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Using Angelina Fibers for Machine Needle Felting and Machine Embroidery

Angelina fibers can be dealt with at least two ways with a needle felting machine. Working with heat-bondable Angelina, you can first fused the fibers into something akin to a piece of paper. You do this with your iron on a low setting (I usually use silk). I place paper (just about any blank paper will do) on my ironing board. I then lay down the Angelina. You can mix the colors up to make something that you are happy with. Then lay another piece of paper over the Angelina and press for about 5-10 second. Check to see if the fibers have bonded. If not, do the same for about 5 seconds more and check again. You do not want to iron the fibers for too long or they tend to lose their sparkle and shine and can change color. Also, Angelina is best when it is very sheer, so you don't want to make your sheet too thick. Otherwise, it will look like a Lame'.
Now, you can cut this Angelina sheet into designs and details and embellish it to your needle felted project. The Angelina will hold its shape, so you can use it for 3-D effects. I suggest bonding it to your needle felted project with Bo-Nash Fusible Powder or by needle felting part of the Angelina into the project itself. If you use Bo-Nash, I suggest that you apply it to the Angelina, not to the project itself. To do so, lay the Angelina on Bo-Nash Teflon sheet or on parchment paper. Sprinkle the Angelina lightly with Bo-Nash Powder. Cover with anothe Bo-Nash Teflon sheet or a piece of parchment paper. Apply heat according to directions on the Bo-Nash Box. The result will be a piece of Angelina that you can then fuse to your project. You don't have to apply the Bo-Nash to the entire piece. Just to the part that you want to bond to your project. Remember to use a piece of parchment paper to fuse the Angelina to your project.
Another way to use Angelina is to needle felt it directly into your project as you would any other fiber. This gives you lots of control about where the Angelina goes in your project. But, Angelina does not have scales on it like wool, and with bonding it in some way, the Angelina can pull out of your project. There are a number of things that you can do to resolve this.
One approach is to cover your entire project with a sheet of paper and follow the instruction for making the sheet of Angelina. Without some other adhesive, Angelina only bonds with itself. So, fusing it this was will give the Angelina a flat surface. If you have punched the Angelina well through your project, then you can start with fusing from the back of the project first, but my experience is that regardless of whether you fuse from the front or back, if you fuse with an iron, the Angelina will flatten out.
Another approach is to use a heat gun (like the ones that you use when melting embossing powders on stamped images.) Hold the heat gun about 10-12 inches away. It only takes a few minutes to see the fibers start to fuse. Make sure you don't hold the heat gun in one place too long and that you address the entire surface that contains Angelina. This should give you a result with more texture than if you bond it using an iron. I confess that I really like the effect of fusing it this way because the Angelina seems to float on the project instead of being pressed into it. Again, remember that Angelina fuses quickly and once fused, if you apply too much heat it will change color and lose its shine. It is better to hold back on the heat, if in doubt, and allow the Angelina to cool. Then check to see if it is fused. If not, apply more heat and repeat until it does not easily separate from your project.
Another approach is to deal with the Angelina as if it were any other fiber that does not have scales and consequently does not lock with other fibers. Use your sewing machine to free motion stitch over your project in areas which contain Angelina or other non-wool fibers. The sewing will hold the Angelina in place and will not flatten it as much as either of the two other approaches. I love to use fancy threads like the Madeira Thread sets on my website when I am free motion stitching. I have found the Madiera threads to work much better than Sulky and other brands of fancy (metallic, holographic, etc.) threads.
And still another approach is to mix Angelina fibers into merino wool fibers using fiber blenders or hand carders. By mixing this way, the wool fibers will trap the Angelina fibers as they are needle felted and there should be little, if any, need to fuse the Angelina. In this way, you can use Angelina that is not heat bondable in your needle felting projects.

I also use it with machine embroidery when I am doing cutwork embroidery. Instead of just having space where the pieces are cut out, you can instead cover the area that is to be cut out with a sheet of bonded Angelina. Then, when you cut away base fabric, the area is filled with Angelina instead. This is fabulous for cutwork butterflies, for example. John Deer (no relation to the tractors, but instead a fabulous machine embroidery digitizer whose website is in my links section) was amazed at how one of his butterflies looked when Angelina was used in the cutaway areas. We were at a show together and when I showed this to the group, he ran back to my booth and grabbed armfuls of Angelina and put it under his table and told my friend who was working my booth that he would pay her for it after the stampede of people who were grabbing it as fast as they could. So, if you are a machine embroiderer and you have not yet tried Angelina, you might want to get some to try in both your felting and embroidery projects.

Hope this helps you with your experimentation with Angelina. It is a fabulous product.

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Using Angelina Fibers for Machine Needle Felting and Machine Embroidery