Make It Monday: Needle Felt A Mini Unicorn!

Have you ever wanted a tiny unicorn? Needle felt one for yourself! 

Needle Felted Unicorn

Last week my lovely friend Yvette from 1000Crows.com came over to my house (This was not an unusual occurrence- we regally meet up to craft together in the evenings and chat about life over a far too sugary hot chocolate in a handmade mug) and she brought with her a tinie tiny little unicorn, made out of felt!
She had made it with some fibers as part of a felting kit that I gave her for Christmas, and had merrily stabbed away over the festive period to create the furball of joy that you see above. I begged her to take some pictures for me to write a tutorial for you all -  enjoy!

Felting Kit

What you will need: 

* Spin City Felting Kit (availible from spincityshop.com) , or stashed merino and wool fibres. 

* A standard felting needle

* A felting mat ( or thick piece of foam) 

* Small scissors 

* Love in your heart - you can't create tinie tiny Unicorns with an angry soul. It's just not possible. 

Ready, Steady, Go!

1. Select your colours. My unicorn was made with classic white for the body and hot pink for the tail, horn and mane, with a little black for the eyes. Why not go crazy and make yourself a rainbow'corn? She could look truly beautiful in stripes or spots.

 2. Start stabbing! Using your mat and needle, gentle smoosh and sculpt the basic shape. The more you stab, the easier it will be to define the contours. The body of my Unicorn is about 7cm long. Aim for a rough "n" shape (legs and back) with a little nobble on the side (neck).

3. Create the head. Take a smaller puff of fibre and stab at it until you form a small, oval ball. Add a little more fluff to create nubs for ears. 

4.  Define the two body parts. Continue to shape and stab, adding little bits of fiber to accentuate the different areas of your Unicorn. Use scissors to cut away parts that need more definition, such as between the legs and around the ears, until you have a shape that you like. 

5. Join together the head and body, buy placing the head ontop of the neck nub and stabbing your needle around and into the two shapes. You can choose how your 'corn will look by placing the head at different angles. Mine is fairly proud with her head angled upwards in a sort of "I'm watching the stars" pose.

6.  Now make your horn! First, rub together a length of fibre into a small tube, then stab away at it until you have the classic tapered shape. My unicorn's horn is as tall as her body. Join it onto the head with stabbing motions on and around the horn. 

7. Add some long, unicorn hair. My Unicorn has the same colour mane and horn - but you could mix things up a little bit. This might be a golden opportunity to use up some hand dyed wool locks or some shorter lengths of hand spun yarn. The hair was created buy pulling off a little bit of fibre and gently laying it in a sweet, slightly curved style around the head, ears and neck on one side only. 

8. Add some detail! Needle felt in a pretty swirl on your Unicorn's horn. This really brings her to life! Don't forget to add little black dots for eyes and a mouth. 

9. Et voila! You have just made yourself a tiny unicorn. Now, giver her to a friend to lighten up the dark days of January, or thread her onto a necklace or into some hand spun yarn for an instant good luck charm.  Why not keep her in your coat pocket as a secret magical pet to take with you on walks or on your commute? I keep mine with me on my desk or posed around my house - she makes me smile every time I see her, especially because she was made for me by my lovely friend Yvette. 

Pretty needle felted Unicorn

I Heart Unicorns

So there you go- how to make a little Unicorn in nine simple steps. If you make one, I'd love to see! tag me on @SpinCityUK on instagram or twitter. I'd like to say THANKYOU to Yvette for making me this Unicorn and for sending me over these pictures so that I could make a tutorial for you all.

If you would like to check out Yvette's blog, here is the link! Yvette is a vintage and antiques treasure hunter and photographer - she has impeccable taste and I always oooh over the things she finds. See her collection of curiosities in her shop! 

I hope you all have a busy, happy and craft filled January. 

Louise x