Sheila's Meerkat

[shebob bears]

Here is my meerkat's head so far! Because I have so much unused wool fleece I decided to needlefelt the entire critter in white wool and then (fingers crossed) dye it using a fabric dye which I shall spray on using a very fine greenhouse type sprayer. All this works brilliantly in my mind. :) I only hope it works as well in practice.

I have felted the head to such a degree that it is absolutely rock hard. I showed it to some lovely people that I met at Hove show, and they were quite intrigued with it.

I still have a long way to go before he looks respectible, but your comments/advice would be much appreciated.

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Because he is so hard, I think I may smooth the surface all over and he can pose as a porcelain ornament! My mind is buzzing with possibilities. All suggestions gratefully received. :6086:

Cheers,
Sheila

[Judi Russell]

Ohhhh, he is fab Shiela, cant wait to see the rest of him. You have got his face just right, that cheeky little smile, I can just hear him saying 'Simples' :6034:

[Ruth]

He looks wonderful Sheila ! I love his gorgeous smile :6045: There must be such a lot of work in getting the felting so solid . Drat and d'oh that I missed him in the flesh / fur / felt :6020: I sincerely hope I can meet you at Hugglets (although I've not actually had a stall offer for the next one so ...:0(...... )

Look forward to seeing his body !

Ruth xx

[shebob bears]

Thanks ladies for your lovely comments. Making the head so hard is really very easy. I scrumpled up a huge wad of fleece and squeezed it with my hands to the size of a large orange. Then I popped it into the toe of a pair of tights and made it secure. Into the washing machine it went with some towels etc and went through the cycle at 70c. When it came out it was half the original size. It then had a session in the tumble dryer after first removing the toe of the tights. Then any needling firmed it up with a minimum of effort. As Alexandr would say 'Simples'

I'm now trying to do the body in a similar fashion.

Cheers,
Sheila.

[Rich1988]

Wow that is so clever Shelia. And I agree with the others, the face is perfect. You've got the perfect expression on him.
Can't wait to see how the colouring works. It's great being crafty though isn't it and just trying new things!

Richard
x

[kynthia]

wow.. tt's a great idea for felting.

i love his expression. it looks like he has something cheeky up his sleeve. amazing wat a head can do. hahhaha

[LisaAP]

Ooooh, he's looking totally fabulous Sheila! Your hard work is definitely paying off, I can see Alexandr in that cute face. I can't wait to see him when he's all finished. :6033:

Regards

Lisa

[RoseBeary]

Hi Sheila, Love the meerkat's head, you've done a really good job there, I bet that took a lot of time and patience to get the head exactly spot on. Well done Sheila!!:6018:
PS: Now it's definitely compare the meerkat.com!!!lol

[shebob bears]

Thanks for that lovely comment. At present I have the body complete (I think) and his two arms. Next job is a pair of legs and a tail. Then the real fun begins when I assemble all the pieces together. I am going to have him standing up rather than on his haunches, so the balance is going to be extremely challenging. :eek: Oooh, I do make things so difficult for myself every time! :D It's great fun though.
I aim to have him complete ready to search for a new Mum within the next two weeks. It will be a painful parting though after all this time. We are already on first name terms!

Cheers,
Sheila :6013:

[dutchy.bears]

I can't wait until he's done, Please put some pictures on the web... I am so curious on how he turned out. I really hope he finds a good home.
Good luck on getting the balance right

Annette