Needle Felted Wool Harvest Mother & Daughter

This happens to me all the time.... I get inspired to make a new design and then when I'm done it's too precious to me to sell it. Sigh. So then I have to make another one like it to actually sell. The top picture is the first one I made. The picture below is the second, the one that will be for sale. Of course, they do each come about a bit different. I'll run out of a certain color and have to use another. And since I don't look at the old one while I make the new one the details of shaping will be different. When I copy my own works I tend to copy the idea, not the exact piece. Same as when I'm inspired by other peoples' works I guess.

These figures are made with my ubiquitous supply of American grown, undyed eco wool and Germany grown, plant-dyed wool.

How is it made? Well, first, using the eco wool, I needle felt a ball for the head by taking a small strip of wool, tying a knot in it then rolling it up in the loose ends and needle felting it firm. Adding more strips of wool to make the ball to the size desired. Then I roll a flat piece of wool into a cone shape, needle felt it firm, adding more wool on the bottom to weight it. I take a strip of wool, wrap it over the head and use the "tails" to secure the head to the top of the cone. I roll another flat piece of wool into a long narrow sausage which becomes the arms, which are attached to the back of the body. A few more layers of wool needle felted in place to form the desired body shape, be she slim, busty or round.

Switching to the colored wool, I create the clothing and decorations by laying small tufts and strips of wool across the figure and needling them down. Details like the cornucopia and the apple are made much like the figure, with a balled or rolled eco wool core, covered in tufts of colored wool.