The Mew Project -- I:ii

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EDIT: I would love to continue this project, but sadly, life has intervened. I've lost all of my files and pictures for this, and honestly, I'm not too keen to try remaking them. Maybe I'll make another tutorial later, but for now, just ask if you've got questions, because I don't forsee an end to this series... ever. And I'm happy to answer questions anywho.

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If only I'd known better. If only.

This step actually didn't go as well as I had thought it had... but I only find that out later. So, since I do want this to be narrative-driven, you guys will find out what went wrong later, too.

Uhm, what else? Oh yeah. Resources for buying all this stuff.

Wire: You can find this stuff anywhere. For Mew, I used 16-gauge wire, because of its durability and strength, but that stuff is usually harder for me to work with. Most of my smaller creations have 22 or 20 gauge wire inside. If you're looking for small gauges, go to a craft store instead of a hardware store. It'll be close to the beading section in crafting stores, and for the larger wire in hardware stores, that'll be near the electrical.

Needles: If you're like me at all, you'll break needles a lot. At around 70 cents a pop, that ain't cheap. If you really like needlefelting, consider buying in bulk if you can (some sellers do this on Etsy; some internet stores do this as well). If you're just getting started, though, don't put down that money quite yet. Start off with a variety pack. My local store sells one that has one each of the 36 triangle-points, 38 star-points and triangle-points, and 40 triangle-points. Larger numbers here mean smaller needle diameters, though I don't exactly know how they correlate, and triangle- and star- points refer to the amount of barbs. Theoretically, it'd be better to use a 36 triangle-point for the insides of your work and a 40 star-point for the outside layer, but since I'm a lazy bum and a cheap-o I just buy 36 triangles in bulk. It gets expensive when you gotta buy 50 at a time and pay shipping, but for me, it's worth it.

Felting foam: This, more than anything else, is safety equipment. You don't have any else in needlefelting. It's imperative to get one. Even though I use mine all the time I still harm myself with the stupid needles. But at least my lap isn't bearing the brunt of the pain. I use a foam model, but I've seen plastic-based bristle models too. The upshot of those is you can't poke all the way through them, like you can with the foam and a long needle. Though I haven't seen a larger model.

Roving Wool: If you want to actually make something, this is what you're going to need. Roving wool is carded wool (usually dyed) that's aligned in one direction. You can use uncarded wool, but then you've got to deal with a lot of organic plant matter that's generally pretty itchy. I have a local store that sells this, but a lot of you out there probably don't live close to such a specialty store. So the internet is probably the way to go. Decadentfibers.com has an outstanding selection of colors and color packs. Etsy sellers are often great for little bits of unique colors for detailing. And there are plenty of other online stores that cater to the felting community.

In general, for a beginning needlefelter, I'd recommend Decadent Fiber's Appetizer kit-- www.decadentfibers.com/Felting… . It's got everything you need: needles, a felting pas, a wonderful color array (I'm still using mine!) and instructions. It may take a while to ship, but it's worth the wait (mainly because of the amazing colors you get). Plus also you get a nice tidy box to keep it all in.

Ahh, yup. I think that's it for now. How do you guys like the comic format? Still good? I mean, I'm still going do it this way, but constructive crits always help.