Needle Felting Teddy Bears for Beginners

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Needle-felting is an easy and fun technique, requiring little in the way of expensive materials or equipment. Its accessibility means it's becoming more and more popular, and award-winning authors Judy Balchin and Roz Dace show how to make 20 wonderful little teddy bears using this tactile technique. This bear will be very firm and dense, not like a plush toy. It's pretty durable, but I have never put one through a wash. I do believe they would survive a washing machine, but I would not put one in the drier. Hand washing would probably be best, and then just blot the bear dry and re-shape it, if necessary. I would like to add that, at least with needle felting, smaller does not mean easier. In fact, a roughly hand-sized bear is the easiest size to needle felt, anything smaller is much more difficult since it is easier to poke yourself. Anything larger than hand-sized takes longer due to the larger amount of wool that you need to felt down. Needle Felting Basics: Poke the needle in where you have anchored it and, leaving the needle there, pivot the strand down towards the stem, making a triangular leaf shape. Remove the needle and felt along this line.

Designs are easily made using thin lines and small dots. To create this leaf design, start by rubbing a few long fibres to make a strand. Felt one end into the bauble until it is secure. Take another small piece of wool and roll into a log. Needle it at one end, creating the first arm shape. To shape an indent in needle felting, you poke that location multiple times with your felting needle. The more you poke the harder the felt becomes in that spot and the smaller/tighter that spot becomes. In a round shape, this repeated poking can be used to create a 3D muzzle, and cute little eyes on any bear. Carefully slide the wool off and hold it at the top and bottom so that it doesn’t unravel. It should look like a big marshmallow. Place it on a sponge and begin to poke it all over with the needle. Keep turning the wool. Search Press supports the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC), and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA).Split the wool into three lengths of around 7g each. Roll one of these tightly around the top of your finger, keeping the fibres straight. Blend the ends in by smoothing them with your other hand. Start felting by pushing the needle into it until it comes together and firm up. Take small sharp scissors and cut this flat log into two forming legs that are approx. 0.5inlong. Felt each leg until it's shaped. Now that all the bear's parts are in place, you can start working the wool down to make the features more defined and sized proportionally. Work little by little, don't focus too much on one area, move around keeping the arms, legs, ears the same size.

Twist the wool strand as you felt gently along it and ‘draw’ a neat line. You might like to curve the line as you go so that it looks like the stem of a leaf. Poke the ends of the strand into the ball. Once you have been all the way around, turn it and begin to round off the top and bottom. Once it is holding its shape, continue to felt it evenly all over. Only stab to the centre of the shape - not all the way through. You can add a nose if you like, but it's difficult to get a separate ball of wool to attach permanently to the end of the nose. This one is for a baby gift, and I didn't want the the baby to be able to pull the nose off. If you’re not sure where to start, why not try one of Bergin & Bath’s needle-felting kits? There are lots to choose from and they’re all suitable for beginners as they include full step-by-step photographic instructions. Most projects start with a simple ball like this. Turn it into a hedgehog, a mouse or a polar bear.

Step Two: Take roughly twice the amount of wool as you used in the head, and use this to form the bear’s body. A good bear body is roughly pear shaped. The body should be felted slightly firmer than the head, you will be attaching the limbs via felting (and sewing) later on, but the body does not need to be soft for this. If you want to leave the tip of the narrow part of the “pear” slightly softer it will facilitate the attachment of the head. Needle-felting is the art of turning wool fibres into 3D shapes using a specialist needle. It is very easy to master and there are only a few things that you need to know to get started. Each bear measures around 10-12cm (4-5in) tall and can be made in a matter of hours from a bundle of wool fibres, a felting needle and some carefully chosen embellishments. Each bear has its own special character, and they make ideal gifts and keepsakes for friends and loved ones. There's a pretty ballet bear, a cool Christmas bear, as well as a vintage bear, rainbow bear and cute baby bears. Cover any bald spots with smaller pads of coloured wool until you have a neat, even coverage all over. Slide your finger down to almost the tip of your needle and tap the surface all over to push in any loose strands.

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Comments

Each project is accompanied by clear, step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs, and there are handy hints and tips throughout the book to help make the crafting process even easier. Detailed guidance is provided at the start of the book on the materials and equipment you need; how to sculpt a basic bear; make your bears' paws, feet and faces; and how to really bring your bear to life by carefully positioning the nose, eyes and ears. The techniques are easy to learn and soon you will be designing and making bears of your own to keep or give. Form a ball of felt from the remaining wool at the top of the body for the head by rolling it up and felting together with your needle. Wool – Polworth or Coridale roving is preferable. However, as long as the wool will felt you can use whatever you have on hand. I used a hand-carded lot of Romney wool, though commercially prepared roving gives a more uniform result. Work up from the top of the legs with your felting needle all the time shaping and forming the torso. Repeatedly pushing the needle in at a point below the belly will cause the body to bend upwards and make your teddy into a sitting bear. Step Nine: Use your darker colors to add detailing to ears, muzzle, eyes, and paws. Layering dark and light in the eyes can give you a more realistic look as well. Once you have the fine detail done, needle felt colored fiber on as “clothes” or needle felt a flat cloak, shawl, or even a hat.