The production of nonwoven fabrics from natural fibers is already expanding at an industrial level for simple curvature semi-structural part in the automotive industry. To develop their use for technical applications, this paper provides an experimental study of the mechanical behavior of flax-fiber nonwoven preforms. A comparison between different sets of carded needle-punched nonwoven has been used to study the influence of manufacturing parameters such as fibers' directions, the area and the needle punching densities. We have found that the anisotropy observed between both directions can be reduced depending on these parameters. Furthermore, this work investigates the possibility to form double curvature parts such as a hemisphere as well as a more complex shape such as a square box which possesses four triple curvature points. We propose a forming process adapted to the features of the nonwoven structure. The purpose is to determine their behavior under high stress during various forming settings. The preforming tests allowed us to observe in real time the manufacturing defects as well as the high deformability potential of flax nonwoven.