Materials and tools:
- - gray and white carding;
- - wool for felting (ribbon) pink;
- - black glass eyes with a flat back;
- - wire for legs and tail (0.3 mm);
- - needles for felting (38 - star and 40 - reverse);
- - substrate (car sponge or thick felt);
- - glassy varnish;
- - dry brown pastel;
- - glue (any second or “Crystal”);
- - awl, scissors;
- - eyelashes for extensions.
Initial stage: torso
Usually, wool toys begin to be felted from the head, but sometimes it is more convenient to make the body first in order to more accurately determine the size of the head. An oval piece is tightly rolled from gray carded carding and secured with a needle. Falls evenly on all sides to medium density. The upper part of the body needs to be made narrow, and the lower part wide.White fur is added to the front on the belly and chest. The wool should hold its shape but be quite easy to pass through the needle.
Head
The size of the head should be half the size of the body. The gray carded card is rolled very tightly into an oval shape and secured with a needle. At the junction with the body, you need to leave loose strands for further work. The head is processed with a needle to medium density, the needle is inserted to its entire length. Using the left strands, the parts are connected. White and gray wool is placed on the neck and carefully fixed. The parts are fastened tightly, the needle is inserted tangentially.
Muzzle
The mouse's eyes are located on the sides, so the eye sockets are made slightly at a distance from each other. The needle draws two circles according to the size of the glass eyes. A small drop of glue is applied to the back of the eyes, and the parts are pressed against the fur. Four semicircles for the eyelids are made in a plane from thin pieces of carding. Small details are carefully attached along the edges of the eyes.
Under the lower eyelids, fur for the cheeks is additionally built up; on one side, you can take not gray, but white carded. Two identical balls are used to form a bean bag, a nose is made from pink wool, and a lip is made from a flat part. Using a needle, carefully draw the line of the mouth several times.
The ears are made in a plane from pink combed ribbon and attached to the head. The joints of the parts must be covered with gray carded carding.
Paws and tail
The frame of the paws and tail are twisted from thin wire. Using glue, wrap the parts with pink combed tape, carefully separating the thin strands. The thinner the skein, the nicer the foot comes out. Holes are made in the body with an awl, and the wrapped parts are glued a centimeter deep into the toy.The joints are covered with wool.
Final stage
The figurine is brought to a solid state. Brown pastel outlines the contours of the eyes, nose, mouth, fingertips and tail, and ears. You can glue eyelashes into the corners of your eyes. If the glass does not shine, you can coat it with varnish. All the work was done with a 38 needle, but you need to push the toy with a 40 reverse needle. The entire surface, including the nose, eyelids, paws, ears and tail, is treated with a 40-gauge needle. Excess hair is carefully trimmed with scissors.
A cute gift for the Christmas tree is ready.
