Everyone needs a friend, so why not make your own? For this
project I’ve decided to try the art of needle felting with the aid of the book “Adorable
Felted Animals,” by the Gakken Handmade Series. I have minimal experience with
this craft, and I chose this book because I wanted some insight on felting
realistically rather than the extremely stylized cartoon figures I’m used to
making. For those that don’t know, needle felting is “a form of craft in which
a special needle is used to create shapes from wool” (Nishida and Tomoko, 26). The wool
catches in the special slits in the needle. The needle works to mat together
the wool and transform it into felt when it is poked repeatedly (Nishida and Tomoko, 26).
Diving right in, I
decided to make a golden retriever for my very first creation. I started with a
wire base, forming it into the shape of the letter T (Nishida and Tomoko, 28). Then I
wrapped some wool roving around it and punched it with the needle to create a
base figure.
To the left is the core of the dog. Not very lifelike yet,
but don’t worry. I added some wool to the base to “flesh [it] out and create
shape” (Nishida and Tomoko, 29), and then moved on to work on the head. Starting with a
simple circle, I spent a good amount of time solidifying it because “the more
the needle is worked in and out of the wool, the firmer the figure becomes”
(Nishida and Tomoko, 26). I added the snout, nose and mouth, then the ears. This seems simple
but actually takes a great deal of time. I used “implant roving” to create fur
on the ears to give the fuzzy effect of the puppy’s ears. Shown below is the
finalized head, minus the ears
After the head was finished, I used the book’s techniques to
attach the head to the body. I used simple needle-felting tactics to create the
hind legs and haunches, as well as the tail. After all of this was attached, it
was time to give the dog some fur. This is a completely new technique to me
that the book describes as “implanting.” Using small scraps of wool and pushing
them into the fur over and over again, working from the bottom up, I turned my
simple dog into a giant fluff ball.
I used a toothpick to brush it out and make it smooth, and
then it was time to trim. Here are some angles of the finished product:
Overall, this book has taught be some useful techniques, but
I definitely need some more practice. What do you think, does it look like I
followed the steps correctly? What would you try to make first?
Citation:
Nishida, Kyoko, and Tomoko Kodera. Adorable Felted Animals: 30 Easy & Incredibly Lifelike Needle Felted Pals. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2015. Print.
Hello Phoenix! I know I'm not in your class, but nobody has posted yet in mine! I think this is simply adorable. I love it. The fact that you made felt look cute is proof that you are learning well from this book. I personally would try to make a panda for my friend Sidney at first. What are your next plans for felting? What can we look forward to see?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kaedyn! I appreciate your input on my progress. That's interesting, maybe I'll have to try making a panda at some point in the future. I haven't picked a next project quite yet, but most likely I'll be making a kitty as there's many cats and kittens featured in the book.
DeleteWow Phoenix, I scrolled to the bottom of the post because I was curious what the finished project was before fully reading it and I was shocked to find out that this was made with felt. The very final image looks extremely lifelike and I could have mistaken it for an actual dog if this wasn't about felt! By any chance do you see yourself creating a panda, I'd much like to see it as black and white are my favorite colors and it's always been quite enjoyable to see other renditions of the cute bear.
ReplyDeleteThanks,your positive feedback means a lot to me! I don't know, the book doesn't feature a panda, but maybe it would be interesting to see if I can put together some of the techniques without the step by step tutorial. I'll update you if I decide to make one!
DeleteHey Phoenix! To be honest, I didn't even know what felting was before I read this. But your thorough explanation of the craft really helped me understand it, and I'm really impressed by how well you did! The dog you made definitely looks realistic, it's crazy that you did so well on your first try! If I were to try and make a felt animal, I think I'd try to make a hedgehog because they're cute. It'd also be a good challenge. Great job Phoenix!
ReplyDeleteHi Sage! Sorry for such a late reply, I've just now gone back to check on my old projects. I appreciate the positive feedback and I agree, hedgehogs are very cute. I'm very happy to hear from you, thanks reading my post!
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