How To Needlefelt Short Hair On Animals

Ever wondered how to become those luscious layers of long fluffy fur on your needle felted animate being? more importantly how can you go them to look natural and stay put!?

Whilst making a badger I took some photos of him forth the manner to show y'all. It is fairly simple to do merely does take quite a long time although once done it does give y'all a existent sense of satisfaction and the fur actually does experience soft and fur-like. Of grade the finish result texture does depend on the type of animal you are felting and the type of wool you wish to employ.

If you are new to this astonishing art class and then before you get started – check out my tutorial 'what is needle felting' for basic needle felting techniques.

What wools to choose?

For my needle felted badger I had already fabricated his body shape past sculpting with natural carded wool. I recommend wool batts which come in long thick sheets, making information technology easy to pull sections off and the wool is really fast to felt with.

Then for the top coat (which I will be demonstrating in this tutorial) I mixed grayness and black merino wool tops with a few strands of some natural undyed wool tops for a rich cream colour. I particularly dearest the merino sheep wool as it comes in a variety of animal colour options and is lovely and soft to impact. Natural wool tops in breeds such as Jacob or corriedale are quick to felt and are a little more than fibrous to the expect and experience. When using wool tops the fibres all lay in 1 management and then they are perfect for cut lengths and calculation these to resemble long fur on your needle felted creature.  If you would like to yous could use other luxurious fibres such every bit baby alpaca.

What tools volition you need to attach the fur?

Very simple you merely need:

• barbed needle/s – I would recommend 38G Star Needles or 40G Triangle needles.
• a felting base eastward.g. a basic foam pad, a wool mat or a rice bag (encounter how I make 1 here).
• small pair of scissors (I just used smash scissors just you could get some actually cute stork embroidery ones for your projects – really precipitous and useful for trimming long fur)
• you can also utilize a minor ordinary sewing needle to fluff up fur at the end.

NB I didn't want to completely flatten my fur downwards but let information technology to stand out with some book so simply used i needle at a time rather than a multi-needle tool and changed my needle depending on detail and thickness of wool being needled. .

As you lot tin can come across I have completed my badger except for his dorsum fur and tail at this point. For how to make a badger head please meet my tutorial here.

I love the fur on a badger'southward back, it is greyish in colour but with flecks of black, brownish and cream.

Now y'all could use carding brushes or dog brushes to blend the colours of wool but I wanted to keep the fibres all going in one direction as much as possible at this bespeak and with block strands of full colour in black / foam / grey so not fully composite.

To achieve this lay lengths of each color on top of each other and and then using your pollex and first finger of each mitt at each stop of the wool lengths, pull your hands apart pulling the wool abroad from each other. Lay each layer once more on tiptop of each other (fibres all in same direction) and keep going until all the wool is blended as much as you want information technology to be.

And then accept narrow strands of the mixed wool the width of one or two fingers

… and cut these into modest pieces, roughly the same length. The length will vary as nosotros felt as some areas volition take longer fur than others…

They don't need to be perfect every bit no badger will take its own barber with a perfect pilus cutting. 🙂

I volition now demonstrate what y'all will exercise with each piece..

Accept a slice and slightly pull in the heart in a bow-like shape

To layer the fur we need to felt from the dorsum end of the animal layer over layer until reaching the caput… then place the first piece at the very bottom of the badger's rump.

Felt using your barbed needle forth the center parting of the wool piece in various directions, the depth should become down to the beginning few barbs but the aim is to felt shallow merely in many directions for the wool to stay put.

You tin as well felted slightly below the centre line onto the bottom half of the slice to ensure it is in place.

At present carefully pull downward the top section

… and ensure there are no stray edges past encouraging the wool in from both sides..

Now felt along the top folded edge until it is firmly in identify.

Felting forth the centre and so on the meridian edge in this way helps the wool to stay in place. Give a tiny tug to check it doesn't easily pull out. NB a actually good tug will probable pull fur out hence why these cute lilliputian animals are not meant to be toys to be pulled around…they should take cuddles and some handling though so ensure yous felt well.

Again ensure you lot felt in many directions and so go on on to the next slice…layering the wool to create a fur await..

When moving upwards to the next layer, position the wool just above the last layer – you lot don't want gaps in between of core wool showing and so don't get out too big a gap…

Don't worry almost the fur being too long or tufts sticking out, every bit you tin requite the finish of the fur a trim as you go (time to use your hairdressing skills :-))

Past the way this doesn't need too much skill and I am definitely no barber, only trim in various directions for a more natural fluffy look.

Whatever bits you trim off can be used for other felting projects or even for any areas you lot wish to fill in later at the edges so don't waste them just put aside in a neat pile for later..

Optional; For the back stop of the badger I wanted this to be actress fluffy with the fur standing upwards slightly on stop so to accomplish this, run fingers through the strands of wool to fluff upwards and stab the wool all over between the strands, not to felt downward but to fluff up…(

As you can see we take a way to get but we are on our way !!

Aw look at him waiting so patiently to be finished 🙂

Y'all may observe it easier to turn his body as you go – work with whatever position y'all find comfortable and whatever means less squishing of his cute piffling olfactory organ into the felting mat..

Equally you attain the main length of his torso you lot may at present make up one's mind to cutting the lengths of wool a bit longer

For a more than realistic look vary the colours and then that you sometimes become more than black or cream in the strand you felt…mix it up a bit..

Keep going…

Almost there… take a breather – have a hot chocolate !!

Specifically for the badger- when reaching the cervix line, overlay some strands of black wool at the base of the ears …

And so finish off with some more of the foam at the base of his head..

You tin apply a normal sewing needle at present if you lot wish to advisedly fluff upwardly the fur where information technology may have flattened slightly..

And there you have a gorgeous badger! fully furred waiting to be cuddled and fit to be loved!!

I added his tail after this which also had several layers of wool as fur…

Here he is all completed !! then playful !!

Long Beast Fur video!

Find it easier to acquire by watching how it is done?

My 'Long animal fur' video tutorial is NOW Bachelor on my YouTube channel in four parts.

<<<Click the donkey moving-picture show to start watching role 1

 You'll learn even more than techniques for calculation long fur (equally demonstrated on this adorable miniature donkey).

Did y'all find this tutorial helpful? What would you lot like to acquire about next? Please leave comments. Why non post a photo of your own creations?

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Source: https://fittobeloved.com/2013/11/08/how-to-needle-felt-long-animal-fur/

Posted by: saulsfelf1971.blogspot.com

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