Needle felting, beagle, stage 10

Now the feet!!

Lots of people dont do feet but I like to add them.
Sometimes I just sculpt them on the leg but its a little easier to make each foot individually



Take a small strip of fleece and roll it fairly tightly into a ball

Carefully holding between finger and thumb felt all round to secure and begin to firm the ball




As you work one side looks a little flatter so flatten this out more by stabbing all along. Remember the fleece matts in in the direction of the needle so always stab in 90 degrees to where you want the surface to be (in this foto the needle is at the wrong angle - not easy to hold, stab and photograph)

Spend a good while stabbing all round so the foot is very firm and as smooth as possible

Repeat 3 more times so you have a little bunch of feet :D

They might not all be the exact same size. You could add more fleece to even them out. In this case I just used the two smallest for the front and the two biggest for the back

Needle felting, beagle, stage 10

To attach the head to the body I take a large piece of fluffed up fleece and felt it into the back of the head







I then hold the head above the body in the position I would like it to end up in and I spend a long time firming up the neck, stabbing lots up into the head and down into the body to bring fibers through each and meshing the two pieces together firmly.




Keep stepping back and looking at the piece and adding more fleece to areas that are too skinny. At this stage you can pose the head a little, often it gets a little more life if you cock it to the side a little.
Spend LOTS of time felting the body now so it is very firm and smooth

Needle felting, beagle, stage 9

Now the body is quite smooth and firm I bend the legs over into a more dog like shape

First just bending them over but then curving the back legs out slightly and back in again at the hock joint.




Now looking at how a real dog is build I add more fleece to pad it out. I fluff up the fleece between my fingers to it dosent show lines as it felts then I add some to the hips and chest, I also fatten up the body of the dog. Keep adding and felting until the dog is firm and dog shaped. At this point I am realising the front legs are a little short but I will deal with this later

Needle felting, beagle, stage 8

With the wolf I didnt use a frame to make the body but often I use a frame to allow gentle posing and to help keep the size somewhere sensible (I tend to make them bigger and bigger)





I cut two lengths of pipe cleaner and fold in the ends (so there are no sharp bits of wire) I then fold them into a rough body shape and twist the middle together.
Starting with the legs I wind wool around the frame. It is important to felt lots here in lots of directions to smooth out the areas where the wool was wrapped


Also the firmer this base is the easier the next bits are to felt.
Keep felting until the fleece is smooth and firm, this should take well over an hour

Needle felting, beagle, stage 7

The dogs ears are brown with black over the top.
First I lay down some brown in a large (these dogs have big ears) triangle shape. I tease out some black fleece so it is fluffy and add a little layer over the top.




Spend quite a long time felting the ears, if you keep them on the foam pad then turn them over frequently else it will start sticking to the pad. You can also hold the ears between your fingertips to make the edges more sharp



Looking at the dog his ears are attached quite low down on the head, level with the eyes.
I attach the ears by stabbing the ends into the side of the head.






I then hold the ear in the shape I would like it to be in, I stab gently in all directions to firm the ears in the desired shape.

Needle felting, beagle, stage 6

Now the face is really starting to shape up and look a lot more like a dog it is time to work on the eyes.
First I add two ovals in black. The dents I made earlier make it easier to see where to put them.




Next I decide which way I want the eyes to be looking and add a C shape of white on the inside side opposite where I want the eyes to be looking. I leave a small amount of the black showing on the outside edge as this defines the eye



I then add a blob of the eye colour. Sometimes I just add another C shape but with small eyes this is fiddly and the blob makes the eye more rounded. Again I leave some black showing all round the eye, and if possible a little between the eye colour and the white adds a little more cartoon look.

Then I add a small ball of black to make the pupil and an even smaller ball of white to make a glint in the eye. Manipulating gently with the needle makes this ball into a more pointed shape I like but you can just have a spot of white.





Now I spend some time really felting the eyes in, sculpting them slightly rounded by felting more firmly round the edges and less on the top being careful not to distort any of the detail

Needle felting, beagle, stage 5

The lips really help to give the dog expression and life

To make these I tease out a few strands of fleece twisting them to make a cord like a thin peice of yarn - the thicker it is the easier it is to felt but of course too thick will look too clunky



Then I take the center of the cord and felt it in below the dogs nose

Felting one side at a time I make an upside down V from the nose to the mouth felting the cord to the nose.

I then take the cord from the front of the mouth all the way to the back corner in a U shape


This helps define the dogs smile, it takes tiny delecate stabs with the needle to secure without burying the cord.
I then felt along the bottom lip to meet the ends of the cord in the middle of the bottom lip

Needle felting, beagle, stage 4

To make the nose I use a small piece of black fleece.
First I roll it into a ball and then between my fingers I pinch a edge out slightly







Carefully holding this I gently stab into a kind of rounded triangle shape. At this point I have to be very careful to make sure I let the needle slide between my fingers rather than stab into my flesh (owwwch)




I do not firmly felt the nose at this point because I prefer to sculpt it into shape on the actual sculpture
Felt all around the nose onto the head shape being careful to angle the needle in towards the centre of the head, if the needle pokes out of the white fleece at this point it will have taken some of the black fleece with it and this will cause a tiny black spot to appear in the white fleece


Stabbing many times into each side not only forms nostrils in the nose but also makes sure it is well attached onto the head

Needle felting, beagle, stage 3

Now the head is fairly firm and in an almost doggy shape I start colouring it in.

The Beagle I am aiming for has reddish brown markings with a black cap so I apply fleece in the areas I want to colour and I firmly felt it in place

Stabbing many times in the same place creates dents in the fleece that gives me an idea where I would like the eyes to be. For felted eyes this is useful to stop the felt stick out too much. If you are using glass eyes this gives a nice eye socket for the eyes.

At this stage have another good look at your dog. I decided that he needed eyebrows above the eyes so I added a small amount of fleece above each eye socket to give a more realistic expression

Needle felting, beagle, stage 2

Now the head and upper jaw are taking shape I create the lower jaw.

I take a piece of fleece about 1/4 inch thick - or less.

I softly roll it around the needle then flatten it by stabbing it a little onto the foam pad.

If you havent been felting long just make the lower jaw totally on the foam pad turning it over often.

I prefer to be more hands on at this point, but there is a risk of stabbing your fingers if you loose your concentration.

I hold the lower jaw between my finger and thumb

and gently stab into it to smooth the edges and firm up the whole jaw by taking the loose fibers from the edges right down into the middle of the jaw. I leave the end a little fluffy to make it easier to attach to the head




Using the loose fibers I then attach the lower jaw to the head adding more fleece if needed and always looking at the face from all angles to make sure it is looking right. Remember to open the mouth and felt inside as well as outside



At this stage I always think they look a little like a duck or a donkey, I think this guy looks a little mole like too :D but if the basic shape looks OK then once you add the other features it will begin to look more like a dog soon!

At this point spend a long time (at least an hour) making sure the head is really firm and smooth, keep looking at it from all angles and add more fleece to any areas you need to flatten out

Needle felting, beagle, stage 1

I thought it might be fun to photograph another make so you could all see the stages involved in making a fuzzy dog.
This is not a tutorial for new felters, some methods I use will get your fingers stabbed, much safer (but not so much fun) to do all your stabbing on the mat)
First I need some inspiration. Sometimes I have orders or make dogs I know, sometimes I just make it up as I go along, today I liked the photograph on a magazine.

First I took about an inch thick piece of fleece and rolled it into a ball and stabbed it until it became fairly firm










Then I took another piece of fleece about 1/2 an inch thick and gently wound it around the needle to make a tube.
It is just softly wound so I can sculpt the shape as I attach it (this will become the nose and upper jaw)






I attach the nose to the head by pushing the needle right along the length of the nose into the head. If the nose is too long stab more towards the head, if it is too fat stab horizontally into the nose. If it is too thin you can add more fleece and if it is still too long after it has felted firm you can even cut bits off, the cuts can be closed over by felting with a thin layer of fleece


At this stage I stab lots into the underside of the jaw to make a dent, this strengthens the jaw and makes it more mouth shaped.