Himalaya

The Himalayas, a mountain range in Asia. Pointed peaks cleave the brilliant blue sky. Getting to those peaks is a challenge even for the most professional mountain climbers. However, that is not the Himalaya I’ll be talking about today. My Himalaya is just as high, just as magical, but just a little more fluffy. The Himalaya I am talking about is a vaulting horse!

I started to make this as a gift for someone in my vaulting team. The idea had been slumbering in my mind for ages, but now the deadline arose and I had to get started. The plan was easy: make Himalaya out of wool using the needle felting techniques. This was the fourth piece of needle felting I did in my entire live, so I was improvising a lot.

I started of by making an iron frame, which would later give me the opportunity to create the perfect horse shape. After that I wrapped pipe cleaners around the iron to allow for the wool to bind to the frame.

Now the basis was done I could start with the real felting. I added pieces of white merino wool after another to build up shape. To make sure the wool sticks in place, you only need a needle felt needle. The small points on the needle will make sure the wool intertwines with the rest of the wool. In this way a solid shape will arise. Slowly but steadily the shape would arise and turn from a greyhound into a real horse. Along the way I decided it would be beautiful if the horse seemed to be cantering. So, I positioned the legs accordingly and went on.

You must not underestimate the time needed to build up shape, because it is the most important step. If the shape isn’t right the horse will look silly. It can help to look at photo’s to study the shape of an animal.

When you are fully satisfied with the shape you can continue onto the coloring. I started off with a thin layer of grayish-brown wool. After that I added a more orange-brown layer, and in the end I attached a lighter brown color. All these different color layers together create a beautiful, living colored coat.

Along the way I added manes, a tail, and black pins for the eyes.

I am very satisfied with the result, and had never expected it to turn out this well.

I honestly love this technique, because it is so basic, it requires no more than a needle-felt needle, wool and iron wire, but it leads to such a beautiful result. Besides, you never know what you will end up with.