Bear With Me !

I am a bit behind on my bear, but he/she is slowly taking form. I spent most of the day yesterday trying to fix my computer as my Internet connection went haywire. I did manage to get some time to work on the my Bear's feet. I decided to felt those and it took me 3 HOURS to do both feet. Felting is a neat art form, but time consuming when you felt firmly. I use mohair for the pads to grip the wool as I felt. I like the results so far.

I plan to do shading later for added depth.

I use core wool to start with and poke it over, and over, and over with the needles ....until it forms a toe,etc. It felts down really small and hard. I then use the needles to felt it onto the pawpad. More wool is added as needed to build the desired shape. The final layer is roving which is softer and gives a smoother finish.

Different needles are required for different stages of the felting. These are incredibly SHARP needles that you do not want to poke yourself with....ouch. They remind me of fish hooks. The needles are fragile and can break easily too. You need to be focused when felting. No TV watching :)

Now, I am not a felting expert by any means. I'm just sharing my technique, which I continue to improve as I go along. To see the work of the incredible artist I learned this technique from , check out LUXEMBEARS by Judi Paul. Jaw dropping work !

Here is my first attempt at felting from Judi's class in 2006. "Giggles" cracks me up when I look at him; he looks like a sloth from the Ice Age movie :)