Felt A Boleta, Too!

Day 87: I had quite a bit of wool left over from the moose kit, particularly the brown shades, so I decided to try my hand at making a 3-D mushroom (specifically a Boleta, for those of you who might appreciate the distinction). I started by making the stipe (stem), tapering it down from a bulbous base. In hindsight, I should have left a bit more "fuzz" at the top for ease of attachment, but even so, there was no issue with respect to attaching it securely to the cap. Next, I created a flat disc for the pores on the underside, and then built the cap on top of that. When it had reached the desired size and firmness, I began turning the edge so that it rolled in on the light-coloured disc. Predictably, this compacted it a bit more, but it was easy to add more wool around the edge to broaden it out. Once the cap was done, I felted the stipe to it, and at this point, I want to say how much I like working with spiral needles as opposed to triangular ones. They create a much smoother surface, for one thing, but they also embed the wool fibers much more readily. As a final touch, I felted directly into the base to make a flat bottom so that the 1.5" tall Boleta would stand up on its own. For my first time felting a three-dimensional sculpture, I am happy to say that I managed to complete a fairly tiny project without poking my fingers with a needle.