Panda Final Look

Although I have already brought it to the class I still want to share this with your guys. I made this picture and change the light a bit, hope you would like it!

Like what I have said in the presentation, to make something I have never made before, I don't want to only copy the process of making, on top of that I want to add something more personality in it. This is why I make the pattern of Chinese flag on the back of the panda, in this way to make it more interesting and unique. And I call it an extraordinary panda lol..

Panda head is done!

I was actually really enjoy the whole process of working on it and I feel like time flies because I was too focus on it. The wool and the needle are both very tiny to be hold between my fingers so I got to be really careful. It is hard for me to describe the feeling of working with wool. It is just so amazing to get into the shape from a very fluffy looking although it was done under my eyes. Please have a look and I am sure you will like it!

First I made a general looking of the head outline, and this is the side looking.

Then I have stick two ears on the two side of the head. From this point a general looking of a panda head is actually can be found. It is hard to measure how much I need to got it into a right size since there is nothing can used to measure that. So is hard to get two ears into the same size, this is also what I concerned the most before I did it. But overall is pretty good!

Two eyes are done!! I spend a while on those eyes since I want to make them as flat as possible.

Isn't it cute.. I  like it so much and I was thinking should I just stop at here since I don't want the rest part destroy it lol..   Next I will working on the body part, hope I could get everything into a right size and shape!

Wool Felt History

After I did the research about the history of the wool felt I found that the one I'm going to make is called Needle Felting which is one of the method to produce felt. In addition to Needle Felting, there are also other methods like wet felting and carroting.

Needle felting is the art of sculpting wool with special, barbed needles. Stabbing the wool over and over again meshes the wool fibers together, creating a firm, textile object. Needle Felting is always used by artist to create sculpture looking works and this is also why I would like to chose it as my final project.

"The Origin of Needle Felting: Felt is typically very strong and industrial, needle felted- felt is used in a variety of ways. From the 1950′s, needle felting (needle punch) was originally used to make felt for industrial purposes, for use with musical instruments and as building materials.  Industrial felt is made with large plates filled with special barbed felting needles that are mechanically moved up and down to felt wool and other materials together such as polyester or nylon. Industrial felt is used as a damper; it’s placed between car parts to damp the vibrations between panels and to prevent dirt from entering some joints."(Lee)

Basically, the tools used for Needle Felting is wool, needles, and a sponge to put below the wool as a base. People can also choose from different colors, size or shape to bring into play of what they would like to make.   :)

Work Cited
Lee, Laura, "Needle Felting 101: History, Wool, Tools." Laura's Blog. Laura Lee, May 31, 2012. http://www.lauraleeburch.com/2012/05/needle-felting-101-history-wool-tools/. Jan 5, 2009.

Getting start of my work

What I'm going to make for my final project is a wool felt, but I guess most of you don't know what is wool felt, so let me show you some pictures first.

All these cute staffs are wool felt, I just fall in love with them when I first look at them and I'm very excited to make a cute one(hopefully) by myself. I was really confused about how to get started so I just search for the store that selling this kind of stuff. Finally I get the materials from Wet Coast Wools and the sale has explained to me about how to make it and she has also shown me some of her works, and I'm really thanks for her help.

 Here is what I got! Three colors roving and a set of felting needles.
Since I don't have any ideas of how long does it going to take for completing one piece so I decided to give it a try. At the same time I can also practice on my skill.  I decided to make a small ball shape wool felt. And here is all my process.

It has taken me for about 20 minutes to get this done. I'm really satisfied with my result and I'm feel like I can't wait to see my final work. After all I chose to make a Panda and I will try to make it as big as possible because it is very easy to get hurt by the needle if you are working on a small piece between your fingers. That is also what I got from my first time experience.

Here is a video of how to make a wool felt, if you are interested in it can have a look!