Wool Creations-Needle Felted Soft Sculptures

I am finding it difficult to find the time I need to work on my sculptures. I think it's a summer thing. Every time I have a plan, it changes. It seems everyone visits during the summer. Could be because I'm close to the Jersey shore.

Well, no visitors and no excuses today. My little Cairn Terrier needs more than the ears and eyes I've added since the last post. I'm hoping to get the body done today. I always make the head first. That way, if I don't like the way it came out I haven't wasted time on the body. See, a plan!!

I am currently working on doing a soft sculpture of my best friend. Well, one of them. I have wanted to create a sculpture of "Bailey" for some time but always seem involved in another project that needs to be finished.

No more excuses! Bailey, a Cairn Terrier, is taking shape and should be finished in a few days. Then it's on to my other "best friend", Jesse. A Westie with an attitude.

I've been saving Bailey's fur when I brush him so this sculpture will actually have his fur incorporated with the wool. I will have him with me always!

He is a red brindle with a black mask so I have had to do some serious color mixing to get his coat as accurate as possible. Not possible to use all dog fur but I should be able to create a nice mixture so this sculpture will have special meaning to me.

I'm grateful the Westie is all white!

After sticking your finger with a sharp needle for what is probably the hundredth time, you start looking for solutions. I get the most sticks when building a face. Mostly when I connect the bottom lip to the top lip. Here you are trying to connect two pieces with nothing under them but your fingers, hence the pucture wounds.

When I buy new needles they, on occasion, arrive embedded in a small piece of foam. it's the same type used as a work space for needle felting. Keep these pieces. They are the perfect size to put under your work when you try to connect two pieces that have nothing under them. They also work great when you are connecting two pieces together that are small, like a fore arm to an upper arm. My puncture would count is way down. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing."

Also keep your old, used foam work space when you buy a new one. Some felting activities are just harder on the foam than others. Like when you have to do a few really good stabs that will go through and into the base. This saves my new foam base from any abuse and it will last much longer. Yes, another Martha moment. Feel free to add any good ideas you have for needle felting.

Does anyone besides me have a body bag? Now before you alert the authorities, mine is all wool. I have legs, I have arms, I have heads! I'm sure some day I will need one of these parts.

In a perfect world,  each piece I roll would come out exactly right. This however is not a perfect world, hence the body bag. It was a good idea, because I have on occasion dipped into the bag for the perfect leg or arm.

Creating soft sculptures is sort of a Frankenstein endeavor. Add some of this and a little bit of that and now you're getting somewhere. If all else fails, you can always tack on a few extra parts and call it an alien.

I have a thing with red, curly hair. So I had to create a doll to just showcase the hair. Had to be Irish of course because of the red hair. It also gave me an opportunity to use the Merino wool I just dyed for shadiing. It works great. Doesn't give them a clown like coloring. Like makeup, it shouldn't be noticed.

Meet my new baby, Bridey.

I can't tell you how much time I've spent trying to find the exact color of wool batt in Merino to add spot color to faces, etc. I wanted something very soft so it would look real. I finally gave up and realized I had to dye my own to get exactly what I wanted.

So, I went to the store and bought some Kool Aid, no sugar added, in a cherry red color. I put a half teaspoon into the water and added the white merino wool. When the water turned clear I rinsed the wool and, much to my surprise, had a vey bright red color. My dolls would look like they had a night out on the town if I used that color. Back to the drawing board.

Now clearly a half teaspoon was way too much, so for the next attempt I slowly dropped in a few grains of the Kool Aid. The water quickly turned a very light shade of pink and looked just about right. Dropped in the next batch of white Merino. After the water turned clear, I removed the wool and guess what! The exact shade I'm looking for. So the moral to that story is to go very slowly with the Kool Aid because, while you can add more, you can't take any out.

Does anyone have a life once they get bit by the felting bug? I often go to bed at night planning what color to use the next day or what type of clothes to make for my doll. Or if I should make a doll or an animal. I love baby animals so I usually head in that direction.

Well, I'm off to put some Jammies on a cute little red head.

Did you ever take an online class and just feel something is missing? I take them from time to time to see if there are any new techniques out there. After the last one I've decided not to take another one.

Not only was the information I signed up for missing in the class but the person who wrote the class was very testy if you asked a question. All sweetness and light before you pay. So, I've been cured.

Now, having said that, I do have an exception. Birgitte Krag Hansen! She has a class online that actually tells you all you need to know and then some. Price is very reasonable also. Not for beginners though. You do need to have some experience. Considering English is a second language for her it is well written and informative.

This little kitty is about to take a swat at his friend. (I'm making the friend today.) I made this practice piece to try out a new way to attach the legs which did work out very well. The limbs are poseable on this sculpture.

He has a very soft finish, done with a short fiber Merino wool. I've been experimenting with different finishes to see which get the best results. I love using the Merino wool because it does not leave the "dreaded fuzzies" on the surface. I don't like the look of loose fiber poking out of the finish. No matter how well you work the surface there always seems to be one or two fibers standing straight up.

So, today I need to add whiskers to this little fellow and make him a friend.

My mill end roving arrived yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised. All clean wool roving ready to use. Now, what to do with it. It does felt well so, as promised, here is the link to a really good bargain: http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/Roving.html

I'm using some of the white for a kitten and it does seem to felt well. At $7.50 a pound it was worth a try. Shipping is a killer though. $11 which is almost as much as the cost of the wool. They use USPS to ship. Still a good bargain.

It's a rainy day so I think I'll spend a good part of it needle felting. I'm working on a lamb and decided he needed a full, plush coat. So I'm using a Merino top and laying on the wool row by row. Then he gets a haircut. I'm hoping to finish today. But that was also yesterdays plan and the day just got away from me.

The irony hasn't escaped me! The sheep are shorn so that I will have the wool to put back onto my sheep. My little guy is really cute though and super soft thanks to the Merino wool. I sometimes mix a little Angora in with whatever I am using to add to the softness.

Mother Nature has excellent taste so I love to use the natural colors of the wool. It just seems appropriate when felting animals. I'm also saving the results of grooming my Cairn terrier so that when I do a sculpture of him it will have extra meaning to include his own fur.

I think I'll also dip the new batch of needles that arrived last week. I use three different colors of Plasti-Dip so my needles are color coded. This way, when I reach for a needle, I know exactly what size I am using. I dip each needle handle several times, drying between each dipping.  The liquid rubber builds up and creates a nice little handle. One of the small comforts in life.  

I ordered some mill end wool roving which should arrive in a day or two. First time order from this company. Great prices. Natural colors. What's not to like. I better like it because I ordered two pounds. One pound of the white and one of the brown shades. If it turns out to be a good deal I'll post the link.

Back to work. So much wool, so little time.