When I do dry felting and need to make a flat surface or some kind of figure without mould I use some aid. I do the felting on the piece of an old foam mattress. (Never throw old mattresses away if you are an artisan.) It is cheap and very suitable material for needle felting to protect yourself or the surface of which you are felting.
Now I bought this felting needle mat for needle felting at 50% sale. I have not tried it out yet but when I have I'll let you know how it works for the real. It looks like a brush so why not you could try it out on an old brush. (Make sure it is clean.)
This machine felting on purpose is also useful way to save a woollen pullover. We had one big pullover which had faced damages and at the end was full of tiny holes and it was impossible to fix it. I felt it in the machine. Of course it shrunk but we made an excellent and warm pullover of it for the horse stable use for a country girl. :)
