Thursday, October 29, 2009

Make it yourself - needle felted dolls

I learned how to needle felt last winter. These are my own design and so easy.



You'll need undyed wool batting/stuffing, colored wool, a needle felting needle and a piece of foam to protect your table. Everything is available at A Child's Dream come True. You can get basic supplies and kits at A Toy Garden.

Set of five felting needles ($4.95)




Wool Roving ($15.95-$23.95)



You start out with a big handful of the undyed wool.



Loosley shape it into a ball and start stabbing it with the felting needle. In and out,over and over... it will start firming up and getting a shape.



Keep going until you have a flattened oval just the right size for a child's hand. It should feel somewhat firm. Then, the fun part!

Choose a skin color. Make a circle for the face and place it on your doll body. You attach it the same way... poke, poke, poke.



Then choose the main color. I chose orange to make a pumpkin baby. Drape the wool on the body and poke-poke it in place until the doll is covered. The doll should continue to get tighter and firmer.





When the wool is really packed in, it is time to embellish. Eyes, hair, decorations... just shape and poke into place.


I made the leaf and stem separately and then poked them in. Easy!



My girls like to carry these in their purses and pockets. They also make a great car seat toy. If the wool gets loose from handling, just poke it back into place.

And, if you try this, send me your pictures. I'd love to see.

2 comments:

MommyLydia said...

Why do you put the main color on on top of the white ball, instead of starting with that color of wool in the first place?

Sara said...

I do that because the batting is a lot cheaper than the wool roving. I could do color all the way through, but it is cheaper this way.