Following on from my shell felt picture I thought I’d try
something else. For this one I intended
to make the picture in felt and then add some detail with embroidery, it didn’t
actually turn out like that!
I had an outline of a dragon’s head from a previous project
and thought it would be ideal for this piece. My first step was to draw the outline on thin paper and then tack it to
my support square of felt. The felt is 5 inches square.
From there I stitched the outline in blue thread and then,
very carefully, tore off the paper.
As this is a bit of an experiment, I wasn’t sure where to
start but decided to block round the whole outline with the darker felt. Then I started adding in the colours in the
more clearly defined places, the spines, the neck and chin area. Gradually the colour built up and I realised
I could keep felting on top of an area, changing the colours, until I was satisfied with the
result.
At this stage I still intended to embroider in the details,
in particular the eye. Then I decided it
would look odd if only the eye was embroidered so I carried on with the
felting. The eye was a bit fiddly but I
kept going over the area until I was happy with it.
I was surprised how precise I could be with the felting and
was pleased with the result.
