Free Needle felting instructions to make our bear

Use our free needle felting instructions as a guideline to making your own unique bear.

Materials and equipment to make this bear

• 1.75 oz (50g) fibre - as above
• contrasting fibre for paw pads
• 1 pair teddy bear/doll eyes
• small quantity black bear thread or embroidery silk for features
• small quantity dental floss to attach limbs
• needle felting needles 1 x #36 course and 1 x # 40 fine
• red lipstick for mouth

Before you commence needlefelting :

• design your project
• determine the approximate finished size
• make a rough sketch (to scale) of the required body parts
• gather your supplies.

Body proportions in needle felting is not an exact science – but here are some basic guideline to begin with – modify according to your own designs.

• Choose your body length first
• Use this as 100% i.e. 9" in length
• The head should then be 50% of this i.e. 4.5"
• The arms and legs should be the same length as the body.
• Bears legs should be approx same length but obviously thicker than the arms,
• a chubby bear should have chubby arms and legs.
• Except if you him outsized hands and feet - then you use thin limbs.

You are now ready to begin ...

These are the body parts required to make a bear.

If you are making a bear with an open mouth, like ours, make 3 ears (one of them will be used later for the bottom lip).

NOTE: I suggest you make the body piece first – it is easier to judge the head and limb sizes once you have the body proportion correct.

Begin by taking a quantity of fibres, place them on your foam block or pad, start pushing (stabbing) the needlefelting needle in and out of your bunch of fibres.

This in-out motion felts the fibres together and commences your piece.

NOTE: the more you move the needle in and out the firmer your piece becomes.

If the piece you’re working on is to be round i.e. body, head, arm or legs – roll your work over every few stabs and keep your needle moving to different sections as your work.

If you piece is to be flat i.e. ears or open bottom lip – turn the piece over, back-front, back-front instead of rolling while you work. This will keep the shape flat.

Set the completed body aside and needlefelt the head. I prefer to felt the facial features last, but some needle felters prefer to complete the head first – it’s your creation – your choice.

I have written these instructions with body pieces first, features last.

Complete all pieces, then begin attaching peices together.

How to attach needle felting head and limbs.

If your bear is to have contrasting paw pads scroll down, needlefelt and attach them prior to attaching limbs to body.

Thread a large eyed sharp needle with dental floss (this is stronger and slides through your work easier than sewing cotton or embroidery thread)

Determine the position of the limb (limbs are fixed not moveable when attached). Push the threaded needle through the limb then through the body, and back through the same leg again.

Pull the threads tight ensuring the limb is firmly attached to the body. Tie off threads and cut leaving approx ½ inch (1cm) These ends will be hidden later.

Use this same method to attach all limbs and head. When attaching head to body you will need to use several large stitched to ensure firmness. Again these stitches will be hidden later.

Attach paw pads

Needle felt small round pads in contrasting colour.

Lay these on the paw and needle felt through them into the paw. Continue untill they adhere firmly.

Attach the eyes

As shown in the photo stitch through the head, thread the eye onto the needle then back through the head.

Repeat for the second eye.

I suggest you attach both eyes – ensuring positions are correct – before tying them off.

Tie eyes off very firmly, this will pull the eye into the piece – forming eye sockets.

Again the ties will be hidden later

Attach ears

Ears are attached by a different method. Lay the portion to be attached to the head against the head and begin needlefelting (as per the photo), the piece will adhere with continued needle felting.

Covering ties Covering the dental floss ties and knots used to attach your pieces together is a simple process.

Take a small quantity of same colour fibres, lay them over the ties, knots and indentations. Needle felt this additional fiber in place, you'll soon see your piece will become smooth again and show no signs of the underlying attachments.

Needle felting features - using our bears face as an example.

Nose, cheeks, eyebrow bones etc are formed by depressing the area around them so they automatically stand out in relief.

To depress an area needle felt more firmly in that area. Practice on a spare piece of felted material if you are uncertain.

If you wish your bear to have an open mouth attach 3rd ear you made in place as a bottom lip - use the attach ears instructions.

Once in place use lipstick or lip-gloss to redden the inside mouth area.

Edge the mouth and eyebrows with teddy bear making, or embroidery cotton for definition. Again hide these ends with extra matching fibres felted onto the surface.

Use our picture below as a guideline.

FINALLY:

Always remember if you make a mistake - I'll rephrase that....

If something doesn't look quite the way you intended...simply place more fibre on top of that particular area - and keep working it..

Bear in mind the more you felt in any particular area the firmer the item becomes - however needle felting doesn't produce items sufficiently sturdy for children to play with, and do take particular care with eyes, needles and other small items if children are anywhere near your workspace.

We sincerely hope you enjoy making either our bear or your own fantasy piece.

If you need any further help or information please use our spam free contact form - return to the top of the page and you'll see a button on the left hand tool bar...in the meantime - good luck and enjoy!

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