Needlefelting project

[Amado]

Re-learning needlefelting. This is Buddy the mini, I used a lock of hair from his mane for the forelock, mane and tail. I’m going to put some beads and a little nameplate on the string (he’s a hanging ornament).

[Josette]

I love it!! If you should decide to make some to sell count me in!! I can supply some hair too.

[Rockabilly]

I love it! He's adorable.

[PaulaO]

I love it! I've wanted to try needle felting but have been afraid of that sharp needle.

[Sunshine2Me]

I love it! You're very talented!

[Amado]

it’s not hard to do - though this one took me awhile, since it was only the second time I’ve tried it. It’s very fun, I haven’t stabbed myself yet (you put your project down on a fat piece of foam and felt into that for the most part, though I had to hold it to do the details. Hardest part was figuring out how to do the mane, tail and forelock. I was thinking they might make nice personalized gifts - because I used Buddy’s actual hair for part of it. What I have to try to find is something I can do that doesn’t take days - so that the time it takes isn’t way more than what people would be willing to pay to have one done!

[Josette]

I think they would make lovely memorial ornament for a lost horse - especially with the hair piece.

[Canyon]

I think they would make lovely memorial ornament for a lost horse - especially with the hair piece.

I agree whole heartedly! Lovely work - it appeals to me much more than most of the horse hair jewelry that I've seen.

[PaulaO]

Did you teach yourself or take a class?

[StraightForward]

That is so cute!

[Sue B]

Omg, I would so love that for my horses. I would make one for my 2 living horses as well as dear departed Lad. How did yo learn, from a kit?

[PaulaO]

OMG https://woolery.com/felting/needle-felt ... -pony.html

[Hayburner]

I you did a super job, where do I send the hair and details? Lol

Really, I'd be interested in having 2 made.

I had a ceramic piece made of my gelding that I love, its more of a tribal type piece.

[Hayburner]

Is it hard to do? I have zero talent for sewing/needlepoint .

[Amado]

No kit. I had a fiber arts friend show me how to do it, its not difficult, It’s like building a sculpture out of clay. Only you stab the wool with this long needle to mold the parts. You can add little rolled up bits of the wool to build up areas, you want the finished thing to be fairly firm. The first one I did is kind of floppy, I didn’t felt it enough. There are a bunch of youtube tutorials. Here’s a photo I took partway through, the first one I did is the paint foal in the background.

[Amado]

Some people build a frame with wire to felt around, I did not do that with the first two, but I’m trying it with this small one, it will make it more posable, and I should be able to make thbelega thinner, but so far I don’t like how you end up hitting the wire with the felting needle. (You can see how thin and sharp it is)


I would love to do some of these for those who would like one, but I have to figure out how best to make the, long they are going to take, and what is reasonable to charge! Will keep you posted.

[Flight]

Adorable!!!

[Josette]

I love your first picture of your pony project. It looks exactly like your guy! Reminds me of the Thewell Ponies if anyone knows them - maybe dating myself. Hanging as an ornament is nice idea.

https://www.pinterest.com/ellis2612/thelwell-ponies/

[piedmontfields]

Really fabulous, and if I wanted a memorial or a living memory I would totally want one for myself! Great ornament.

[Angfreda]

This lady does dogs, including custom projects made to look like your own pooch

https://www.facebook.com/kenleighacres/

[silk]

Could you poke the wire in after you've felted the parts?

[Amado]

Yes, I found one tutorial where the artist added metal just to support the legs, after she built the body. It really only matters if you want your project to stand up (and/or if you want thinner legs). Some people wrap pipe cleaners around the metal to help the wool stick, I’m going to try that next. It really depends on if I want the body and legs to look more cartoon like (like the first picture) or more lifelike. (I haven’t decided which I like better)

[Canyon]

This lady does dogs, including custom projects made to look like your own pooch

https://www.facebook.com/kenleighacres/

Nice!

For help on pricing, this same person's web page has prices. Most dogs are 6" long x 5" tall.
http://www.kenleighsfiberstudio.com/fel ... ation.html

[Amado]

Love those dogs. I was kind of hoping to find something I could make in the under $100 range. They are a little easier to sculpt when they are bigger, but they take a lot more time and materials! I kind of like the simplified shapes, with the correct coloring, though sculpting more of the features is pretty cool too but it takes longer). And I’m going to have to find a good source for the wool, with horse hair coat colors.

[Moutaineer]

Amado, I love these!

For wool, try tracking down a local Jacob's Sheep owner--their wool comes in lots of browns and creams naturally. (Years ago, my mother knitted my husband a sweater out of locally grown Jacob's wool, and included a picture of the "donor" in the parcel )

[AmityBee]

I think they would make lovely memorial ornament for a lost horse - especially with the hair piece.

I agree whole heartedly! Lovely work - it appeals to me much more than most of the horse hair jewelry that I've seen.

Absolutely! I second (third) this. I never really liked any of the memorial horse hair stuff either and love your little guy!

[Angfreda]

This lady does dogs, including custom projects made to look like your own pooch

https://www.facebook.com/kenleighacres/

Nice!

For help on pricing, this same person's web page has prices. Most dogs are 6" long x 5" tall.
http://www.kenleighsfiberstudio.com/fel ... ation.html

Be sure to look at her other creations: bags, signs, etc. Those have more friendly prices.
I like the bags, but wonder about actually using them.
A pillow, similar in design to the bag would be something I could see having.

I lost my Emma Lou last week, and it would be fun to have a mini-her... alas we have so few pics of her when she was young that getting her markings right would be hard.

[Chancellor]

Amado, I have a ton of wool that is left over after I comb it for spinning. Let me know if you want any.

[Amado]

I would love any leftovers!! Would be happy to pay shipping. I’m finding that the wool I got from my spinner/weaver friend is felting easier than the little packages of colored wool I found at the store. It is felting much faster, not sure why.

[Amado]

So here are a couple more experiments, I took the paint foal’s spots off and turned him into a regular sized horse. I am trying some wire supports, they give structure, but are harder to felt because you hit them with the needle. I am experimenting with hand painting trade beads and dimensional modge podge fore “glass” eyes (since horses have a rectangular pupil, and the stuffed animal eyes you can buy are round). The beads also look like little hooves, though they are a tad small for the horse I put them on. (Unless they are still breeding conformation quarter horses with tiny feet!) I don’t know what to do for the big horses hooves, a wooden dowel cut at an angle, maybe. Or sculpey.

I’m still liking the fat little pony ornament I posted at the beginning best, though.

[Rockabilly]

I love the next to last picture here. He's looking at me and very realistically too!

[AmityBee]

I really like your fat little pony, enough to give it a try. So here I am, about 30 min into my very first go at needlefelting...

He needs A LOT of work. I was going for blood bay with white socks, so I hope he will grow into his head eventually

IMG_4313.JPG (83.47 KiB) Viewed 32365 times

[Amado]

Awesome! The amount of sculpting and shrinking you can do is amazing, you just keep stabbing! I ordered a felting “pen” made by clover - it has three needles (but you can use it with two or one - and it’s making the felting go MUCH faster. I also ordered one that has 6 (?), but it is harder to use. Here’s the clover pen - they are not expensive. Looks like they have it at JoAnn fabrics, I got mine cheaper from Amazon.

http://www.joann.com/clover-pen-style-f ... ng&start=1

When you go to make the forelock/mane/tail - I took a 7 or 8” section of hair from Buddy’s mane, left about 1/2” free, then wrapped some upholstery thread and tied it tight, then braided a 2 + inch section, then wrapped more upholstery thread - that was the forelock and the braided mane. Then I cut about a 1/4” slit in his back from the dock to the withers (using my husbands tiny sharp fly tying scissors) , ran the hair through, and the stuff sticking out the backside became the tail. You can felt right over the top of that opening in the back that you created. I think I tied anothe piece of thread right around where the tail came out of the body. I sewed the forelock area and the mane to the head and neck too. That’s what i love about this - if you have to sew things, and it creates dimples, you can just felt a small piece of wool right over the top and smooth it all out.

[Amado]

So I started playing with a tiny cat portrait. I don’t quite have the right colors yet, so i had to mix a few together. It’s a little small for all the detail I like to do, and her head is a little big for her body, and I still have to add the tail and glass eyes. I also have to be careful, because the cats think these felting projects make great toys to play with!

[Flight]

Wow! So good!!

[Amado]

Tail is on. I have to be quick with the pictures. She knocks in on the floor if it sits there for too long.

[piedmontfields]

Love the cat assessment of your work! Super cool.

[Moutaineer]

These are so cool. And that last picture is just priceless

[Amado]

Got one cat eye in. Made this one with a blue bead and some paint, I think I need to buy some, making them takes too long! And finished the tiny horse. Definitely like doing them without the wire better (this one has wire)

[Angfreda]

Those are ADORABLE!!

[texsuze]

So cool to see these projects! Tractor Supply has an article on needlefelting in their latest Out Here magazine (Spring 2018 issue, free in their stores). This is the second time I've seen their mag feature someone's work. We are sheep and goat country where I live, so maybe time for me to think about undertaking this art form....

[Amado]

Cool, will check out the magazine next time I’m at tractor supply! You should try it. It’s a lot of fun!

[Chisamba]

I am just loving your felting sculpture. The cat is remarkable

[KathyK]

I was going for blood bay with white socks, so I hope he will grow into his head eventually

Amado, your work, especially the cat, is wonderful.

[kande50]

Love them!

[demi]

They are adorable.

[AmityBee]

I was going for blood bay with white socks, so I hope he will grow into his head eventually

Hey! It worked. Sort of. Still quite a bit to go. I also have a simple quilt sitting here that needs to be finished and have only worked on him a few minutes here and there...

... from big head to big feet.

IMG_4318.JPG (107.36 KiB) Viewed 31947 times

Love the cat too!

[Flight]

So cute! And clever.

[Amado]

Adorable, AmityBee! One thing I like about these needle felting projects is that it’s easy to just sit down and do it in little sessions, a few minutes here and there. I’m still working on what makes the best eyes, I made a second eye for the cat, but I’m not sure I like how they turned out, one is slightly larger than the other. So far I’m happiest with the little black bead I put on the pony, but I feel like the cat needs something more realistic.

[texsuze]

I discovered a fiber arts place about an hour from me. They're having a festival this month:

suzoos.com

Might stop in the next time I'm down there to investigate the needlefelting idea.