A few years ago I made a needle felted mermaid for a good friend who loves mermaids. Here she is -
I was rather proud of her and my friend loved her, she held pride of place in her living room. Unfortunately my friend's house was invaded - by moths. They were the little brown/grey moths that lay their eggs in anything made of wool - clothes, carpets... and mermaids. Poor little mermaid got rather damaged and I gave her a revamp.
Recently my friend informed me that little mermaid was rather motheaten again and maybe beyond hope. I decided to give her a radical remake!
The first thing I did was to wash her and get rid of the sandy residue that is left behind after a moth invsion.
After beginning the renovation process on the mermaid's head I decided to blog about the process so started taking photos.
Next I pulled off all the scales and removed her silk belt and her necklace. They will all be replaced. I will have to make a flat piece of green felt - using several shades of green. This will be cut into strips of scales and they will be attached to her body later.
I will pull out my felting/embellishing machine to make the green felt. I have some white pre-felt, which is very soft partially made wool felt, I can use green tops and roving to add a green top layer and firm up the felt to make the scales. I will take photos of this process when I do it. I made the mermaid before I had the machine and made the green felt by hand, cutting out single scales and attaching them. The first time I renovated the mermaid I used the machine to make the felt and again cut out single scales. this time I plan to cut them in strips to make it easier to attach them.
As you can see from the last three photos I have started to add new wool to the mermaid's body. I removed the tail completely as the embroidery had come adrift and the tail was coming apart. I have started a new tail and since the last photo I've changed the shape and elongated the tail.
More photos to come! I will also need to give her a new face and hair, and decide on her jewellery and embellishment. She won't be quite the same little mermaid that you see in the first photo but I hope my friend will be happy with her.
Stay tuned for Mermaid Hospital, part 2!






