GODDESS Needle Felting Tutorial

Bevy of needle felted Goddesses

I love needle felting Goddesses.  These lovely ladies are soft, sweet, feel nice in your hand and hold  blessing and prayers intended to facilitate connection to your highest expression of self.  Inside each Goddess there is a pinch of lavender for sweetness,  rose petals for beauty, a piece of snake skin for transformation and a tobacco prayer.

"Grandmother, nurture me.  Grandfather, empower me.  May I be held in the embrace of All That Is, protected and supported, living a life of joy, health, prosperity, piece and love."

To start with, everything is smudged (passed through smoke from burning sage) to purify and clear. It also helps me to focus and move into the state of consciousness needed to create a sacred object.  The goddesses are created as sacred objects that are intended to be placed on a personal altar or perhaps used instead of a "talking stick" at a women's circle.  

Things to go into the Goddess and the White Sage smudge

The next step is to take a little bit of wool, smudge it, and place a pinch of lavender, rose petals, a little piece of snake skin (optional) or whatever you might like to put in your Goddess onto the wool and finally, the tobacco holding your prayer or intention.  The wool is then folded around the items and needled into a roundish packet.  This little packet of energy will be put inside the Goddess.  I try and get it around where her tummy will be if possible.

 Now we start forming the body shape of the Goddess. which is basically somewhat off a cone shape.  I wind the roving around itself creating the cone shape....until it is about 4-5 inches in length and 2-3 inches in circumference at the top and going to a fat point at the opposite end.  Needle the wool a little bit so it will hold it's shape and won't come apart.  Once you have your basic shape, push the packet with the prayer down into the center of the cone, pull the wool over the top and needle felt the wool on the top until it is no longer open.

This is the basic rough cone shape....don't worry... it will get better...we're just getting started!

Here's the packet going into the cone.  Push is way in...much farther than I am showing here.

Next up...adding a head.  Roll a small amount of wool into a ball and then wrap another piece of wool around it and hold it tight at the base of the ball.  Needle at the base to hold it together and a little bit across the entire circle too.

Now you should have a ball with a fluffy bottom.  It's that fluffy bottom bit that will be the wool that

attaches the head to the body.  

Spread the wool and center the head onto your body shape and needle it in.  Be sure and run the needle through the top of the head into the body and angle the needle all around the base of the head to make sure the head is attached securely .  You can start shaping the shoulders and creating a neck crease at this point.  I keep turning the wool around needling as I go to keep things symmetrical.

Now you need to decide which side is the front and which side is the back.  I usually use the fuller side, if there is one,  for the front.  Once you have decided which is the front, place your needle in the center of the chest and start creating the bust line.

This is a gentle dragging motion as you needle and it creates a line.  Don't put to much pressure on the needle as it can break very easily.

Turn your Goddess over and start flattening the back from the neck down to where her bottom will be.  She is starting to look like a human woman's form now.  YAY!

Now for the arms.  At this point you can choose what position you would like your Goddess's arms to be in.  The Goddess I am making here has her arms over the top of her pregnant tummy but you can have her arms straight down at her sides or under her tummy if you like.  If you have enough wool on the sides of your body shape you can needle the arms in the same way as the breasts were created.  If not,  create the arms by adding wool and needling it into the shape you want.

At this point I usually add some extra wool for her pregnant tummy.    

You can make her tummy as big and round as you want.  It will flatten a bit when we add the spiral

Keep turning her around and needling the wool in fro all angles.  Work on the back to flatten and around her sides to define her waist and hips.  I tend to make my Goddesses very full figured but you can make yours slimmer.  Goddesses come in all shapes, sizes and colors!

Turn her over and using the needle dragging technique, create her bottom cheeks and the line between her legs.  You might need to add wool for the cheeks

You will need a long thin piece of roving to create the spiral on her tummy.  I like to use something that goes from light to dark.  Starting at the center of her tummy anchor the spiral piece and start needling it around in a circle to create the spiral.  Make the spiral big enough to cover her most of her tummy. 

I added some green around the spiral to give it more definition and to plump her tummy up and make it more round.  The end of the spiral goes down between the legs and ends at her feet.

SHE'S ALLMOST DONE!

At this point you could stop if you liked.  The Goddess figure looks very much like an ancient Venus and is quite pleasing.  I, however,  like to give my Goddesses hair.   I use many different colors of curly wool but am most fond of the natural colors.  Some of the Goddesses seem to like color, so you will see red or even green hair on some of them.

I try and place interesting curls and color around the face for interest.  Be sure and needle the wool all over the head to make sure that it is going to be secure.  Once the front is the way you want it, turn her over and do the back as well.  You can add curls anywhere you like and can have her hair as long or as short as you like.  I tend to like my Goddesses with really long hair.  Sometimes I put flowers, beads or headbands on them.  This Goddess is going to get a headband braid.

Using the same wool separate it into three strands, anchor them together at the top on your felting block and make a small braid.  Place it on her head and needle to attach.  Simple and sweet!

Look her all over, check for any places that might need a little more work.

TA DA!!!! Your Goddess is finished and beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed this process.    To see more of my work please check out my website: wwwmargaretjoyceart.com