DIY: What Does the Fox Say? Sweater Stole

So if you've been hangin' around this blog for a while (seriously? don't you have, like, laundry to do?) then you know I have a super serious felting addiction (by the way, this is slightly off topic, but if you are "addicted" to something, do you ever refer to that thing as "addicting"? Because my mom does. Example: {actual quote} I can't eat just one Red Vine because they are addicting! Really? Why am I surprised. This is the same person who started saying "Chew That!" while the rest of the world was saying, "True Dat!" Eh, you say tomato, I say you're addicting to crazy.)

Er, where was I? Ah, yes. My addictamacation to needle felting and the fact that every other blog post features something I've stabbed (with a felting needle, people!). Don't believe me? Well, if I've counted correctly, I do believe this here is my 11th felted creation. It's all that stabbing, kids. It's such a stress reliever. 

In case you'd like a peak at those Felted Creations of the Past, here you go:

It all started with this holey sweater in my closet that I thought was the perfect canvas to give felting a go. That was followed by my Put a Bird on It number and my attempt at copying an Anthro sweater...twice. After that, I ventured away from sweater felting and stabbed a wool beret and a skirt thus creating The World's Tackiest Art Teacher Outfit. I then felted my cat, a dog and an owl. I took a summer hiatus (working with wool isn't real fun in the summer heat) but then this winter I was back at it, stabbing a Starry Night dress and a van Gogh's Sunflowers sweater.

I told you! It's totes addicting! I mean, I'm addicted because it's addictive. Oh, whatever.

So when an art teacher buddy of mine suggested we felt a fox stole sweater, the stabbing commenced. Our inspiration came from the super presh etsy shop dandyrions. These adorable sweaters and shirts have faux fox and raccoon stoles that are actually made of felt fabric and appliqued on. Insane cuteness. We decided to go the felt roving route for our foxy stole.

Now, I don't think I've ever done a super fabulous job of explaining the process of felting to you. To remedy that, about a year ago, I made a series of short clips where I chat about the supplies needed and the process of felting. I'm hoping these videos prove to answer any felting questions you might have...even if they are terribly goofy.

This sweater DIY really does date this video! By the way, after seeing some ridiculous prices on needle felting supplies at my local big box craft store that shall go unnamed (rhymes with "Fichael's"), I did a wee bit of homework and found most of the supplies available here. Dudes! This website even has little finger-protecting sheathes that look like finger condoms (go here and look, I ain't makin this up). So gonna order me some of those!

My apologies for the lack of zoom in. I didn't think you'd wanna get to close to my wrinkly grandma hands.

Honestly, I learned needle felting by watching far better how-to videos on youtube than this. I just wanted you to see how stinkin' easy it is. What I was doing was pretty small and detailed...a big ole foxy stole? Much easier.

When attempting a sweater, I usually make a paper template, pin that to the sweater and create a felt outline, usually in 100% wool yarn (see the cat sweater). For this sweater, I was feelin' frisky so I just sketched it on in yellow chalk. With my cushion underneath, I placed the roving on top (in mass wads like I talked about in the video because it tends to "shrink" as you stab) and started punching. How do you know when you've punched enough? Take a peak at the back of the sweater. You should see a lot of roving. That's your sign that it's locked into place with the fibers of the sweater.

Adding the white for the muzzle.

Working on the details. One of the reasons I love this process so much is that it goes quickly unlike my other fashion-altering love, embroidery.

After the details of the face were complete, the rest came together easily. Even if it meant staying up a good three hours beyond my bedtime on a school night.

The following day, I happened to have one kindergarten class that is waaay ahead of the rest (how does that always happen?!). Since we'd been learning about drawing shapes...and I was wearing my foxy sweater...we read a sweet little book called Fox and Fluff and got our foxy drawing skills on!

For this activity, kindergartenland and I used black construction paper and drew with black oil pastels. Color was then added with oil pastels. I used the guided drawing directions from Art Projects for Kids. Most of the kids were able to finish off their foxes by the end of their 45 minute art time and they were so excited by their foxiness.

Oh, and my art teacher buddy who suggested we go on this fox-felting adventure? She finished off her sweater too -- and this was her first felting attempt. Now guess who's the newest member of the Addicting to Felt Club?

Okay, in all seriousness, I gotta know:

Were those clips helpful to you? Do you have any suggestions? (don't worry about hurting my feelings. I was told I have a mustache by a 4th grade boy. Pretty sure it doesn't get worse than that.)

Would you be interested in more video? (you know, for DIY's, demos and such. I promise I won't torture you with my standup comedy routine or my American Idol audition recordings.)

Are you now more inclined to give felting a try and would you like it I stopped writing in bold and italics? (fine, I'll stop.)

Thanks for your input, ya'll! Chat soon!