December Tutorial – Needlefelted Bunting Doll Ornament

The holidays are fast creeping up on us, and it's time to get out the greens, light the Advent candles, and listen to Christmas music. Also, it's a fun time of year to make Christmas ornaments for a tree or otherwise. So December's tutorial shows you step by step how to make an adorable needlefelted bunting doll ornament.

Needlefelting is an ideal craft from someone who loves fiber, but perhaps has arthritis or doesn't knit or crochet. It doesn't take a lot of money to purchase supplies, either, and a little roving goes a long way. Plus, it's easy!

About Needlefelting

Needlefelting is done with pieces of roving – yarn before it is spun – which you jab a special needle into it. The needle has tiny barbs, and as you move it up and down, the barbs consolidate the roving fibers and felt the roving together. All you have to do is poke a needle in it many times! It's that easy. I have seen gorgeous soft sculpture and even wall hangings done with this art. An easy project like this bunting doll ornament is perfect for learning the basics.

(Here's a good video if you want to see needlefelting live.)

Of course, you don't have to use the doll as an ornament. My little sister is begging for me to make her one without a hanging loop for her to play with!

You will need:

1 oz roving in a main color

small amounts of roving in 2 other colors (one for the face and hands)

needlefelting needle – I can't remember which size mine is – probably a #36 or #38

thick foam square or felting pad

6 in. piece of thin wool yarn

What to Do

1. Tear off some of your main color. I chose a green theme because of Christmas, but you can make it in any color. Always tear roving, never cut it. The amount you tear off will depend on how big your bunting doll will turn out.

2. Just start with a handful, then roll it up into a compact little oval, something like this:

3. You'll want to tuck in the ends a little. Lay it on your foam square and hold it with one hand – carefully! – while you jab it with the needle. After a few jabs it will start to hold together on its own. But it's very important to keep turning it while you jab so it doesn't adhere to the foam.

Keep jabbing at it from all directions:

When you're done, it should look something like this:

Don't over-felt it. It should be needlefelted just enough to hold together well, but not look like it's turning into a sheet of felt. You should still be able to see the individual fibers, like in the photo above.

4. Then take a smaller pinch of the face color and roll it into a ball, tucking all the loose ends under. Have at least 1 smooth side since the rest will be covered.

Needlefelt it on the foam. Be careful not to jab yourself!

When it's done it will look like this:

5. To put the head on, simply hold the ball you made on top of the oval, and start sticking the needle from the top through into the body.

You'll have to go around the neck, too, to keep it secure.

And even upside down!

This is what it looks like, put together.

6. Now for the arms. Tear off and bundle up a small amount of main color roving.

Felt it.

For the hand at the end of the arm, tear off a very small amount of the face color and roll it into a ball about the size of a large pea.

Felt it just enough to hold together, then felt it to the end of the arm.

One note here: do not felt from the arm through to the hand. Rather, felt from the hand down into the arm. The fibers will mix, and you don't want green coming through the white.

The finished arm:

To felt the arm to the body, just place it with the top close to the neck, on one side, and felt through the top of the arm into the body.

For this doll you want the hands to lay beside each other in the front. You may have to jab the needle a few times into the arm and hand to keep it laying there. You'll finish it later.

The doll now:

Repeat step 6 for the other arm. (As you can see, I got the other arm a tad too large.)

7. For the bonnet, tear off a smallish amount of the main color roving, but keep it smooth instead of balling it up. Fold it instead.

Lay it over the head with the face side showing. Don't worry about the ends. Needlefelting will take care of the end fibers by felting them into the body and neck.

Only lightly felt the bonnet. You want the fibers to remain almost as they are. Just felt it enough to keep it in place and make sure the ends are felted in. Tear off any large amount of extra or you'll have lumps.

8. I don't know what it's holding…a ball maybe, or a gift? For this take another color in a small amount, roll it into a ball, and felt it between the hands. Here is where you also felt the hands and arms more securely in place if needed.

For this particular doll I wanted to add some red and didn't have any red roving, so I cut some red yarn and wound it around the doll's neck for a scarf. This also adds security and covers up any roughness in the head/bonnet/body join.

9. For the hanging loop, take the piece of thin yarn and tie a knot in the end.

Place the knot on the back of the doll's head and felt it in place. Do not pierce all the way through though, or the green will show on the doll's face.