Third Time’s the Charm

October 20, 2015 · by · in Crafty Life

Creative projects have a mind of their own.

Designing can be like trying to walk north without a compass or sunlight to guide you.

As a crafter, there’s nothing more satisfying to me than when a design starts turning out right. There’s magic in the process. An idea goes from a theoretical, intangible thought into something physical and real. And, if all goes well, it’ll be pretty and practical to boot.

Design is a messy process. Yes, experienced designers have a better idea of what materials to use and how different techniques will turn out. It’s still just an educated guess. And if you’re ~~a bit crazy~~ overambitious like I am, you might even decide to learn new techniques while designing. All at the same time. Cue tears.

My latest design challenge was to make nine reindeer. I needed something smallish, characterful, and easy to repeat for all nine of them.

In all my uneducated enthusiasm I was quick to wrap up nine bodies from wool yarn. Wham, bam, done. I knew from previous needle felting adventures that a yarn base was a cheaper filler than roving wool. Then, after sleeping on it, I realised I had no easy way to add sturdy legs. Or a neck. Bummer.

I might as well have worn a big paper bag saying “YOU SUCK AT MAKING” over my head, because that’s what it felt like. It took a lot of Oreos and coffee to get over myself and get on with it.

A search revealed the secret to sturdy needle felt animals is to use armatures. Little wire skeletons, why didn’t I think of that? After ripping apart my craft room to find the floral wire that I just saw it was right there yesterday, I followed this brilliant armature video tutorial. Figuring out how to actually use the armature took a few more failed attempts and googling to sort things out.

Throughout this process, I learned (or rather was reminded of) a few things.

My husband is practically a saint. (He was the one who went on Oreo runs.)
Designing is hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it’s not hard, you’re not pushing yourself.
Needle felt is SO addictive. And pretty.
Don’t leave antler design last thing. You will panic and freak out.
Wrap the wire in masking tape. Just trust me.
Whenever you spend a lot of time on something, it will look terrible and ugly until you leave it for a few days. Familiarity breeds contempt etc etc.

Above, from top: the failed first attempt with an armature; trying to add stable legs without an armature didn’t work out; and finally, the design starts taking shape

Then it was over. The process was broken down, nine reindeer were made, and little Rudolph got a red nose. I guess it’s a bit like finishing a race. The satisfaction of the results brushes away the pain and frustration it took to get there.

Here are a few other thoughts about the creative process: