Creating Fleece Curls for Needle felting

Have you seen the lovely curls you can buy and drooled over them - only to buy them and been a little disappointed by the quality



Or you have wanted locks to match a perfect colour for your needle felting project




That was me - until I found several methods to create my own curls using my own roving or tops in every single colour

 Here in my very first video on curls I showed my method that I found and have loved of winding a thin strand of tops around a kebab stick (or a chopstick if you want looser curls, and then tipping a kettle of boiling water over the fleece to 'shock' it into taking the shape

I then discovered how to make sure they work every single time by making sure to add a little twist as you wind your tops rather than making it totally flat like a ribbon

(this video is really worth watching)

And finally how do you use these curls? or how to quickly make some when you dont have time to create some and wait for them to dry? You can just use roving and felt it on 'curly' to make bobbles and lumps of a short curly coat (if you want flowing locks like a unicorn mane or a mermaid hair (am I giving you ideas for projects?) then you do need to create the locks first)

I hope these little tutorials help and inspire you with ideas for new projects - and save you money :) 

If you make anything with 'my' locks please share them with me #BenMcFuzzylugs or come over to 'Pam Duthies Felting Friends' on facebook 

Oh and I am asked often how long these curls last - I have had some for several years and have seen no signs of the curls dropping - they seem pretty permanent 

How to needle felt a Dog The short muzzle

In the third in my series teaching you how to needle felt a dogs head today we look at the brachycephalic dog
The Boston Terrier, the French Bulldog, any dog with these delightfully smooshy faces (although for all dog lovers it is worth being aware of the health problems that can occur with the dogs if we go to extreme with these features)

 Like all my small dog sculptures the head starts with a ball, If you dont know how to make a ball check out this video for details

 Then you want to create a small thin tube, Squish the ball to a slight oval shape and apply the tube towards the bottom of your oval











felt this nub firmly down to approx the length you want the muzzle to be

Now to make the jowls you need a 1-2 inch piece of fleece









Make sure the length is even each side and felt the middle of this ontop of the nub you made for the muzzle like a crazy moustache








fold the ends under to create the jowls

Pinch these bits between your fingers and carefully felt - adjusting the shape depending on the breed of the dog

At this stage you can add any shading to the muzzle

For the lower jaw pinch an inch or two of fleece between your fingers and carefully felt a U shape.

 Add shading if needed and keep measuring your lower jaw against the upper so you know if you need to adjust the shape. Poke extra into areas that need to be made smaller

Carefully felt the lower jaw into place.

Adding eyes, ears and any shading depending on the breed and you are done

for the full Boston terrier video check it out here 

Click on the image to check out some needle felting kits (affiliate link to amazon)

Needle felting supplies review, Glass eyes from Amazon

In the first of my Needle felting supplies reviews I had a look at some glass eyes on wire from Amazon that a friend recommended to me

This is 100 pairs of glass eyes in a cute little box for under £8

It sounded too good to be true - so of course I had to order them

and I was fairly surprised. The wee box is so handy keeping them all together and the eyes are fairly good quality
My only worry was attaching them as the wire is shorter than what I normally use - but I had a glue to hand that works perfectly

If you are interested in these eyes click the image below (affiliate link that dosent cost you anything)

To see any of my other reviews for needle felting equipment and supplies go over to my youtube playlist
And please let me know if there is anything you would be interested in me reviewing for you

I am not sponsored for any of my reviews - I will let you know if in the future any are sponsored

How to needle felt curls

Have you got a pile of lovely fleece locks or have you made my curls but dont know how to attach them to a needle felted sculpture?

In todays video I show you several different ways to attach curls including how to felt straight fiber if you dont have time to make or order locks

If you make any curly felts please feel free to share them with me


The link below takes you to my affiliate site on amazon,

Speed Felting a Needle Felted Snow Leopard Wool Painting

I tried out a new art form the other day 2d needle felting - or wool painting
This is my 2nd ever painting, I hope you all enjoy

I created my own transfer by drawing out my leopard with an iron on transfer pen (I used the sulky one in the link below - affiliate link) and I found it surprisingly easy to use
Then I ironed the image onto a piece of felt to give me a guide of where to felt. Then about 8 hours of stabbing later and this guy appeared

How to needle felt with BenMcFuzzylugs. Adding details to you Easter bunny

Todays how to needle felt tutorial video is showing you how to add details to last weeks Easter bunny

Shading in the ears, tiny detailed eyes, a fluffy bunny tail, and his little snuffly nose - here is how to add them

I think he looks much better with his little eyes and its a great project to improve your detail skills 

Please feel free to share if you make little Easter bunnies 

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How to needle felt. Needle felting Easter bunny tutorial

Todays needle felting tutorial video we have a fab project for beginners - the needle felted Easter bunny

This wee guy is so simple, just 2 basic shapes, takes about an hour or less and is super cute 

If you are a total beginner I would recommend checking out some of my basics videos before getting started 

An introduction to the equipment

How to felt a ball

Bunny ears

I have been asked a few times if I sell felting supplies - I dont - but click my affiliate link for Amazon below and it takes you to some people who do sell felting supplies and look pretty good :) 

How To Needle Felt. Easter Bunny Ears

Todays video

Its a bit of a dress up for easter
How to create a removable band with bunny ears on it to dress up your little felt sculptures

In this video I actually show three methods for forming the ears and two methods for colouring in the pink in the middle of the ear

I hope you enjoy - feel free to share any makes you create

Needle felting Basics. How to add Jump hoops to turn your felt shapes into beads - and vote for the animal you would like me to show a tutorial of

In todays video I show you how you can take your needle felted paws, hearts and balls and add a jump hoop to let you turn them into super light beads

Also I introduce to to my moon gazing hare and white rabbit 

Please vote on the animal you would like me to create a full length tutorial on. You can vote for any animal on any video.

Please stay tuned for more beginner needle felting tutorials and to meet some more of my animals

Thank you :) 

Needle felting Tutorials, Cats Paw Beads

Want to make cute cat paw beads??

This is a great beginner level project and once you have the hang of it these little beads are really addictive.

Also check out the start of the video to vote on which large project you would like me to take you through step by step, in todays video I give you a close up at my needle felted dragon

First steps in needle felting

So back in the mists of time (2 years ago) I had the fantastic idea to create some beginner needle felting videos.

I filmed a few and even managed to edit some, like this introduction to needle felting

And this first exercise - felting a ball 

And then my computer decided it didnt want to talk to my video editing software.

Now - Two years later I finally have editing software I can use - so Im working through the videos I had already made (know whats worse than seeing yourself on film? Seeing yourself 2 years ago on film and not being able to change what you are saying!) 

Here is the first of the recorded ages ago new videos

I plan to continue uploading the remaining tutorial videos from the past and I have a load of new ideas for new videos (which I promise will have way better audio!!) So please feel free to like and share and subscribe either here or on my YouTube channel.

Fuzzylugs Friday

Fuzzylugs Friday

Fuzzylugs Friday

Fuzzylugs Friday

Todays Fuzzies, there were all taken in the 'carpark in the Sky' Overlooking Paisley
If you like them please visit my store 

Fuzzylugs Fridays

If you love these feel free to share and visit my shop 

Fuzzylugs Fridays

Todays fuzzies, feel free to pin, share, comment and visit my shop

 

Fuzzylugs Friday

I have been taking my fuzzylugs for some photo shoots and thought I would share some of the images with you - and in keeping with trying to be more active on here I will dedicate Fridays to showing you all my sculptures.
So if you like Fuzzylugs check back on a friday - or visit my shop

Needle felting - quick fix - Oh no! The ears are too big

 Every had a felting disaster? Actually the great thing about needle felting is you can save just about anything
Here is my quick fix for a common issue I have
My cat is almost done but I just dont like the ears, I have pretty much reached the limit of how much smaller I can felt them and for me they are just too big.

I could take them off and make new ones, I could cut them off and remove some from the bottom - but let me share with you a quick trick I discovered to shrink them and still retain the shape

 Carefully cut a V shape into the tip of each ear so the centre is now lower than the edges
(poor thing, he looks a little odd now!)

 Pinch the edges together and CAREFULLY (dont stab your fingers) felt the edges together

Occasionally if you have felted VERY firmly you might find you need to add a tiny bit of fluffed up fleece over the top to get the edges to bond but usually with ears I dont find I need this

Repeat for the other ear and hopefully your ears are now shrunk how you like them
















Of course you can always just buy yourself some ready made custom felt animals from my shop - check out my sale section for some amazing discounts!

The fuzzies are taking over the madhouse!

Last week the horrible happened. My computer hard drive died along with everything from the past 3 years.

All them images of my fuzzies! Thankfully most of my real life fotos are saved due to me sharing them on photobucket and facebook

 A very good lesson to me to back up things.









So now I am sorting through my drawers of fuzzies trying to figure out which ones I need a new photoshoot for
(not the best now we are heading for winter and the light is rubbish for photographs)








Pulling out everything I see just how many fuzzies I have made in the past 5 years!
Many have gone to loving homes all over the world but I also have quite a lot still with me

They really need a home somewhere where they can see the light of day





and I really need less clutter in my house

So I have decided to have the biggest sale I have ever had!!!

check out my sale section,
It is like the biggest ever spring clean in autumn :)








 Many of these items have been in my shop for a while and have had some amazing views, likes and been in many treasuries, this is why I have been resistant to selling them off cheep, but now is the time!! Lots of there are way less than 1/2 price

So if you have loved needle felted sculptures but been a little weary to start your collection there has never been a better time
Have a look and see, everyone tells me how much better these wee guys are in real life
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BenMcfuzzylugs?section_id=11175199