Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

ginnie, if you over needle the wool you won't be able to get a needle in it. When you are working and needling gets harder you switch to a smaller needle (a higher number) if the needle won't go in it should be as hard as a rock..

Limbs are hard especially if the critter is small. I wrap and needle until it seams well attached. Question... the wool you are using does it felt until it's hard on the body or do you needle and needle and seem to get nowhere? If so it may be the wool and not you. Some wool doesn't felt or compress well... it stays "fluffy".

When I make chickens ... mice or ??? sometimes I use Sculpey SuperFlex Clay and sculpt around the armature on the legs, bake it and then start needling. The Sculpey Flex is bendable and flexible it works great for rat tails. This may solve your problem on the next critter.

Neysa

Dilu, maybe the following photo's will help... the colored wool is "batt" it's clean wool the is fed through the carding machines just a few times so that the fibres are going in all directions. "Roving" the second picture - camel colored .... it is clean wool that if fed through the carding machine multiple times and "combed" so all the fibres are going in one direction... note how you can see this in the picture. Roving is what spinners use they just pull strands from the roving to spin. Does that help any??? Neysa

The needles I sell I color code them with the plastic coating used for tool handles. I dip the needles crank (head) in the coating. It can be found in hardware stores. Neysa

Core fiber is usually white wool, which is not always the best to felt it is generally to soft. Some white felts very well it the breed of sheep it comes from. Using a core fiber is just a way to save on wool. But if your project is small why use a core fiber... use the wool you would to finish the project.

I wouldn't pay for core fiber... polyester stuffing is just as good if not better. Neysa

I found this one too. Neysa

Couldn't resist, my kids with one of their bears. Neysa

Good Morning,

Using any kind of needle holder is easier on your hands. I have carpel tunnel and something larger to hold onto helps.

I use the needle holders that I make and sell but I also like to use Crayola Model Magic to make knobs. It's a non bake-able kids clay found in craft stores. I roll a ball insert the needles top - the "crank" into the clay and pinch it shut. If I break a needle I work the broken one out of the clay insert a new one add Elmers Glue and let it dry and I'm back in business. I have lots of extras made so I don't have to wait.

Neysa

I use my batt for the whole critter if it's small. Otherwise I use polyfil as the core fiber. I don't like roving as much but find that it works almost as well when needle felting a face.

Guess I'm just "batty" Neysa

Judi, incredible!!!!   Neysa

Heather, Good points. Art is art no matter what it's made of...  but if you talk to a painter about pottery or weaving they will say it's a craft not art. It's a long ongoing discussion or theory for lack of better words. I think "craft" is non original work such as something from someone elses patterns, and "art" is original creations by the artist.

Marketing is a big part now we have shows the internet, magazines etc...  to publicize our work. What do Van Gogh have, he died before his work sold for big money.  Needle felting is so new to the bear world we need to demonstrate to show it's worth.

A German artist told one of my tour people when she bought a felting from her that was priced very inexpensively "it's just felting" that's why it's so inexpensive.

It's the same as 23 years ago when I started making bears I used very nice plush not mohair. I had collectors that loved my bears but put them down when I said it's plush not mohair. (even though the collector really couldn't tell the difference). The line those days was "only mohair makes a bear" through education we now know plush sells for as much as mohair depending on the design, quality etc.

Neysa

Good Morning,

Wool batt or roving which do you like to work with and why?

I personally like batt, it is in my opinion easier and faster to felt. The fibers go in all directions, batt being cleaned and carded.

Roving is cleaned, carded and combed until the fibers all go in one direction. I think using roving is more work and takes longer to needle. 

What do you like? Neysa

Good Morning,

Well I'm back from the show in Louisville, KY. The show was slow. I did sell a lot of felting supplies, that's a great thing!

Pricing that is a hard question as everyone has said. When it takes me 12 + hours to felt a critter... how do you price it. Judi's comment about the critter, "YOUR talent, YOUR uniqueness, YOUR creation" should all be considered.  I think pricing is to each persons thinking. How do you price time, supplies etc. If you are happy with the price you put on your creation that's what it should sell for.

Todays economy doesn't allow for many BIG dollar items. Collectors are becoming extinct. Shows are on that track too unless we as artists and the collectors support them. What happened to the days of seeing it in person, hugging it or just touching it. Ebay has hurt the business as far as shows and to some extent prices.  The economy is the main problem, our economy in the USA affects everyone around the world.

A shop owner in England said to a friend of mine "why should I buy bears from the artist when I can go on Ebay and get them cheaper".

Needle Felting is a fiber art, introducing it at teddy bear/doll shows, club meetings, classes, seminars etc... can only help people understand the time it takes to create and the talent to create these incredible critters we are making. The more knowledgable the collector the more they will spend. Anyone agree or disagree???

I do know an artist who's creations are beyond belief, but she sells very little. Do what you love and worry later about selling it. Artists have to create or go crazy.

Neysa

Gail,

I won't be in Schaumburg, sorry. I do break needles but no more than when I needle felt through mohair. Go to this link on my site and download my FREE instructions for needle felting an armatured critter. http://www.purelyneysa.com/felting/inst … ooklet.pdf

Email me after you read the instructions and we can work on any problems you may have.

The plastic eyes are here: http://www.purelyneysa.com/nsupplies/eyes1.html

I do from time to time have sales on felting supplies, eyes, critters etc. If you signup on my site for my "friends of Neysa" I send out specials that don't appear on my site.

Neysa

Good Morning, wood wool??? I've never tried it. Let us know if it works. I think I would stuff the muzzle with polyfil it would give the wool something more to bond to. Neysa

Rikki, check out my link about plastic eyes... I melt a hole in the shaft and attach them the same as glass eyes. Neysa

Good Morning!

I hope Judi does write a book. I've started one and I am playing around with the idea of selling it though my site chapter by chapter. It is on both mediums felting an entire critter and felting faces. The book market is rather slow right now and publishers of these sorts of books are not publishing. Look at Hobby House. Are they still in existence?

Neysa

Matilda,

Your question made me think of what you do with a finished critter. Here's what I put on a card and give to the collectors that purchase one of my needle felted critters.

Taking care of your Needle Felted Critter or Mohair Critter with Needle Felted Face/Paw Pads

If your critter becomes dirty, lightly blow the dust off. Avoid any hard rubbing with your hand or cloth.
Do not comb or brush. DO NOT WASH!

Washing, rubbing, combing or getting your critter wet will loosen the wool & cause your critter to change it’s appearance.

HANDLE WITH CARE this is not a toy. It is suggested that you display your critter on a shelf or in a glass display case & keep away from pets and small children.

Lin & Vicky of Pookie Bears came up with the idea and I added a few words. Feel free to use this or any part with your critters.

Neysa

Rikki,

Your comment about plastic eyes and lock washers go here for a different way to attach: 
  http://www.purelyneysa.com/nsupplies/Eyes.PDF

Did you know even Steiff uses Plastic Eyes - it in their child safety laws. Same as we have in 5 or 6 states here in the USA. Neysa

Good Morning,

To find the eyes on my site scroll down the home page and look for Plush, Eyes from Europe and More  then scroll down that page to Eyes, Joints and ...or go here:      http://www.purelyneysa.com/nsupplies/eyes1.html

I'll be gone from Sat to Monday evening to the show in Louisville, KY.

Neysa

Judi, they are plastic eyes that I sell on my site. Check there for sizes. Neysa

Ginnie, welcome we all start somewhere. Here is good. I use Prisma colored pencils working with my darkest color first to the lightest I'm going to use. I also shade with different colors of wool batt. Picture attached is on of my first attempts at felting and coloring with Prism pencils. Neysa

Good Morning, hears a dog I'm working on, his face isn't finished but you can see the finished eyes.

Even if you sink in your eyes... how about wrapping the wool around them before you sink them and after you insert them???? Neysa

Good Morning,

I have started using eyes with clear irises. I attach the eye and using a mixture of colored wool batt wrap it under and around the eye. This gives the eyes lots of color and highlights when the light hits it. Has anyone tried this?

Neysa

Karen, love the bear and the eyes! Neysa

Kim, I like him very much! Neysa