Custom 1/12 scale felted animals on a movable metal wire armature



My love for miniatures, animals and dolls has always been very strong. Drawing, sculpting and animation are also part of my passions. Since I am an eternal kid inside, I like to move and play with my miniatures which lead me to learn needle felting so that I can make movable scupltures on a metal armature. My sculptures can take many positions and are made from a mix of wool and silk. They are 1/12 scale and are made to fit in any dollhouse scene. I simply love to do custom sculptures of people's pets and am always looking forward to a new challenge. I also started to make ball jointed dolls which has been a passion of mine since I can remember. I am open for commissions, please contact me should you have any questions or comments.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Fun with miniature knitting

Winter is here, snow is everywhere and that makes me want to knit! I figured my doll will need a nice warm hat for the occasion. This is my first miniature hat and what a blast of fun that was! It is like a fever, I just want to make a whole bunch of those... I can't wait to be good enough to be able to make a sweater (still too complicated for me right now)! I can hardly imagine how hard it would be to make tiny gloves like the ones made for the movie Coraline... Unreal...
Well I wanted to share my first try on a 1/12 scale hat so here are a few pics.




I made the hat to match an outfit I bought from Lise Ashby. I couldn't get the exact colours but it still goes well with it.





Okay, maybe I should get back to working on my felted animals now... After I do a few more hats...

2 comments:

  1. Pittsburgh Admirer here again. Thanks for showing us the hat! Superbly cute! I'd say you made a next-to-perfect color match. I have a few questions for you:

    Is the hat made from the Anchor thread you showed a photo of a while ago? (#8?) What size needles did you use, and where did you get them? I found something called Sulkey thread, and I wonder if it's an equivalent, and which direction the thread-size numbers go. (Is #8 smaller or bigger than #12?) I'm thinking of knitting simple sweaters for dollhouse dolls.

    On a new subject, I wonder about the wool that the felt doggies are made from -- how do people protect the wool from moths? Is that a common problem? Just wondering, and thanks in advance for your reply.

    Laurel

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    Replies
    1. Hi Laurel,
      Yes, I made the hat with Anchor pearl cotton thread #8. The needles I used were 1mm for the bottom part of the hat and the rest was made with 0.8mm. I purchased my needles from a local miniaturist (Marguerite Burbidge) who's husband George handcrafts them out of piano wire. I purchased them from her directly so I don't know if she sells them through her website. This is her webpage if you are interrested: www.minisbymarg.com

      As for the Sulkey thread, I am not familiar with it so I can't compare. For pearl cotton thread, I believe that the higher the number of the thread, the thinner it is. So a #8 should be thicker than a #12. Hope this helps.

      To avoid problems with moths you can always store your wool in a clear air tight plastic container. Since it is clear it will let light through which should repel moths and if your storage area is frequently cleaned then you should be problem free.

      Thank you for your comment and I hope I managed to help a little.

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