ROUGH-HOUSE TOY MOUSE

Curious about feltmaking?  Know a playful cat?  Here's a minimal-investment introduction to needle-felting (easier precise control) and wet-felting (strong material faster). The result is a cat toy that can take a licking (and swatting, and biting, and clawing).

• No knitting, crocheting, sewing, or gluing.

• Fast and simple enough for a class project (does involve SHARP and HOT objects).

• This product was tested on animals. They liked it.

Step 1: You Need:

• Foam ball, ~1”/25mm dia. Many foam types work; should be easily pierced by  felting needles.

• Wool-fiber roving, ~1/4 oz, cut 5”/125mm long. If roving is dyed, be sure dye is nontoxic and impervious to kitty drool. Store-bought is no guarantee. Undyed roving avoids the whole issue.

• Scissors to cut wool fiber

• Soap and water.  Liquid hand-soaps work well; dyers' high-surfactants like Synthrapol^TM are excellent.

• Needle-felting tool (1 to 7 needles).

• Needle-felting backstop: an extra chunk of sturdy foam or a needle-felting mat (>1”/25mm in all dimensions). This protects the specially barbed felting needles, the furniture, and any nearby living flesh. Felting needles crave blood, especially from careful, coordinated people who never hurt themselves with anything else.

• Microwave oven

• Clothes dryer (last step – students may do this part at home).

Comments

[cheeseboy043]

this instructable is great
i have been looking for a sturdy cat toy for my sharp clawed destructo kitty and if this thing can go in the dryer, then i am confident it will work.
just one question: where do you get the felt fibers?
Thanks

[MollyBednum]

Yeah, feltmaking isn't quite popular enough in the US yet for the Big Craft Chains to carry the supplies.  Specialty knitting shops and fiber-art shows often carry various wool fibers, even buffalo and yak (I have yet to find the dog wool the Makah nation used before they got sheep).  But mainly I "heart" Dharma Trading, http://www.dharmatrading.com/, for felting and other textile-related pursuits (I discovered them when I took up sikpainting, which I'll probably post a trick or two about).  Their quality, pricing and service are all great, and they're not paying me to say so.  I used their undyed merino wool for these mice. and - holy smoke!  I just rechecked their site and they have like 20 different kinds of roving now!  An 8oz. bag of roving is really big; the little Clover 20g bags are plenty for a mouse.  But if you try this and decide to explore feltmaking further, Dharma's own stuff is great at a good price per ounce.

[mrdepo96]

<3
Thats a heart. Or a mouse. :D (Thats a laugh-face)
Do you think this would be practical for dogs also?

:D i really <3 this idea

[MollyBednum]

Sorry I missed your question until now! A good solid felt will definitely stand up to doggie chomping. I think for most dogs I'd make something bigger than this mouse to make it less likely they'd swallow it whole. Maybe scale up to more of a rat size (2" plus).

Using a styro egg (generally sold right next to styro balls) as the core could make it closer to a natural, elongated rat shape. Traditional ratting breeds (e.g. dachshunds and some terriers) might appreciate that.