I had to take a few more pictures of my felted tree now that there is more light. I experimented a lot with glue, fabric stiffener and starch in order to make the felt more rigid. It didn’t work for me. The felt became either shiny (stiffener) or the colors faded.So, in the end, I chose to use a thin golden wire which I stitched along the edges. It is still visible here and there, but it’s part of the design. I tried just to needle felt my surfaces. It was extremely time consuming and in the end it was still far too soft. No more needle felting for me (or just a tiny bit to hold things in place), from now on it will be just wet felting. I didn’t use any soap for the wet felting of the textures, the rinsing would have flattened them. The bed at the top is installed on a little wooden board which rests on a wire stand installed inside the tree. All in all, when you know what you’re doing (and it took me a while to choose the right approach), it doesn’t take that long. I am extremely glad to have found my own personal way to play with felt because I love the softness and the colors and I’m really looking forward to felting my next project, a miniature garden.
