23 Jul How to Make a Needle-Felted Sheep (Part 1 of 2)

Working on our Needle Felting handicraft series has been so rewarding! Each week, we work to develop learned skills and add new skills, and our project today is no exception. Today we are taking a big step by learning how to make an armature for a needle-felted sheep. This is an exciting step for us, as it feels like we’ve finally developed enough skills to create anything we want.

What is an Armature?

Erect sculptures of animals and humans need an armature to help support and position them. An armature can be thought of as similar to a skeleton. In needle felting it is often made of a lower gauge wire that is twisted into the shape we want, then wrapped with wool. There are several variations of this, but this is the version we are going to use in this project.

Materials Needed

• Copper wire, 12-14 gauge
• Copper wire, 30 gauge
• Round nose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Brown floral stem wrapping tape
• Glue
• Undyed wool roving

Happy Handicrafts Video: How to Make a Needle-Felted Sheep (Part 1 of 2)

The armature was a little bit of a challenge for me because I’ve never made one before. Thankfully, I had my daughter close by to help. It turned out to be very straight forward. If you’re anything like me, I tend to get overwhelmed by new things, and I have to sit with them for a bit until my brain settles down. Then, slowly, I can work through the problem. That’s how the armature was for me. My hope is that by creating our videos, that we can help you through that overwhelm feeling.

It’s also important to understand that perfection is not the goal when learning a handicraft. Goodness knows, our projects are far from perfection! Our goal is to always be learning and improving. Remember our first needle felting project? All we managed was to stab some wool inside a cookie cutter! In just a few weeks, we have dramatically improved, and I hope you have as well!

Are you following us on our YouTube channel? You’ll find us at Happy Handicrafts where you will find more handicrafts and useful arts, crafts, and skills.