If you like working with wool felt and roving and like creating snowmen you'll be happy to know that Lisa Bunting Thoms of
Q.D. Patooties has a wonderful wool felt and roving holiday project to share. I hope you enjoy making her "Skinny Snowman."
Skinny Snowman TutorialCopyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Lisa Bunting Thoms of Q.D. PatootiesHere's the instructions and what Lisa had to say about her Skinny Snowman Tutorial: Materials- Some Felting Wool in Cream, Black and Orange (you can buy this from Marr Haven Wool Farm, Ebay.com or Etsy.com)
- 36T Felting Needle (again Marr Haven Wool Farm, Ebay.com or Etsy.com)
- A Knee High Panty Hose or One Leg of a Pair of Panty Hose
- A Foam Ball (like the ones you use in the swimming pool)
- A Discarded Paper Towel Roll
- Some Cotton Batting or Off White Felt (a fat quarter should do - 18"x22")
- 18 Gauge Cloth Covered Floral Wire (really even a Pipe Cleaner would do for this project)
- A Snowman Hat (Knitted or Felt)
- Extras to Decorate Your Snowman (vintage buttons, pom poms, fancy yarn, wreath to hold, etc.)
- A Small Amount of Polyfil Stuffing
- Spray Adhesive
- Beacon Craft Glue or Glue Gun
- Needle and Thread
- Clear Glitter
Directions
The Head. Start by wrapping a foam ball like the one you see in Figure 1with wool roving. After you cover the ball with the first layer, use your felting needle to felt the wool into the foam ball. Continue this process until the ball is almost completely covered like the one you see in Figure 2. Then, take your ball and put it in a nylon knee high. Tie a knot in the knee high as close to the ball as you possibly can. Run your ball under some water in your sink making sure to wet all sides. Squeeze as much water as you can out of the ball. Do this several times and then put your ball in the dryer. I usually put mine in with some jeans so it gets "roughed up" a little more and plus I usually have it on the highest heat when I'm drying jeans. Next, take your ball out of the dryer and it will be felted even more and almost have a smooth appearance. If you wish to add more cream to your head, you can do that now but you will also be adding your face which may cover up those bare spots anyway. Felt on a happy snowman eyes and smile with your black roving as show in Figure 3. Make a carrot nose using your orange roving. You may need to pull out your foam block to do this part of the project. Add some rosy color to your snowman's cheeks if you wish with some Prismacolor Markers or your favorite shading medium.
Click picture above to enlarge.
The Body. Carefully study the snowman in Figure 4 and let him be your guide to completing the body portion of this project. Using your discarded paper towel roll as a guide, cut some cotton batting or wool felt to fit around the tube. Make sure it extends about 1/4 inch at the top and overlaps in the back by about the same. Cover your cotton batting lightly with some spray adhesive and apply it to the paper towel roll. While it is drying, sew up your arms using the pattern provided above. It should print nicely on a normal sheet of paper. After you've sewn your arms, turn them right side out. Take your cotton covered wire, fold it in half and twist the two ends together so it no longer has an end that could poke through your fabric. Then, place it in one of the snowman arms with the twisted portion at the top of the arm. You can stuff your arm a little if you wish but not too much. Tack the top of the arm to the top of the body where the cotton batting extends about 1/4" with some needle and thread. Repeat this process for the other arm. Line the inside top of the paper towel tube with either hot glue or your fabric glue and then fold the 1/4" (with the arms tacked on) over so that it fold inside of the tube and is glued down. Using your hot glue gun or the fabric glue put a rim of glue around the top of the body and then place the head you completed on top.Finishing Your Snowman. Now comes the fun part - embellishing and finishing your Snowman! Put on his hat, glue some buttons down the front of the body and put a few strands of fancy yarn around his neck for a scarf. Bend his arms and put something in them - like a wreath, small bottle brush tree or even some sheet music so he can go caroling. I used a wreath for my Snowman (see Figure 5.) but when I make some this year, I think I'm going to do sheet music. Have fun and be creative!On a side note, because the head is so light, your snowman should stand with no problem. Should you want him to be even more stable, you can make a stand out of felt and glue him to it if you prefer. Mine Snowman from last year has been standing for a year in my office with no problems.Have a Holly Jolly!Please respect Lisa's TERMS OF USE: My FREE tutorials, patterns, and how-to's are for personal use only and are not not intended for commercial use. They may not be copied, reprinted, emailed, or reproduced and distributed in any manner without my permission.
Lisa's Bio: Lisa is a professional teddy bear artist selling heirloom quality collectible bears to Adults and has been making bears professionally since November 1997. Her creations have been nominated for several Awards including the TITA, Teddy Bear Scene Reader's Choice Awards and the Ace Awards. They've also been included on a regular basis in many of the major doll and crafts magazines.
Copyright © 2007-2012 - All Rights Reserved - Lisa Bunting Thoms of
Q.D. Patooties at
http://qdpatooties.blogspot.com.
Please visit Lisa's
Q.D. Patooties Spoonflower Fabric Shop and her
Q.D. Patooties Etsy Shop.
