Cuddly Bat Cave

Ok, now this is not quite a finished project but I am putting it up because I am enjoying working on it and thought I could let people see the process. To see the photo that Tish took that is the original inspiration for this project pop back here.

This project is done in needle felting which is a totally different process from wet felting that I have mostly been experimenting with. Basically instead of soap and water you use a barbed needle to stab the wool fibres and this process tangles the fibres and allows you to form them into whatever shape you might imagine. This first picture shows the front view. I have been having a lot of trouble getting it to stand up properly but the nice people at Working with Felt were helpful and encouraging. I have spent that last few days just doing lots of stabbing to get the whole thing to firm up and stand better. I have also been adding vines around the entrance, since it is supposed to have a rainforest feel to it.

This one shows a close up of the vines around the entrance. I have also been adding bits to make the entrance smaller so it feels a bit more enclosed as I felt it was too open.
This picture is of the hole at the top that lets some light shine down into the inside, it has also been embellished with some vines.
The last one shows the inside with light shining down through the hole creating this little oasis of greenery at the back of the cave. If you flick back to the photo you can see the effect I am trying to achieve ... and all in all I am pretty pleased with how it is coming along. I have avoided putting any supporting wires in it because I am thinking that when we get bored with looking at it we will just be able to use it as a pillow, it is a very cuddly bat cave:-)