No Mail Day Tutorial: Little Egg Doll

Little Egg Doll 

(an easy needle felting tutorial)

Welcome to my first needle felting tutorial! This little doll is inspired by both Russian matryoshka nesting dolls, and also by Japanese daruma. Make a cute orange friend, or experiment and have fun creating your own design with different colors and shapes!

Tools
Felting needles or a felting tool
Foam block or mat

Materials
Polyester fiberfill, about a handful
Wool roving in dark orange, light orange, light pink, and black, less than 1/4 oz. each

I usually get my wool roving from HiFiber Kits!

1. Portion out a small piece of polyester fiberfill to use as the base for your felty. Begin squishing the fiberfill together and pressing the felting needle into it until the fiber starts binding to itself, forming a cohesive, egg-like shape. Be careful during the beginning stages of shaping the fiber – I find that this is the stabbiest phase of needle felting! If you have one handy, use a foam block underneath your work for safety. 








2. Continue to needle the fiberfill until it binds tightly together and the top begins to “harden” or look smooth. 
   
3. Once the base is complete, add a layer of color! Begin by taking a length of dark orange fiber and holding it against the base. Press the felting needle through the fiber and through into the base until it adheres completely. Continue to add orange fiber until there is no white base showing, and needle the orange roving until it looks smooth.
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   
4. To make the shape more egg-like, needle down into the top, shaping it into a small tip.






5. Next, take a small piece of peach roving and fold it together. Begin needling the fiber onto the orange roving, positioning it onto the upper half/third of the basic shape. Model your face shape after the picture, or create your own!
   
   

   

   
   

   
6. Create definition around the face by using a single felting needle. Needle around the outside of the peach felt until a line begins to emerge.
   
   

   
7. Portion out two very small pieces of black roving that will be the eyes. Roll each piece between your fingers. Using a single needle, press each eye into the top half of the face – use the photo to guide your placement, or use your own style!
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   
8. Using two small portions of pink roving, create some cute pink cheek accents.
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   
9. Using a single needle, needle gently over and over in one place to create a small indentation where the mouth will be placed. Take a tiny piece of orange roving and needle it into this indentation, creating the expression of your choice! You could also apply the orange roving to the face directly, but I find creating an indentation helps me create a more recessed, mouth-like appearance.
   
   

   

   
   

   
10.  The next step is the most fun! Add detail to your figure by taking small portions of roving and needling them onto your base figure into whatever shape you would like. To create this felty, take small pieces of light orange roving and sculpt them into circles by needling the fiber against the darker orange until it adheres and begins to look smooth.
    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    11.  And you're finished! Take a picture and share it with me!