SarahBeth's Needle-felted Lamb (Albie)

[sarahbeth]

This is the only serious felted animal that I've ever completed, so I thought I'd start with him before posting pictures of my felted figures. He's called Albie after the sheep whose locks I used, and he was made as a photo prop for one of my American Girl dolls (never too old for dolls, and I do a lot of photographing). Here they are together:


Albie was needle-felted from real Leicester Longwool locks. Leicester Longwools are the flock that is bred in the conservation program at Colonial Williamsburg, and I was able to purchase two pounds of locks from a registered lamb (called Albert) at Moonbeam Estate Farm in Virginia. Albie was needle-felted on a wire armature (something I don't usually do), which makes him slightly poseable and sturdier than he would have otherwise been. After the base shape was felted to the armature, I felted individual locks all over him, one at a time, and then trimmed each one with scissors to give him the textured look.

For a model, I came across this picture of an adorable Leicester Longwool lamb online and knew that it was the perfect personality for Bunty's lamb.





He is about 6" long and stands a bit over 7" high. Here are some photos showing him from different angles. The hooves are made of Romney, and the facial details are felted with Merino.

[MTRuth]

Adorable! He's really cute.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

He's gorgeous - so's the original, whose grin I just love.

[Shepherdess]

He is very cute. Just right for the doll.

[lyn]

You've captured the grin on the lamb's face perfectly and he's adorable.

[caterina]

So cute! Just perfect!

[sarahbeth]

Thanks! He was quite a challenge to make, as I don't usually do animals or work with wire armature. But he was worth it, as he's been in quite a lot of photo stories!