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burlisonbears Burlison Bears
Louisville, Kentucky
Posts: 1,174

I've never needle felted before but plan on giving it a try eventually. I usually don't clothe my bears, but when I do I only do so sparingly. I was wondering is it possible to make little trousers by needle felting that you can put on the bear and even remove.....
or when you needle felt are you attaching the colored "clothes" fibers to the bears fur and hence it is not removeable...and is just giving the image of them wearing clothes? I hope this is clear what I'm trying to ask.

And also who sells the best needle felting kit for beginners?

Eliza

nimbleknot Cupcake Bears
Austin, Texas
Posts: 711
Website

scarf.jpgHere is a scarf I made with the wet felting technique. It's paper thin and has silk running through it. I think bear clothes made this way would be absolutely beautiful. I have thought about making a princess dress for one of my bears with the same technique.

I would suggest making your own felt (wet felting technique) and then cutting out the desired shapes for the clothes. You *could* make the clothes to size but the shrinkage is really tough to determine, especially when it has to fit something exactly. The felt would have to be so thin in order to be a removable piece of clothing. Making ears is challenging enough at their size and that thickness is way too thick for clothes. You could also knit the clothes and then throw them in the wash and complete the felting process that way.

burlisonbears Burlison Bears
Louisville, Kentucky
Posts: 1,174

Wow! What a beautiful scarf! That is very thin! I would like to find out more about this wet felting technique. It would be very interesting to add clothes to my bears that way. I already use regular felt when I give them a hat or scarf. I can't do clothes any other way because...I don't know how to knit, crochet, or even sew regular doll clothes.  :redface:  I never learned how!

psichick78 Flying Fur Studios
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 3,073

Our own Bobbie would have the best kit for beginners. She's great at explaining what you need to do.

As for felting, you could just make flat sheets of felt and sew them together, or felt them together.

makafelts Charlotte Des Roches Designs
Adkins, Texas
Posts: 1,543

ballerina009a.jpgI make flat needle felted clothing for many of my dolls. Sometimes they are needle felted onto the doll & sometimes they are removable. Here is a picture of "Clara" Ballerina's tutu while I was working on it.

nimbleknot Cupcake Bears
Austin, Texas
Posts: 711
Website

Wow Charlotte, that's cool. I guess since my bears are 3 inches at their tallest it seems almost impossible to needle felt clothes and I wouldn't attempt if for myself. How big are yours? <please tell me they are bigger than mine or I am going to feel dumb> bear_noexpression

makafelts Charlotte Des Roches Designs
Adkins, Texas
Posts: 1,543

Jennifer,
Well...hmmm...lol, "Clara" is 13 inches tall...and most of the needle felties I make needle felted clothing for are prolly 5 inches & up...for my wee ones I usually just make their clothing part of them....but now you have me tempted to try removeable needle felted clothing for a wee one next.... I will keep you posted...I will try to get pictures of the process if I do...and there is no way you are dumb...ya just haven;t tried it yet :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

PS I have made beaded vests for some of my wee ones...flat peyote stitch using tiny beads...

Hugs &

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

Thx Heather - One might think you were a 'plant'!!

On my *almost* completed overhauled site, I have posted the first 2 kits I designed for beginners. I'd retailed & wholesaled them for years and now, to encourage people considering giving this a go, present it as encouragement to start.
Anything learned there can certainly be carried over to other projects: they're posted to give some direction for following while you see what happens when wool/fiber meets a needle!

There's a lot of additional info on NFing in them, beyond just the Thrust here, Poke there directions.

Home - http://www.beyondbasicbears.com/
LadyBug & Sheep!!  - http://www.beyondbasicbears.com/free-kit.shtml

burlisonbears Burlison Bears
Louisville, Kentucky
Posts: 1,174

Wow Bobbie! I went to your website and I am intrigued. Needle felting looks like a lot of fun. I eventually would like to buy a kit and supplies. I am putting it on my ever-expanding list of things I want to try for my bears! To make needle felted clothes would be very interesting.

nimbleknot Cupcake Bears
Austin, Texas
Posts: 711
Website
makafelts wrote:

PS I have made beaded vests for some of my wee ones...flat peyote stitch using tiny beads...

Hugs &

I made a beaded vest for a monkey I made for a commission. I personally get weirded out by monkeys but I was just following the customers directions. I would never make a monkey again. But I did bead the vest and I love the handiwork.

Okay...I would be tempted to make my own felt for a princess bear but only if the bear was a little bigger, like at least 5 inches.  bear_happy

And well, whaddya know, I was going to SHOW you the monkey but I guess it creeped me out so much I deleted it! It's archived on my flickr account if you want to check it out.
www.nimbleknot.com

makafelts Charlotte Des Roches Designs
Adkins, Texas
Posts: 1,543

Jennifer...ahhh the one with the trumpet...and beaded edging on his vest...great work...but I totally understand about the m*nk*y thing...I love some...but most creep me out too!! I have to look & see if I can find some of the beadwork I have done for my felties...I have most of my pictures on a pen drive now...cause there were 2500 pictures on my computer...so I moved them the other day...ohhh I think I might have a bad pic of some of my beadwork...on needle felted turtles
turtleavatar.jpg
I hope this works...

Ohhh what about a challenge...a 5 inch needle feltie...with needle felted removable outfits...say...and no rush...perhaps sometime in the next 5 months...how does that sound?

Hugs &

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