Simply put, needle felting is the process of taking raw wool roving and using a special barbed needle to sculpt it into shape. The sculpting is done by poking the wool fibers thousands of times until they interlock and felt together. This process is extremely time-consuming, and each dog normally takes 10 - 25 hours to create.

This is a brief demonstration of the techniques I use to create my needle felted dogs. It is not meant to be a tutorial, merely an example of my work in progress. I will be showing examples from a recent commission I did. This sculpture took 14 hours to create from start to finish!

 

The first step for any project of mine is to study the reference photographs. I like to have as many photographs as possible to work from - the more angles, the better. This cute little Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix is named Dewey, and his owner has ordered a sculpture of him.

 I choose wool based on colour and texture to match the breed I am creating. I blend various colours of wool to mimic the dog's coat.  I create a wire armature to felt over. This provides extra support for the sculpture and also gives it a bit of flexibility.  

I start by felting and shaping the torso and neck. Then I felt the legs, head, and mouth. After that I make the tail and feet. Everything is still pretty rough at this stage, and I don't put most markings on until later.

Once I have the basic body shape done I will finish the mouth, and add any markings I haven't done yet. The ears are the last thing for me to needle felt. I sculpt the eyes and nose from polymer clay, attach them, and apply some glaze. Then I snap some photos and send them off to the customer for approval!

 

 

 

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