Making a Polar Bear

Monday was International Polar Bear Day so I decided to make a needle felted polar bear!

I created a video of my process mostly focused on explaining how I approach building an animal with core wool.

If you’d prefer to purchase this completed needle felted polar bear, check out my Etsy shop. This lovely creature is available for adoption.

Step by step instructions

Create an armature using 22 gauge cloth wrapped wire. I used two pieces: 1 – 14” for the head and front legs and 1 – 17” for the spine and back legs.
Wrap the armature with core wool and lightly felt it in place with a coarse needle.
Continue building the bear with core wool using a coarse and medium needle.
Cover the bear with white short fiber merino wool. Felt it in place and finalize the shape of the bear’s body and features as you go.
Create a small shape out of core wool for the bear’s tail. Cover it in short fiber white merino and attach it to the body.
Glue in 2-3 mm black “button” glass eyes.
While the glue is drying, create two ears out of white short fiber merino wool.
Attach the ears to the bear’s head. Trim the edges with embroidery scissors if necessary.
Use small amounts of white wool to build up the area around the eyes and incorporate the eyes into the bear’s face.
Add a black nose to the bear’s muzzle using the same wool.
Mix a small amount of a blend of black and white wool to create a gray. Or, grab some gray wool from your stash. Add a thin layer of gray wool to the bear’s muzzle and a tiny amount inside the bear’s ears.
Touch up the entire polar bear with a fine needle and you’re done!

Supplies I used for this project

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