What is felting and how to do it in the example of the master class for the manufacture of soft toys-raccoon

Throughout the ages handicrafts went hand in hand with the life of a person. More than 8000 years ago, people noticed that wool has the ability to stray, forming a fairly strong and dense material. Nowadays, the technique of felting wool is called felting.

Felting - what is it?

To work in the felting technique, only natural wool is used, which is rolled up in a special way, knocked down, dumped with needles. Felting is dry and wet. In wet felting, wool is used softer and smoother. It is pre-soaked in a soapy solution, after which it is tindered and crushed according to a pre-planned pattern. In the technique of wet felting, perform paintings, clothes, ornaments.

For dry felting, thick, coarse wool is used, the fibers of which are more susceptible to stalling. With the help of special needles piercing the movements of a layer of spun wool into a solid dense layer of felt. Using felting create warm shoes, blankets, ornaments and decor elements, toys.

At the moment, felting technique is one of the most common types of needlework, as it combines creativity, practicality and undeniable benefits. To start creating your own products in the technique of felting, you do not need to have a special education or attend paid thematic courses. Many recognized masters were trained independently, and you can use the following master class on felting for beginners. It visually shows the whole process, teaches you some tricks, and also helps to avoid some mistakes, will save material and your time.

Photo master class to create raccoon raccoon

So, to create a toy in the technique of felting you will need:

• Sliver - will be used as the basis of the toy;
• Colored wool for felting;
• Brush or sponge for felting;
• Set of felting needles - thin and medium triangular needles;
• Thin wire for the frame of small parts;
• Eyes - sold in specialized stores;
• Glue "Moment" for gluing eyes and wool to the frame.

Course of work

To start to play a toy it is necessary from a head. From the sliver piece at first hands, and then on the sponge with a needle create a ball. Immediately use the middle needle, and when the contours are fairly clearly marked, change it to a thin one.

Add to the face of the cheeks - two small bundles of sludge fill to the bottom of your ball. Now spout - hands form the shape and seal it to the head.

The base is ready. Now you need to color it. We take a flap of colored wool, slightly fluff it in the fingers and lay it on the base.

If you use several colors for coloring, for a smooth contour, take a thin strip of colored wool and, without entangling it, seal with a thin needle to the base, marking the boundaries, and then fill the remaining space. This technique will help you in the design, for example, of the spout of an animal.

Ears. To create the ears take once the colored wool and on the sponge give it the desired shape. Bottom edge details do not dump, as it will be attached to the head. In the process of work, be sure to compare the size and shape of the resulting ears( this, by the way, applies to all paired elements).

Torso. A cone rounded from below is lying from the piece of the sliver. Colored wool comes to him. Above - where your toy animal has a neck, wool does not roll - here the trunk is attached with the head.

Now the paws. Thin details, such as paws, are best performed on a wire frame.

A thin flap of colored wool slightly pile, then drip a little glue on the toy's finger.

After it dries, wrap the wool around, and put the remaining end in the palm.

From two small pieces of wool, form a palm. A cone is formed from the sink, the finished part is inserted into the narrow part of the cone, and the wide side is tied to the trunk.

We decorate the pens with color, likewise we make the legs of the toy.

That's almost done.

It remains to add the tail to the raccoon, glue the eyes, designate the mouth and your toy is ready.

The network presents a huge number of training videos on this topic. Having familiarized with them, you finally clarify for yourself this process.