Felting on a Quiet Afternoon

Spending time with my daughter on a new craft: Needle Felting!

Hello Fellow Steemians!

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend some quiet, quality time with my daughter. Being one of the oldest can be tough in a large family, especially when you have two rambunctious, energetic, and clever little brothers who at this stage in life, like nothing more than to get a rise from their older sister. So when my daughter heard that the littles were offered an invitation to stay overnight with grandparents, I can attest that she was downright giddy at the thought of their temporary departure.

Now don't get me wrong. By my estimation, it is only a matter of hours before she will be checking the clock and wondering when they will return. Loving and protective sisters are like that. Still, I could see the excitement in my daughters eyes upon hearing the news. Oh the possibilities! The chance to read a good book in peace. Playing with toys without having to share. First choice for the movie should we choose to watch one. And yes, possibly Mama and Papa's undivided attention, if not for just a little while.

I listened patiently as my daughter wondered out loud at the various choices. Play dolls with mama? Watch a movie together? Sew something? She couldn't decide right away. It had to be just right.

And then an idea. Yes, that would do just fine. We should try our hand once again at felting.

I say again because we'd tried once before about two summers prior. We are friends with another home schooling family and the mother is very accomplished at felting. She's made the most beautiful dolls for her kids, little fairies usually with colorful wings and dresses.

Amaya, my daughter, never showed any signs of jealously but I could tell that a homemade felted doll was something that she would enjoy. Despite my reservations about crafting with tiny, sharp, barbed needles, I thought I'd give it a try.

I'd watched my friend build them during our kid's activities and I also tried to learn from watching several videos about needle felting. Despite feeling some intimidation because some of the things others were able to create on these videos, I was determined to try.

Off we went to the store together. I bought pipe cleaners and priced some other materials. But, ultimately, we ended up purchasing needles, a foam block and various bundles of colored wool from a local producer at our Farmer's Market.

Now, if you know me, you'll know that sometimes, to my detriment, I tend to dive in rather than to cautiously wade into, well, anything. All or nothing, I suppose.

It was no different here. And, well, the outcome was predictable.

My first project was to make a full doll. I struggled with the musculature (pipe cleaners), wrestled with this soft poofy stuff (wool) and went to battle with sharp metal pointy things.

Amaya, on the other hand, chose a more simple task: a little, flat gingerbread-type person. It turned out pretty well.

I set the felting aside. Perhaps my fingers are too big, I reasoned =0) (I'm kidding about the fingers). But I did set it aside for another time.

And that next time came yesterday afternoon.

Well, with a little patience, peace and quiet, Amaya and I fashioned some neat stuff. It was her idea to make a few warm hats for her stuffed animals. I especially like the one for the newest addition, a Siamese cat we call Dwight. It is winter, after all.

Next, she fashioned a fluffy hat for her beloved second-hand, one-eyed, extremely well loved baby doll - Blue Girl (on account of her one blue eye.) It was a hit. Blue Girl loves it.

As for me, I decided to pick up on the doll again. I used the same frame that I'd constructed and stored away two years ago. This time, I was able to complete it. Here are the basic steps that I took:

1. Build the head, arms/hands and skirt using several pipe cleaners. Use a canning top to anchor the skirt and create a circular base.
2. Place a ball of wool into the circle of the pipe cleaner-head. Cover the outside of this with wool (whatever flesh color you choose).
3. Begin felting the head so that it sticks together.
4. From here, wrap thin flesh-colored wool around the pipe cleaners that will be arms/hands. Used the needle and foam block to felt these.
5. Next, work on the dress. This was tricky as it requires several layers of felt. I added these layers in different ways. I felted the bottom layers some before adding more.
6. Finally add eyes, a nose, mouth and hair using either wool or regular crafting yarn. I added small bits and used the needle to manipulate and shape the features.

Amaya helped to choose the colors and the design of the dolls (I ended up making two). I'm sure that I can make many improvements and probably made several mistakes in the process. But, I don't think they are that bad for my second try. We had a great afternoon. Amaya likes the new creations and that makes me glad enough.

Well, I hope you enjoyed what you read. Do you craft? Do you use felt? Got any tips? Would love to hear from you!
Thanks so much for checking out this post!

Steem On Steem Strong!

Ch4nel