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florida Hi everyone!!! I'm here again with some more questions.. I hope someone does not mind answering them 
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I decided I wanted to try some new techniques like needle felting , I always get frustrated when I make my bears face and the muzzle doesn't look quite right, and of course there is no way of changing it when you've trimmed to close so I am hoping that with this technique I might be able to have more control over the facial features. So my first problem I ran into was when I tried felting a nose, I'm at a little bit of a loss.... I've read on here that people "wax" their bears noses. Hopefully not to many of you will laugh at me when I tell you that I lit a candle and painted wet wax on my bears nose :crackup: . I'm so clueless. :crackup: Anyways this leads me to my first question, what exactly do you "Wax" a bears nose with after you have felted it, and how do you apply it? I'm hoping the stuff you guys use is not like yankee candle wax because this poor bears nose feels so brittle.... I am trying to make a panda bear by the way. So now I'm curious, panda bears heads seem much wider, so how do you change your pattern to make the bears head appear this way? I'm also trying to figure out a new way to make eye lids, what I was doing before was a pain trying to get the eye lids even as well as avoiding that popping out look, and most of the time the lid would droop down giving my bears the apperance of being bored or tired of me working on them 
. So is there any way to felt around the eyes and make eye lids...? I tried it on this panda but to me it looks like the eye is almost bulging out. OK last question here, I've seen several tutorials on how to insert mohair strands into the felt but I'm still at a loss... the little crimps in the mohair don't stay in place and when I try felting them in I usually miss. Maybe this just takes more practice.. or perhaps I'm dong it totally wrong :doh: . I'll attach a picture of my poor yankee candle bears nose for your enjoyment 
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florida 
desertmountainbearYour bear head looks very good Heidi. I am impressed with your nose. Let's start with the nose. When I waxed needle felted noses I used pure bee's wax. You can probably find a bee's wax candle. The reason for bee's wax is because it is not brittle and it also has a higher melting point than paraffin. I melted a little wax in a tin on the stove, till it was good and hot, but not smoking. I used a small paint brush and brushed it on. The first coat will soak into the felt. You need to then smooth it out. I used a little pair of scissors I held over a flame just till warm to smooth over the wax. You don't want them hot enough to remelt the wax, just enough to move it.
Eyelids, If you look on my blog you will see a tutorial section on the left sidebar. Look for needle felted face, the eyelids are there too. Your panda looks pretty good actually. You need just to build it up a bit more. The other choice is to needle sculpt where your eyes will be to make a socket, then your eyes will sit in the head a bit and you won't have to build a socket with the felt. With the way I add the fur I actually prefer to not sink the eyes but to build the socket because that is what I see when I look at a bear.
Adding the fur, again look on my blog. This is an advanced technique that is not for the faint hearted. You need lots of patience and even more time the first time you do it. You have to lay the crimp of the mohair and with the needle ( I use a fine) stab the hairs into the felt. I separate the hairs as I go with the needle. You need to lock the felt in around them.
Widening the head. You are right, pandas have big wide heads, especially at the neck. You can widen the gusset. If you widen it at the back of the head it will make the neck wider. You can also widen the back of the side piece, from the crown area to the bottom neck, just add a little all the way around.
Joanne
I know you see all the "flaws" in this panda head, but Heidi, you just knock me out! He may not look exactly like a panda, but what a handsome bear! And the nose and muzzle look quite good to me. :clap: :clap: :clap:
Becky
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Heidi - and this is your first attempt!?? Marvelous!!!
You're off to a very fine start, and frankly, you couldn't have a better mentor than Joanne - I'm so pleased that she jumped right in. She's the perfect bridge between the mohair and needle felting communities.
PLEASE go to her blog and study her tuts - you'll save yourself so much time and trouble to try her methods right away!
GJOYful BearsWow I'm also amazed that this is your first attempt! Well done! My first needle-felting attempt looked nothing like that whatsoever so you should be proud as you can only improve from this attempt ~ so that means you will be fantastic at it very soon! I can't get over that is your first attempt. It's fantastic.
TC Folk OriginalsHeidi, Your are doing just fine! I have too been working with felting mohair back in, not only around the eyes, but other areas that I felt looked a little sparse! I went to Joanne's site and followed her instructions and, with a little practice, got very good results! It gets easier and faster as you practice. My first attempt, I took a piece of mohair and wrapped it tightly around some stuffing and used it for practice. I was all thumbs and found it rather hard to hold all those little strands of mohair, but it got easier. I have now used it on three bears, each better than the other! Keep up the good work, you are very talented :dance:
Heidi you have done very well!!!!! Can't wait to see him finished. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
florida Thank you all for the support and answers!
-Joanne, I went back and took some time to look at your tutorials, there were a lot of things I missed the first time I saw them (either that or I just didn't quite understand it. I think I’m getting a little bit better of a grasp on things, and its starting to make more sense now. ) I totally missed the part where you said you make a "socket", light bulbs just went off in my head :dance: . Adding the individual hair does seem very difficult.... I think maybe for now I will just learn how to needle felt and leave that to the pros 
. I was thinking the same thing about widing the gusset, just wasn't quite sure... I never did make a bear from someone else’s pattern, I probably should have done that to start and learn.... I don't think im going to be able to do the wax noses now, my mom would kill me if I melted anything like that on her nice new stove :redface: . Your blog says that modge podge works very well.. does that alone make the nose hard?
- Becky, thank you for the kind words, and yes you are so right all i see are the flaws! . I think I might just keep this head in my desk drawer and take it out when I need a good laugh!
-Bobbie,
You are so right, Joanne is definitely a pro and knows what she’s talking about!
- Gabriele,
Thanks for the encouragement!! I guess we all have to start somewhere! :hug:
- Thelma,
That is a good suggestion to practice on some scraps, your bears are wonderful by the way!!
-Lynn,
Thank you for the kind words 
desertmountainbearI am using mod podge right now to harden the nose up. You know you don't have to harden the nose. They look very nice just felted. I use the stuff to let me be able to sand the nose because I like it a little smoother than just felt. But that is just my preference. I think that diluted white glue might do the same thing. I would experiment. I just used mod podge the first time because I had it, and it worked.
Joanne
I think your head is wonderful! Don't hide it in a drawer.
I melt beeswax in foil over a tealight candle. Saves the mess of melting on the stove. I use the small boxes from my nuts and bolts I use for jointing as stands to prop the foil up on over the flame. Hope that makes sense.
I really do think you should finish the bear.
Beth
florida So I went back and tried again, this time I thought it didn't look like a panda at all, but a polar bear instead. Turns out I was wrong and changed my mind a couple of times. So poe the polar bear has a polar bear/ panda looking nose, a polar bear shaped head with a panda snout and black eye patches to match :redface: . Oh well whatever it is Im going to finish it and see what happens! Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions, especially on the nose. They were so great in fact I decided to try them all at once :crackup: . This panda/ polar bear has a needle felted nose that was then waxed (in a tealight candle, and in a can on the stove, Accidently used a BEANSwax candle and not a BEESWAX oops), modge podged, sanded, and an acrylic gloss layer to top it all off ... it took forever but is as hard as a rock so you won't hear me complaining 
. Well I think I have had enough experimenting for today, so i'll post some more pictures now and see what you guys think . 
florida desertmountainbearI think your bear is really beautiful. For me when making a "real" bear it does not matter if it looks just like a species of bear exactly. To me it is more important that it looks alive. You have given your bear that alive look. With the way you have done his eyes he looks like he is seeing.
Very impressed,
Joanne
I agree with Joanne - This bear looks alive! The world's first pandalor bear... polanda bear... ?
Becky
Panda, polar... Doesn't matter, he has his own look. You did a great job on his nose and eyes, he indeed looks very much alive. Look forward to seeing the endresult. Good luck with finishing!
Anita
florida Thank you guys for your support!! :hug: I can't wait to finish Polanda! 
DallyMay TeddiesHe really is beautiful and I think you've done a wonderful job on all of him. It looks like at any moment his eyes will move to look at you.
