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Winneybears and FriendsIf you were going to make a critter that has a mohair body with a needle sculpted fabric face what kind of fabric do you think would needle sculpt really well ? ......Winney
Fool's Gold BearsHi Winney,
Mohair is good for needlesculpting, but if you want fabric without fur, I've seen a kind of thick tightly knitted fabric that is very needle-responsive. Have you ever seen what Lisa Lichtenfels can do with a pair of pantyhose and a needle??? It's nearly unbelieveble what realism can be portrayed.
This is 'Mrs Peepers' by lisa Lichtenfels. You should see her serious work. 
Wisdom BearsHi Laure,
Is that not wonderful, all done with panyhose you said. I just think Wow. Hugs Rita xx
Winneybears and FriendsLaura, her work is awesome... I have that book, wish I could afford to buy all her books. Her work is so above most anyone elses...its just incrediable...
I have some cotton knit , mohair fabric may be too restrictive as my critters are small. I want the fabric to really give me the flexability to push or pull it into any shape I need.....sounds like cotton knit or panty hose or maybe even go to a sculpted face ?
I can't think of anything else...except maybe shell light ultrasuede but that would not be as flexable as cotton knit....I need to also be able to dye it and hand color with color pencils or somethimg like them...Hey, just having someone to bounce ideas off of helps.... I'll take any helpful ideas I can around here !.... Winney
Posts: 3,177WOW - i shall go out and buy some thick tights this weekend and have a little play around. I think the fabric you are thinking of Laure is called stockinette over here
We should have a little friendly competition girls - we all buy a pair of tights and make a little critter and set a date for when we uplaod our photos.
What do you think?
Penny 
Past Time BearsGood grief - that woman's work is remarkable!! I wish I looked as good in pantyhose!! 
Penny... When I lived in Zurch I made a brief foray into dollmaking and used stockinette to cover the face mask and sew up the body. If there is only ONE kind of stockinette, and it's the same one I used, then Laure is NOT talking about stockinette when she discusses Lisa Lichetenfel's work (with which I am also familiar; she's astounding.)
Stockinette is, like you said, like a pair of VERY thick tights. It has cotton in it and is opaque and knit and stretchy. More like very thin socks.
Lisa quite literally works using nylon pantyhose in many, many layers. I've seen photos of how she works and it sure looks like she's using the very same translucent substance that is used to make women's nylon stockings.
Just wanted to add this, in case you were hoping to get the exact same effect using stockinette... because I don't think, even with Lisa's expertise, you can, given the difference in the materials.
Lisa also, by the way -- just so you don't get discouraged -- LITERALLY makes an entire wire skeleton. Not a basic armature, mind you... but a skeleton, very precisely proportioned. And then she adds and sews on the "muscles" just as they would correspond to real muscles... even for the face! She sculpts a foam head with eye sockets and pads it with stitched-on fat and muscle layers. So it takes her, like, months, just to get far enough to add the final, pantyhose layers.
Her pieces are also smaller than you might think.
Here's her website, in case you'd like a peek: http://home.earthlink.net/~jcarruth/
Posts: 8,574Shelli
that is so interesting about Lisa's work. I had never seen it before, so I appreciate Laure and you bringing it too us.
This Lisa must have her anatomy down pat...at least thats what I thought when I saw those arms.....just like old lady arms.....like looking in a mirror.....long sleeves here I come.
Maybe she is Michelangelo reincarnated.....no I know.....
However he did break church and state laws back in his time....he would sneak in to the morgue and autopsy the bodies he found, because he felt a compulsion to understand.....when you see his marbles you can see that his night time excursions really paid off...
gruesome, but look how hard we try to understand and improve our art.
Anyway....thank you for this topic.....and the link to Lisa's website....
Di
Fool's Gold BearsHi All,
Surely didn't mean to mislead anyone concerning Lisa's work. I assumed it would be obvious that she had more going on than what you see on the surface. Sorry. :|
the fabric I'm talking about is possibly a doubleknit, because it is denser than stockinette, and has a different look to the stitches it's made of. I'm thinking it would produce finer detail than stockinette and maybe hold up better too. I would be reluctant to use pantyhose or stockinette for fear of runs or holes.
I hear ya.
And I don't think you misled anyone! It's just that when Penny mentioned stockinette, I knew that it was most definitely NOT "nylons" or "pantyhose" material, and wanted to be sure that, for those that don't know Lisa's work, they didn't misunderstand.
I do know that many, many doll artists work in stockinette, but it's certainly thicker than nylons.
I wouldn't want to work with pantyhose either; it's a speciality -- with corresponding astounding prices! -- that Lisa has studied hard, and a niche she's well earned!
Winneybears and FriendsI have some books with Lisas work in them, wonderful ! I do have many , many other doll books by various teachers like for one, Jack Johnson, he sculpts the face, hands, shoes, etc.... but does a realistic body with armature using the heavier knit...There are many kinds of knits to try.
I met lots of doll artists at the big Anaheim show I use to go to,I even met one from Holland that made felt dolls like the Linci's.... there was so much there to see it was brain overload...but I loved it ..
That doll maker was very dissapointed in the show that year, she did not speak our language but her German friend spoke both languages.( She has a shp in Germany) She was very interested ( almost desperate ) in making bears so I explained how they were put together, drew pictures of the joints, etc., gave her the suppliers , my address, etc..
I like Mimi Wimmers work too, she has a web site and carries the doll knit and other items. Sister and Daughters web site I think has classes. I use to make dolls too.. I love the realistic dolls, mermaids and fantasy stuff and the animals too. There are many materials that can cross over for bears as you see Laura has some sculpted character bears that are fun ! Lots of dolls now include mixed media and I do believe bears have been leaning that way more and more in recent years. I have seen the bear artistry move into diffrent directions and become more complex over the years and that is certainly wonderful. We have so many different materials to choose from to create that bear or critter with...we are only limited by our imagination !....Winney
Posts: 8,574Wow! at last a use for the dreaded 'double knit'-
actually I am joking, the real dreaded double knit is, ugh. polyester, and I am sure that isn't what you meant...cotton?
Laure I am so glad you brought this artist to our attention, some of us, (me) would never have had the opportunity to see her work otherwise..
Di
Fool's Gold BearsI have had the same aversion to the dreaded polyester as you, Dilu, because it's "plastic". But I've been looking with different eyes, lately, when it comes to art. Bears are filled with Polyfil, and sometimes Polypellets, and perhaps airbrushed with acrylic paint (Poly's cousin); sculpted faces are made from polymer clay, and I do believe that the doubleknit needlesculpting fabric I was speaking of may be part or all Polyester.
When they are used as artists' tools, they gain my respect as they are incorporated as useful parts of a beautiful multimedia work of art. I have even come to appreciate the silky polyester singleknit fabric of the 70's. Now that it's so hard to find, it is once again desirable to me for its colorful patterns and lovely drapable sheen (makes nice clown ruffs). I love the all natural materials, of course; they are the star materials in our art, but sometimes the man-made ones are very helpful when used for playing a supporting role to the natural ones. 
Winneybears and FriendsYes..I was talking about cotton knit because it can be easiely dyed.. All kinds of materials are resources when you are trying to design something for a certain effect..whatever works !...Winney
