For the PW Doll, you’re going to be combining some crafty techniques to create a needle-felted doll with armature. It sounds complicated but it’s okay. It’s not too bad and I’ll be here to walk you through the steps. I’m going to break it down into several posts.

Today, you’ll need to gather your supplies.  Unless you’re in to needle-felting and making small dolls, I’ll bet you’ll need to run to a craft store. For ease of purchase, I like Pacific Fabrics. They have what I need for small projects like this but are more expensive than other shops. On a recent wool roving purchase a cashier at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle asked me if I knew how much more expensive their roving was. I assured her I was okay with it.

Here’s what you need:

1. Needle-felting needle and foam pad.
You can get remanent foam in most fabric stores.  A 5×5″ square should do you just fine. The felting needle is sharp as hell. Be careful but also know that you are going to stab yourself and it will hurt. There will be far less blood than you expect, but you have to be careful not to get drops of your own blood on your projects. Now, don’t go running off. Buck up and take it for the craft. It’ll only take one or two jabs for you to learn to felt gingerly.

2. Chenille Stems (pipe cleaners).
I despise the brightly-colored pipe cleaners sold in most craft stores, but they will totally work. Get the ones with the shortest fuzz on them. I like to buy the cotton-covered ones but have only found them online. They are so much better because the fuzz is easier to hide when wrapping. Still, the other kind work so don’t stress out.

3. 1″ Wooden bead with a hole.
These are sold in packs. Don’t get the painted kind unless you want the painted kind. Then do what you want. See if I care.

4. Embroidery Floss.
The DMC floss is just fine. You’ll need shoe, accent and hand colors for this project. Go nuts, they’re only like 29 cents. Go ahead, get ten. You don’t have to commit to a colors just yet.

5. Tapestry needles.
They’re not shown here (like you’d be able to see one if it was), but you’ll need it for threading the hair through the bead head as well as placing the anchor floss under the shirt. I’ve never written that sentence before, ” …the bead head as well as placing the anchor floss under the shirt.” I love it when what I say sounds like a line from Beckett (go here if this reference has passed you by. Or just let it pass you by. See if I care).

6. Wool roving.
This is super soft wool fleece which is carded, cleaned and dyed into pretty colors. Folks use it to make yarn by spinning it or use it in needle felting projects, like us. The fibers on the wool catch on the teeny barbs on the needle and mat together, creating a dense fabric after repeated jabbing. It’s pretty freaking awesome how it works. You don’t need much, the stuff goes a long way. I bought nine 1/2 ounce balls in a package for this project. I used less than 1/4 of three balls. Check out your local yarn shop for roving or do a search for “wool roving” or “wool fleece” if you want to order online.

Happy gathering!