Needle Felted Bumblebee Brooch

Celebrate the start of spring with this super simple feltie idea. Katie shows you how to make a bumblebee brooch using scraps of wool fibre and felt.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Thick craft felt for the body shape or use thick fabric.

• Thin craft felt for the wings.

• Scissors

• Pencil

• Yellow and black wool fibre (merino)

• Felting mat

• Brooch pin

Katie has created a simple little template for you to print out and draw around if you're not sure where to start with the shape.

The link to download this is at the bottom of the page.

STEP 1

Trace your bumblebee body shape onto a scrap of cardboard to make it easier to draw around.

STEP 2

Use a sharp pencil to draw this onto some thick craft felt. We used a 3mm thick sheet but you could use whatever you have to hand or even some heavy-duty fabric. You just need something to give you a base.

STEP 3

Place the base on your felting mat. Tear up a few yellow wool fibres. We used merino tops and the trick with this is to tear the fibres into shorter lengths and rub it in your fingers to make a soft little patch, just a bit bigger than your base shape.

Drawing a bee template onto felt

Cutting out the base shape for the bee brooch

adding yellow wool fibre to the felt base

STEP 4

Needle felt straight up and down – with precise, firm stabs – to attach the fibre to the base. Don't stab too quickly as just a few clever pokes will make it stick.

STEP 5

On top of this soft pad of wool, lay a thinner strip of yellow fibre and gently felt it to create a neat finish and trap the puff of wool underneath. Wrap the edges around the base shape, turn it over and firmly stab the fluffy edges to the back.

STEP 6

Turn it back around and felt the whole surface gently, tapping away at the fibre with the very tip of the needle until it starts to felt and become less fluffy. Don't be tempted to keep stabbing deeply, through the base and into the mat as this is unnecessary and will break your needle! Repeat to add another strip until the base is covered.

Felting yellow wool to a bee brooch base

Felting yellow wool to a bee brooch base

Felting yellow wool to a bee brooch base

STEP 7

Take a short wisp of black merino wool fibre. Rub it in your hands to make it start to felt and to remove any fluff. This will make it easier to attach.

STEP 8

Place the black strand over the body and, holding it firmly between thumb and finger, gently felt along the length with the tip of your needle.

STEP 9

Wrap the ends around to the back and firmly attach them as before. Them turn it back around to the front and very gently tap the fibre until it bonds neatly. Repeat to attach more stripes in the same way.

Adding a black stripe of wool to the yellow needle felted bee brooch

Adding a black stripe of wool to the yellow needle felted bee brooch

Adding a black stripe of wool to the yellow needle felted bee brooch

STEP 10

Cut out and draw around the wing templates - just as you did with the body template. Trace it onto some thin white craft felt. Alternatively, you could use the template to flat felt some wings using white merino wool fibre.

STEP 11

Attach the wings to the body with some firm, precise stabs at the base of the wings.

STEP 12

Rub balls of white and black wool in your fingers to make small felted balls. Take your time to do this. The longer you rub the wool, the neater the ball will be. Make your white balls bigger than your black balls.

STEP 13

Felt the white balls onto the face where you want the eyes. Where you position them will totally change the personality of your bee! Add the white balls on top. remember: firm, precise stabs – not vigorous stabbing!

Cutting out some thin craft felt for the wings

Needle Felting the wings to the bees body

Needle felting the eyes to the bee brooch

STEP 14

To finish your design, work out where you would like it to go. You can use a blank brooch or safety pin and needle felt a small patch over the back of it to attach it neatly.

OR simply felt your design directly onto a jumper, some denim dungarees or a woolly hat! The trick to this, if you're going down this route, is to keep your base fabric a little thinner.

To attach it permanently, place your mat beneath the garment, felt the patch around the edges firmly and then with some deep, firm stabs all over the design. Then wet felt it in place (see Flaming Heart post for wet felting technique here).

If you'd like to use our template for your bumblebee brooch you can download it here.

Bee Template.pdf

Download PDF • 6KB

We hope you enjoyed making your needle felted bumblebee brooch. If so, make sure to subscribe for more inspiration!

Katie & Rach x