.

Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I never finish it. But while I’m making it, I might notice something that makes me think of something else.

And then I follow that.

I absolutely still use reference photos. A lot of them. But sometimes I want the idea to come first. Then I can go find the references I need to figure out how to make it work.

I think we spend so much time looking for things to inspire us that we forget to see what our own work is already giving us.

I’m curious how this works for you. Where do your ideas come from when you’re not looking for them?

08/17/2026

I really do try to have a plan. 😂

Mountain goats were supposed to be next for the Academy. Then I started thinking about the cows at the end of our road, and that was pretty much the end of that plan.

So we got a cow instead.

Right now I’m working on the calf in the lavender field course to go along with her, and yes, the mountain goats are still coming! They’ve just been bumped to September.

This is pretty much how I work. I make plans, but when an idea takes over, I usually follow it.

Are you good at sticking to the plan, or does the new idea usually win?

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