A0263 Mouse Wool Needle Felt Kit

Mouse handmade wool needle felt

[LivingLambsVeganKitchen]

INSTRUCTIONS - PART 1 OF 2

I have not made this yet, but this is my observation from watching the YouTube instructions.

QUANTITIES - all sizes, lengths, and quantities are observational guesses – sorry, folks, but that’s the best I could do there. But it looks like the head might be about 25% (1/4) of the white, the body 50% (1/2) of the white, and the ears, legs, and arms 25% (1/4) of the white. The size of the body and head are, then, the natural result of that quantity of wool after felting. In each case, the quantity (1/4, 1/2, whatever) is used in installments (not all at the start), adding more wool to shape, until the full quantity is used. The nose and ears use only tiny wisps of pink, with the rest maybe being divided equally between (1) the feet/hands and (2) the tail.

HEAD

1. 0:07 - Skull (White) - Pull off length of white (maybe 6" x 1"?), fold in half, roll. Begin to felt. It looks like she might be, off screen, adding more wool to it to build it up as she goes, ultimately making a firm-ish egg shape.

2. 0:43 - Outer Ears (White, make 2) - Tear off a small amount of white (maybe 1" or less?) and card it (pull apart, stack, pull apart, stack, repeatedly). Roll edges in to make a flat disk. Lay on the mat and felt, including the edges and the front and back. The edges are slightly thicker from the folding in. She looks to be felting in an arc, also, to distinguish the "inner ear" from the raised edge. Continue to lift it up and do front/back to keep it from sticking to the mat. Do not felt the bottom part of the ear, as that will be used to felt the ear to the head. When the ear feels like a nice firm disk, and can be pinched at the base to make it "cup" a little. Make 2.

3. 1:42 - Inner Ears (Pink, make 2) - Pull a wisp of pink (maybe dime sized?) and card it (see Outer Ear, above). Make a tiny disk and felt it to the outer ear, leaving a white rim around it. Pinch the ear to make sure it cups nicely. Add a wisp more of pink if necessary.

4. 3:00 - Attach Ears to skull - Cup ears slightly. Hold the ear to between location the widest part of the head, like at the widest part of an egg, and the back of the head. Hold it with the unfelted bottom of the ear to the back of the head, and felt this material to the head. Be sure the ear is pinched/cupped slightly. Felt well in the little crease where the ear attaches to the head. When it's mostly done and well secured, felt a little at the front base, as well. Do the same with the 2d ear. The ears should be attached on the top arc of the head, not on direct opposite sides. The eyes will be in line with the innermost edge of the ears, so that can help to place them, as well. Give them a final securing felt around the bases.

5. 4:24 –Making eye holes & attaching eyes (make 2, wool and eye pieces) - Felt the forehead area, generally, to add a bit of firmness. Begin to felt in a small, concentrated circle, in the location of the first eye. It looks to be placed at the widest part of the "egg"/skull and generally in line with the innermost edges of the ears. The small circle should make a visible, but slight, round depression where the eye will go, and it should be the size of the eye bead. Use an awl to make a hold in the eye location, and press the eye stick into the hole. Press firmly to seat.

6. 5:06 - Nose (pink)- Felt the nose area lightly to firm it up a bit. Take a tiny wisp of pink and card (see Outer Ears) and roll into a ball between your fingers. Felt it carefully at the point of the egg to place it, then felt it to firm it into place.

7. 5:37 - Mouth (black) - Felt the lines that will make the mouth and the line that connects the mouth to the nose. These are located slightly under the pointiest part of the head, with the nose at the pointiest part. These should be felted so that they are visible, indented lines tracing the shape of the mouth and nose-to-mouth line. Take a tiny wisp of black and roll it into a snake between your fingers. It should be longer (it looks to be twice as long) than the nose-to-mouth space it fits into. Carefully poke it into place, and then felt to firm, folding the longer part over and felting. For the mouth itself, take a wisp of black (again, about twice as long), and roll it into a snake. Place straight across the mouth area, centered where it will touch the nose-to-mouth strip. Poke it into place there, and then start to coax it into the "mouth channel" on either side, felting it into place, and folding over excess and felting that (or trimming if it is not needed, and felting in the ragged end).

BODY

8. 6:33 - Body (white) - Take a length of wool and roll it. It looks to be about 1.5x the length of the head. Felt it a bit. Add more wool to wide it. Felt it to firm, including the bottom (but not the top). Tug a bit at the bottom to make the bottom as wide as the "main" width, and pull the wool a bit to divide the bottom make little "thighs." Felt to firm, tugging as necessary to help form the thighs. It looks like she felts carefully to define the crotch and thighs. Felt toward the top to firm around the chest area, but leave the very top unfelted, so that wood can be used to join the body to the head.

9. 8:39 – Body shaping and Upper Legs (Thighs) – Using a pair of nippers, slice into the crotch area and further define the thighs. Pull piece of wool (flat, about the size of the body) and card several times. Felt it to the body to “heal the cut” and soften the body as a whole. Repeat, building up the body, especially around the hips and legs, making the bottom a bit wider than the top from the front and side view, so he is gracefully contoured and slightly portly (good front image at 19:11 and side at 19:07). Keep the distinction of the thighs and felt to firm. Repeat several times with small “flats” of wool, continuing to build up the body and firm. When the right size and shape has been achieved. firm it up well everywhere, including between the thighs, to make a nice distinct shape. Felt the wispy top slightly, just to control it a bit and make the top of the body level, but this should still be quite fluffy and soft.

10. 12:23 – Prepare Body for Lower Legs– Using an awl, poke into the lower points of the thighs and pull out wisps of wool. Felt to give a good shape to the lower body.

11. 12:50 – Attach the Head - The neck area should be flat, but soft. Pull up a light ridge of wool around the edge that will “cup” the curved bottom of the head. Place the top of the head on the mat. Place the neck of the body at the bottom of the head (facing up) and felt into place, going lightly around all the edges for placement, then securing with additional felting, repositioning as necessary. Felt the general upper body and touch up around the head, generally, as necessary.

12. 14:04 – Arms and Legs (make 2 each, pink and white, with wool and pipe cleaners) - Cut two longer (arms, 2.5”?) and two shorter lengths (legs, 1”?) of pipe cleaner. Wrap one end with a narrow wisp of pink wool (looked to be about 16 wraps). Take a long, narrow wisp of white, and wrap where it joins the pink, and then continue wrapping until 1/2 way up the appendage for the arms, but just barely above the white for the feet. Leave the rest of the pipe cleaner unwrapped (some excess pipe cleaner will be trimmed off in step 14). Felt all over, leaving it slightly fluffier at the top where it will ultimately be felted to the body. Wrap with a wisp more of wool, if necessary, to make a narrow tube with a pink end. Continue felting for firmness. Bend the little legs where the white joins the pink into an L, pink part of the feet face forward (i.e., white legs, pink feet).

13. 17:02 – Attaching the legs – Using an awl, make a hole into the thigh. Slip the unwrapped portion of the leg into the hole. Felt it into place to firm it up with the wisps that were pulled out of the thighs in Step 10 above. Wrap legs with a narrow wisp of wool to better join the legs to the thighs and to shape the legs and felt into place. From the thighs to the feet, it should look like a fat triangle (thighs) going down to a point (feet), with the feet then coming forward.

14. 18:04 – Attaching Arms – Hold arm to body to determine placement and confirm length. It looks like the arm is placed to the side a bit below the neck and 1/2 way between the front and the back. If length of wrapped arm is satisfactory, trim arm pipe cleaner so only about 1/4” or 1/3” (?) of unwrapped pipe cleaner remains. Bend the arms at the shoulder and curve slightly (see 30:24 for a good view). Using the awl, poke a hole in which to insert the unwrapped pipe cleaner. Insert the arm and felt it into place with some of the fluffier end. Use longish narrow wisps to wrap the shoulders and felt the arms to the body more securely.

[LivingLambsVeganKitchen]

INSTRUCTIONS - PART 2 OF 2

CLOTHING

15. 19:52 – Scarf (brown/purple) – Pull the wool so it’s long and felt it flattish. Continue to pick up and turn over so it doesn’t stick to the base and so that both sides get felted. Make a uniformly wide and thick scarf, felting the center and edges alike to give it a good shape with rounded ends. For length, see step 17 to confirm if you’ve made it long enough.

16. 21:17 – Hat (blue) – Fold the blue in half and felt it flattish, making a domed hat shape. The hat is generally a square with a slightly rounded and wispier top. Leave the hat bottom a bit thicker, as if the hat were folded up at the “cuff.” Pull the more rounded top wider, so it’s fluffier and wispier. The top of the hat should be big and wispy. Continue to felt the bottom so it’s firm and thicker. Felt all over, defining the shape, but leaving a ridge along the bottom, felting along the bottom edge to firm the bottom shape. Fold the hat into a cylinder and carefully felt along the seam, both from the outside (being careful not to felt it to the other side), as well as poking into the hat from within the cylinder to the outside. Felt the border of the hat by putting the hat opening on the corner of the mat give felting support. Gather and snug the wispy top to make a pom pom on a hat appearance at the top of the hat. Snip lightly into the pom-pom part and “wisp it up”. Felt around the join to firm the top of the hat and make a clear distinction between it and the pom pom. Trim the pom pom for neatness.

DRESSING THE MOUSE

17. 25:32 – Scarf - Looking at the mouse, place one end of the scarf against the left side of the neck, approximately under the left eye, with the remainder of the scar to the left. Felt it lightly into place at that edge to hold it in position. Wrap it around the back of the neck, to the front, crossing the initial placement, over the left shoulder, and onto the back. It should go about 1/2 way down the back. Felt the final location lightly into place, perhaps making the end a bit pointed. Be careful not to over felt, so it looks like he’s wearing a scarf, not like the scarf is part of his body.

18. 25:40 – Hat – Place the hat on the back of the head between the ears, pointing slightly back, and felt around the rim of the hat to put the hat in place. The back of the hat will nearly touch (or touch) the top of the scarf. Felt a bit around the cone of the hat for more security, again, being careful to keep it looking like he’s wearing a hat, and not like the hat is part of his body.

BOOK

19. 26:43 – Book Block (Insides, white) - Take a piece of wool about 1/2 the length of the mouse and fold in into a square about the size of your thumb nail. Felt the slightly thick square well around all edges, being careful to lift it and turn it over so it doesn’t stick to the mat.

20. 27:20 – Book Cover (brown) - Pull the dark brown in half lengthwise and stack. Pull that in half lengthwise and stack. Roll into a tube and fold in half. Continue to pull in half and stack, carding it a bit, until it is a rectangle slightly larger than it needs to be to be a cover for the book block (since it will reduce in size some during felting). Felt it well, lifting and turning, giving attention to the edges, to make a nice rectangle. When you think it’s about done, hold the book block to it and see if it covers it. Stretch it out a bit if necessary to make sure it fits, or felt it smaller to make sure it fits, hanging over the book block just slightly like book covers do. In any case, make sure it has good clean edges.

21. 28:26 – Covering the book - When the cover is finished, wrap the book block and felt the cover into place. First, slightly through the cover just to hold it, but mostly felting it well through the edge of the book block into the cover from the inside. Felt directly into the book block edge to make a nice firm edge on the book block. Felt along the spine of the book, as well.

22. 30:24 – Attaching the book to the mouse (see also step 24) – Ultimately, the book will be placed between the mouse’s curved arms, between its paws. But it will not be put there for real until the tail is attached, next.

TAIL

23. 30:39 – Tail (pink) Take a long wisp of the pink and wrap a length of pipe cleaner (maybe 2.5” ?), leaving the top 1/2” or 1/3” unwrapped. Felt all over. Wrap so the “body end” is thicker, and the other end comes to a nice point. Felt it firmly, rolling it along the mat to make sure it is felted all the way around. Use the awl to fluff out some wool at the mouse’s bottom where the tail will go. Bend the tail so that the mouse will stand, using the bend of the tail being a third “leg.” Use the white wisp that was pulled out to help to securely felt the tail to the body, felting all the way around the base of the tail.

24. 32:34 – Attaching the book – Bend the arms so that the mouse holds the book. They don’t show it being felted or anything, just put there.

I hope this is helpful!

[rose]

I made this and I love it. It was my first project and it will not be the last.

[iripirri]

It does mention to use the picture on the leaflet and use the same dimensions more or less.

[fubliani]

I bought it because it implied it was for beginners. But without instructions to know how much wool to use or how to “stab” correctly this lil kit is NOT for learning. Gonna go deep dive actual beginners “how to” tutorials. BRB

[donb]

Just followed your video a case of trial and error but great fun nonetheless.
I usually card and paper craft so this was a new craft to try. Recovering from a stroke so it’s also been something to help my hand, head and eye coordination which are not so great just yet👍🇬🇧
Liked and subscribed!

[dolorescarpenter]

It would be helpful to have a darker or different color background so that it's easier to see what is being done and how it should look. White on white is difficult to see the concept.

[judysparks]

Gorgeous kid turned up today . Watched the videos and now looking forward to trying this craft out ❤

[queenjaki]

It would help to know the size of the head and body so as not to run out of the right amount of wool.

[donnanonne]

You buy the kit and then you get this ridiculous instruction video. What are the sizes of each piece?

[debbiehopper]

Hi, I’ve purchased this beautiful mouse, my first project! Hope it’s as easy as you make it look💕 🐁

[suzanneknight-omdn]

I am disabled, a friend introduced me to felting, picture .. not the figurine .. now I would draw pattern and foam a wire frame to work on .. as you get better, learn new details to each animal. One needs to take or watch more video… REMEMBER DETAILS! Brings you close … you our designs …thank you, for instructions..

[nathlunav]

Comprei o meu primeiro projeto na SHEIN, obrigada pelo vídeo, consegui ❤

[saram]

It would be helpful if you actually explained what is happening and how much felt to use for each part. I'm heading to YouTube to find better instructions.

[Traskolet]

Absolutely loved watching this, thank you so much for sharing your amazing skills. You’ve given me inspiration. Merry Christmas x

[Fabiola.MB.]

😀👍🏻 Ho già iniziato il progetto seguendo il tutorial video, e per essere il primo che realizzo, sta venendo abbastanza bene. Il tutorial è molto semplice da seguire e chiaro nelle indicazioni riguardo la grandezza e la quantità di tessuto da usare per ogni parte. Essendo un lavoro manuale di artigianato, bisogna regolarsi un po’ a occhio. Metterò una foto nella recensione su Shein appena avrò terminato.

[ritaking]

I can’t wait to make my kit! This is so cute!❤

[karenameliapayne]

If you are new at this forget it. The instructions are terrible

[jackiesnider]

Now I understand why it was so cheap. It was fun to watch but had no information in how much batting/needle to use for each body part.

[iripirri]

Making it now. It looks great and so easy. I'm going to get some more. So cute!