Featured Artist - Nat Navenant

Nathalie is a Bristol based self-taught needle felter who has always been fascinated by the weird and wonderful.

Find out more about Nathalie’s work on her website Felt Et Moi or on her Instagram here.

As a little girl she grew up around cats, dogs and a rabbit and spent hours drawing, gardening, writing, creating and observing the animals and nature that she loves so much.

She fell in love with needle felting 2 years ago because of its versatility and uses needle felting as a way to express herself. “Embrace weirdness as that is what makes this world fun and interesting!” Is one of Nathalie's mottos and this reflects in her weird and quirky animal creations.

Nathalie takes some of her inspiration from film director, Tim Burton and his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Her sculptures are all individually named and can take between 3 and 7 days to make because of the various steps involved. They are all built with a 12" aluminium armature and use different kinds of wool (Carded and Merino). The animal clothing is tailor-made and hand stitched using upcycled fabrics sourced from charity shops.

Q&A

What is your craft? (Spinning, felting etc.):
I am a needle felt artist

How long have you been a craft enthusiast?:
Since 2015

What do you enjoy most about your craft?:
Needle felting is just amazing and so versatile. I love it because you can really make any animals come to life.

How long have you been a WOW customer?:
Since 2016

What do you like most about the company?:
You have all the wool products I need, fast delivery and great customer service.

What is your favourite fibre?:
Carded wool

What is your favourite breed of sheep?:
Leicester long wool

What WOW products do you use in your work?
For all my sculptures I use various Carded Wool Batts to build the body around the armature and I use dye merino wool in various colours for the face to cover the carded wool.

Is there anything else that you would like WOW to sell?:
I think maybe wool dye kits could be interesting.

Do you have a top tip for your fellow crafters?:
Keep creating as much as possible and develop your own style.