Stay Strong

Yay, submission! This is for the Artisan Crafts category of the Think Pink V contest.

So I found out about this contest just around the time I really got into needlefelting. So, I figured, why not give the human form a shot?

In any case, this is the result of many a tedious afternoon in front of the TV.

I had a much more... romantic vision in mind when I started, but I found out that felt isn't inclined to be delicate and flowy. As it is, I spent an inordinate amount of time on the gradient in the dress.

She's completely posable-- even her fingers can be posed!-- and theoretically, I could put her in different outfits if I had the will to needlefelt some more.

Let's find a cure!

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This creation was made with a type of crafting called needle felting. Basically what happens is I take a bunch of loose (i.e. roving) wool and jab it with a needle (many, many times). The wool bonds to itself, slowly getting firmer and firmer. Eventually, it's firm enough to stand by itself in a sculpture-like way. By adding more roving wool, I can sculpt a creature or a person or whatever out of the wool.

Needlefelting is a relatively new craft, having only been invented 30 years or so ago. It's similar to the process of wet felting, but instead of using water, needles are used.

My needlefelt creations almost always include a wire base, so they are extremely posable, and I find the freedom of sculpting and the resulting plushness to be everything I could have asked for in a medium.

I happily take commissions, and my prices range from 10 to 100 USD, depending on the size and complexity.

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