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flowersm Fur-Ree Bears and Friends
Posts: 20
Website

Hi

This is my first attempt at needle felting - have to say I found it very therapeutic lol

westie.jpg

flowersm Fur-Ree Bears and Friends
Posts: 20
Website

This is a Shiba Inu I did for my son - he was nagging me like crazy so it's not as good as I would have hoped plus he wanted it exactly like our dog which was very difficult lol - he's happy with it though. 

shiba2.jpg

PeachtreeCottage Peachtree Cottage
Georgia
Posts: 527
Website

Cute....very nice for a first needlefelt :-)

/miniteddyhugs,

flowersm Fur-Ree Bears and Friends
Posts: 20
Website

Thank you - got a lot of learn but glad they weren't a total scraggy mess lol  bear_grin

baildon bears Baildon bears
west yorkshire
Posts: 114

He's lovely for your first go, I love needle felting not made many figures mainly mini hats. Hannah

flowersm Fur-Ree Bears and Friends
Posts: 20
Website

Thanks Hannah - I've just bought a couple of books so hopefully I'll have more of an idea of how to do things properly  bear_grin

Would love to have a go at felting footpads for a bear but not sure what base I would need etc etc.

rkr4cds Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)
suburban Chicago
Posts: 2,044

Hi flowersm - I love the fact that you started with miniatures for NFing - not the easiest to do but you handled it wonderfully, especially keping those stray hairs from the black nose under control - Good Job!

From the pic in your avatar, I see that you're already used to removing the fiber from the backing in certain areas. That's all you have to do to prepare your 'canvas' for needling on your paw & foot pads.
Romney and Rambouillet are very nice fibers to begin with but it depends on the size of your project. If you're doing these paw pads on miniatures, you'll have an easier time of it if you use some of the breeds with shorter fibers.
And if you don't need the fibers to stand up on their own, as a 3-D sculpture would need to do (a whole teddy bear or puppy) even the quite soft fibers like Cormo and Finn will work and they are usually between 3" and 4" long, perfect for this job.
Any fiber classed as a Downs breed will needle up most quickly due to its curl structure but will always remain sort of spongy no matter how long you needle it. It's just like that.

Reading about the different breeds and writing away for samples or purchasing small amounts (less than 4 ounces is usually a basic minimum purchase and it's more than enough for several minis!) will give you much experience about the difference between the many different breeds available and you'll soon have many choices in your stash, ready for whatever project you design and create!

Whatever you do, please always ask for your fiber by breed name; don't just buy 'Wool'. Or Roving. Or Batt.
You'll never be able to find that fiber again if you do like it and you'll never be able to avoid it if you hate it!!

baildon bears Baildon bears
west yorkshire
Posts: 114

meg.jpg

flowersm wrote:

Thanks Hannah - I've just bought a couple of books so hopefully I'll have more of an idea of how to do things properly  bear_grin

Would love to have a go at felting footpads for a bear but not sure what base I would need etc etc.

If you are making a normal bear you can needle felt footpads into your ultrasuade, you just role a ball up and needle felt it in, you can do this on the face aswell, I have never learn't how to needle felt properly just tought my self rightly or wrongly, I use it like a clay and just mold it to how I want it, another thing I have done is use the sparkley angelina fibre you can get to make fairy wings and needle felt that in to get a shimmery look, if you are flat felting you can iron to get rid of the whispy bits but I quite like them. Hannah

flowersm Fur-Ree Bears and Friends
Posts: 20
Website

Thanks so much for your advice Bobbie and Hannah - will be brave enough to have a go at needle felting footpads on the next bear I make - haven't made anything for years but caught the "bug" again after having a go at needle felting.  In awe of all your creations.   :lol:

Marie.

Jodie Ruhrgebiet
Posts: 149

OMG  bear_wub  the first one, I like so much. He looks so honest and friendly.

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