Needle Felted Catnip Mouse Toy

Make your furry friend a toy in the shape of a little mouse! This are a good beginner needle felting project and includes a tiny bit of wet felting.

Supplies

• Grey roving (or whatever colour you want the mouse to be)
• Black roving
• White roving
• Pink roving (or whatever colour you want the ears and tail to be)
• Fine felting needle
• Felting pad (piece of foam, sponge, pillow you don't care about, pouch filled with rice. Just something you can put your piece on and stab into)
• Warm water
• Soap
• Cardboard
• Catnip

Step 1: Make the Body

Cut out a rectangle of cardboard. I like to make it a bit larger than my thumb. Cut one tip into a point.
Wrap the grey roving around the cardboard and gently stab the needle around the point. I like to put the needle in at an angle so I'm not poking into the cardboard each time. You want to felt it enough that it will stay together without the cardboard and ensure that the pointed end is fully closed off. Keep the blunt end open. This is what we'll use to stuff the catnip in.

Step 2: Add the Catnip

With the cardboard still in stuff in a couple of pinches of catnip. Once you feel you have enough, take the cardboard out and felt that end of the mouse closed.
Go over the whole body and felt it very firmly. Otherwise, the cat will tear it apart in no time.

Step 3: Big Ears

Grab a few tufts of pink roving and place them on the felting pad. Roughly stab in the outline of the ears onto the roving and pad. Once that is established fold over anything outside of the outline to the middle.

Felt it all together and shape as you'd like. Be sure to take it off the mat and flip it from time to time, otherwise you won't be able to get it off. Leave one part of the ears unfelted. This looser roving will make it easier to attach the ears to the body.

Felt the ears onto the body of the mouse. Be sure to felt them very firmly (felt them on from both the front and the back of the ear).

Step 4: Little Nose

Grab a tuft of black roving and felt it on to make the nose.

Step 5: Eyes to See With

Felt on a little tuft of black roving for the eyes.

Grab the tiniest bit of white roving and put it in the black. Try to keep the needle in roughly the same place while felting so the dot stays small.

Step 6: And a Tail to Finish It Off

Grab a long thin piece of pink roving.

Dip it in warm soapy water and put a little bit of soap on your hands.

Rub your palms together with the roving between them. This will wet felt the roving into a long strand.

Once it's felted enough that you can't easily pull the fibres apart, rinse the soap out and dry the strand.

Cut it to the desired length and felt it on to the mouse. Try to felt it as firmly as possible so that the cat can't easily rip it off.

Step 7: All Done!

Ta Da!! You've got a mouse for your cat to play with. As your cat plays with the toy it will get fluffy, just go over the body and felt it back down from time to time.