My orange was a pleasant surprise. I was not sure that he would be very exciting in the end, because he does not have a lot going on. The simplicity seemed to come through for him, because I think that he looks pretty darn cute.

He was extremely easy to construct. I decided to make him a flattened orange, so that it would be easier to make him into a broach. I just needle felted a round sculpture out of orange, and then gave him a little green spot where his stem would have come out. I think that putting it off centre gives him a little personality.

The surface texture was easy as well. The tiny holes that sometimes occur when you are using a needle that may be a bit too coarse for the job actually ended up looking like the little pores on an orange peel. I had an inkling that this would be the case, and it turned out that I was correct. Happy

Not the animal the funny, fuzzy little fruit!

The kiwi was particularly challenging to sculpt. The white lines which radiate from the centre and the tiny seeds were the slowest and most painstaking part of the project. I started by sculpting the green part. I spent quite a bit of time on this as I wanted the surface to be hard enough for me to sculpt the details on to it. I needle felted the white lines and seeds directly onto the green, without trying to sculpt them before attachment. With parts as tiny as these, it is best to just attach them to the main project and shape them into it. It is too difficult, not to mention dangerous for your fingers, to try and felt itty bitty pieces of wool.

I made the eyes on my kiwi quite large. This is because of the seeds. I found that smaller eyes got lost amongst all of the other tiny, dark dots on his face.  The result is quite cute, and slightly amphibious…

I just made my boyfriend his favorite little alien for his birthday.  The Reddit alien is reddit.com‘s mascot and fits in quite well with my interests because he’s cute too! My boyfriend reads reddit everyday and I knew it was his favorite website so it was a no-brainer to make this for him.  He’s really quite excited about it!

Upvote if you like him!!!

The asparagus has one of my favourite end results, but it is definitely one of the more challenging vegetables to construct. This is because of all the tiny green leaves at the top, which I attach on individually. I don’t worry about felting each leaf too much, as they are very small and difficult to work with. It can also be quite dangerous for your fingers to work the needles on such a small surface area. The construction is otherwise quite easy; just felt the stalk from some lighter green, and attach the leaves after from a darker green. They end up looking like hair, and add a lot of personality. This particular little guy has quite the devil-may-care expression.

This is the first time that I have attempted to make any sort of gourd, and I am quite pleased with the result. I was worried that I did not have the colour that I wanted – a deep orangey-yellow. I solved this by combining a bright yellow that I had with a red. Initially, this did not solve the problem, because the wool does not really blend together. You can still see the individual fibers, and I ended up with a yellow and red streaked butternut squash. Not to be disheartened, I just used this as my base colour and wrapped a thin layer of the yellow around it. Because the underneath layer had quite a bit of the bright red, the yellow layer turned it into a deep orange, similar to what I had pictured. You can still see some of the streakiness underneath, but I think that it adds a nice effect.

The material used in Needle Felting is wool rovings. This is just wool that has not been spun, so it still has that puffy, cotton-candy like appearance. It does not particularly matter what type and quality you use.

There are certain types of wool which are much cheaper, and which will not negatively affect the end product. Sometimes I enjoy working with a little higher grade, such as a Merino wool, because it is softer and a little easier to work with, and it gives your sculptures an even finish and a silky feel. That being said, if you work a low quality wool for long enough, it will look just as finished. Sometimes it is a good idea to use your rougher wool for the base of a sculpture, and the nicer, smoother stuff for the outside and finishing touches.

Felting needles may appear very alike, but the different gauges can have quite a different effect on your work. For larger, coarser felting, use a 36 gauge, or a 38 star for rapid work. You may use several of these together in a felting pen. Clover makes a truly excellent one which has the width and length of an actual pen, making it easy to hold and manipulate

There are other felting tools which hold more needles than this, such as the Colonial Needle Felting Tool. While you will be able to felt a large area quickly with this tool, I find that it is not as easy to manipulate as the Clover tool.

For detail you should use a 40 triangle. I generally just hold the needle in my hand, but you can also use a tool as well. The clover pen allows you to remove all but one of the needles, so that you can do the finer detailed work in comfort.

As you felt more, you will notice the difference between using the various needle gauges in your work. If you are noticing that there are very apparent needle holes on the surface of your work, try switching to a more detail-oriented needle.

Thought I’d show everyone what I’ve been up to since you last saw me.  This is my buddy the Avocado.

Just wanted to actually get something up here. There will be much more in the future. I’ll see you at the next fair!