I spent some time demonstrating at the Kelmscott Show on Saturday – I spent about 3.5 – 4 hours demonstrating portraiture, and about 2 – 2.5 hours demonstrating needle felting. I decided to felt a penguin, as that is an easy shape and I really only had to take three colours with me – black, grey and white.
I realised too late that I probably should have been felting something brighter, as the grey blended in with my foam pad a bit too well, but needle felting is pretty energetic so still fairly noticeable.
My main focus while demonstrating was getting to the point where it looked like a penguin, and had a face. I started from scratch on the day, and I didn't want to spend too long just working on a blob. By the time my stint was over I had reached this point – not as firm as I like, no wings, no tail, no feet, and a beak that looked more like a puffin's. But not a blob:
I finished it off on Sunday, altogether it probably took about four hours, factoring in talking to people while demonstrating, and felting while upgrading my father's computers for the rest of the time.
Here are some more photos of the finished penguin:
Merino wool with polyester stuffing core. I used a variety of felting needles, and plastic beads for the eyes.
