Needle Felted Curly Hedgehog

Before you start take a good pinch (about one quarter) of the main cream wool and put it to one side. For the body, take the remaining wool and roll up so you make a solid shape about 8-10cm long. Use your medium felting needle to felt the last wispy ends down to secure the shape...

...then stab it all over so that the shape becomes more compact. Next concentrate your felting needle at one end which may already appear more pointy. This will become the head/snout.

From the wool you put aside, take 3-4 pinches and lay them on top of each other to make a lofty wad. Felt this onto the top of the hedgehog (but not onto the snout), adding more wool or felting down further as necessary.

Legs: take 4 equal sized wisps of wool. Take your first wisp and roll the wool into a sausage shape. Firm up the leg with your felting needle - mind your fingers! Continue felting until the leg measures 1 x 1.5-2cm.

Repeat for other legs.

Form a foot by stabbing consistently into each leg, about 0.5-1cm away from the end. This will bend the foot forwards to almost a right angle.

Fasten the first leg onto the tummy of the hedgehog by stabbing into the side of the leg and body at the same time. Do this all the way around it.

NB: ensure the foot is pointing towards the snout!

Fasten on all four legs in the same way. You can shorten a leg by stabbing more into the leg lengthways.

Then use more cream wool and a lay thin wispy cover over the join of each leg to have a smooth transition from leg to body.

Next take a wisp of black wool, lay it onto the tip of the nose and felt down. Make sure you keep the nose pointy and slightly turned up for a cuter look. Felt a curved indentation below the nose for a smiling mouth.

To make a hole for one eye, insert your needle all the way to the thicker bent end - be careful as it will come out on the other side! Insert one eye into the hole, then repeat on the other side. Put a dab of glue behind each eye, without taking them out again. Push the eyes back in firmly and leave to dry.

‘Spikes’: take a strand of curl (if needs be, you need to separate a strand use scissors to cut rather than pulling them) then felt down starting at one side so that just the curly ends are sticking out a little. Ensure not to flatten the curls by stabbing too much!

Work your way all around the shape making sure that the cover is even and symmetrical. The curls should cover all of the body and reach down at the back just below the leg line. Cover the top of the head but make sure the eyes are still visible.