Another needle felt alien using the batts I bought from A Touch of Alaska . These are a blend of many different fibers and felt really well and pretty fast compared to the merino . I did use some scraps of prefelt Romney for the "wings" and may still do a bit more detailing on them at some point .
This little alien is a flightless "bird" (which I may still add wings to), but I kind of like the simplicity of him and I certainly like that he only took a few hours to make . I tried something new for the eyes . I first cut a 1" by 3" piece of foam from one of my old felting foams and embedded the eyes into two small holes . I then added white roving around the foam section . It took several thick layers to completely cover the foam but it was interesting to experiment with felting into the foam and it does stay nicely . This is a technique that I picked up from another felter....The felted Chicken , (you can find her blog on my sidebar of blogs) . She has some really amazing items and great tutorials and loves to experiment with new techniques .I then felted a very simple ball shape from the A Touch of Alaska batt and once fairly firm, laid the foam piece on top in the eye area and felted that to the ball . I added several more layers of roving ontop of the eye area to hold it into place . I think the experiment worked pretty well but I don't know if it was any easier then using roving but I plan on experimenting more with foam as it is a great way to use my old felting pads so they don't go to waste .
I love the look of the wisps of fiber sticking out of the head, tail feathers and ear area but this makes this little guy a bit more for gently handling . Although I try to root the hairs as deeply as possible, they can be pulled out if tugged or become felted if rubbed to much .The greenish background is some wet felt that I made for the leaves for my new flowers but I made the mistake of over felting . I put it into the drier to get out some of the moisture and left it in there for to long . Some areas still might work and the rest I can use as "parts" for my aliens and green critters .
Happy felting .
Hee-Hee! Your work is so awesome! I'm excited you tried something new, Working with felt over foam is okay, it works really well if you are trying to do something simple & big!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE 'EM!!
Oh, and felting over foam is really easy if you wet felt over it. I use it for small things like cupcakes, But you're right, not sure it is that much faster than just using "Core". But if you want to make something GIANT, like say 24", it works wonders!!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the follow up comment...
LOVE'EM!!
Thanks Crissy , I worked on a new large critter today using foam core in the torso . I've never had the nerve to wet felt a 3D object but I will try it one of these days .
ReplyDeleteLove your little critters, very ethereal!
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