Boutin Richard - Little felted animals: create 16 irresistible creatures with simple needle-felting techniques

First published in the United States in 2008 by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

Library of Congress Control Number:
2007943307

ISBN-10: 0-8230-1504-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8230-1504-7
eBook ISBN: 978-0-553-41915-3

All rights reserved

First published in France by Marabout (Hachette Livre) in 2007
Marabout 2007

v3.1

MATERIALS

Needles

The special barbed felting needles come in several sizes. Use the finest ones for felting the different parts of the body and the coarsest ones for fixing them together. Always insert the needles vertically or they may break. The needles with a wooden handle are more comfortable to use; weve shown two variations of such , but you can use any needle you find comfortable.

Foam felting pad

This serves as a support for the needle felting process. Try not to jab the needle repeatedly into the same place, as this could damage the pad.

Cotton piping cord

This is embedded inside the wool to reinforce the arms and legs of some of the animals. Choose a fairly thin cord. See .

The eyes

We used glass teddy bears eyes, which come in different colors and sizes to suit the individual animals. See .

Sewing needles and thread

A thick sewing needle is needed for making the holes for the eyes. Use a finer needle to sew them in place with thread to match color of the project.

Warning

Be very careful not to stick the needles into your fingers; they are very sharp!

INSTRUCTIONS

The basic process

Needle felting is a process originally developed for making industrial felt. Barbed steel needles are moved in and out of loose woollen fiber to create a matted felt fabric. To create the basic elements, place your piece of woollen fiber on a foam pad and move the felting needle in and out of the fiber in a straight motion until it holds together well and feels spongy when pressed with your finger. Start by making fairly deep jabs to ensure you are felting the inner fibers. Both the angle and the depth of the jab are important for shaping. Jabbing the needle at an angle will cause the fibers to go sideways, and shallow jabbing will felt just the surface fibers. If jabbing at an angle, make sure you keep the needle straight, as it can easily break or be damaged. Turn the fiber shape frequently so that it does not stick to the foam pad. Leave the ends that will be attached to other parts of the body fairly loose.

Shaping the animals

You can achieve the right shapes and bulk by adding more wool, following the designs and the photographs, and by jabbing your needle into the wool at specific points, either deeply or more shallowly. For example, you can flatten the head or define the mouth in this manner.

Making different sizes

The project diagrams are printed at actual size, but you can make each animal smaller or larger as long as you keep the same head-to-body proportion.

Checking the measurements

You can check the measurements of the basic elements and the pieces to be modeled by superimposing them on the diagrams.

TOOLS

COMBED WOOL AND CARDED WOOL

There are two types of wool: combed wool and carded wool.

Combed wool fibers are longer and have been cleansed by the combing process.

Carded wool fibers are more tangled and often contain impurities (scraps of straw, seeds, etc.), which must be removed before felting.

You can use either type of wool; choose according to the desired color of your projects.

HOW TO USE THE PIPING CORD

For some animals, the legs or the arms need to be reinforced by a length of cotton piping cord:

- Cut a length of piping cord slightly shorter than the total length of the leg.

- Take a little wool and jab lightly with the felting needle to create a flat surface.

- Place the length of cord in the center.

- Roll the wool around the cord and needle it some more, then shape the leg.

- Roll it between your palms and then needle it again.

- To form the foot, mark the ankle fold with the needle by jabbing it into the base of the leg.

- Leave an end of unworked wool at the top of the leg with which to attach it to the body.

- Make the other legs in the same way.

- Attach the legs by felting the end of unworked wool onto the body, jabbing with the felting needle to fix them in place.

SEWING ON THE EYES

To attach the eyes, follow the diagram and the following steps:

- Use a thick sewing needle to make holes in the felt for the eyes.

- Push the thinner threaded sewing needle into the hole, then place the eye in the hole, making sure the eye shaft is firmly embedded.

- Push the needle through the back of the head.

- Tie off the thread with a firm knot.

THE ANIMAL SHAPES IN THIS BOOK

There are three basic body shapes used in the projects: birds, short-legged animals, and long-legged animals. On the following pages, you will find step-by-step instructions and photographs illustrating the basic methods for creating these standard shapes, including guidance on how to make your animal shapes sit up and when to use piping cord in the limbs.

COLOR PALETTE

THE BODY

Take a strip of black wool and roll it into a tube. Then jab through with the felting needle to seal it. Leave an end of unworked wool at the top for attaching the head.

THE HEAD

Take a strip of black wool and shape it into a dense ball with the felting needle. Join the head to the body by placing the unworked wool left at the top of the body onto the head.

THE TAIL