Bumble Bee Made From Scraps & Felted Wool

So I've been given the task of making props in more sustainable ways... and here is my first attempt of making a bumble bee. There's quite alot of science about the plight of bees over the last few years, hence I thought to make this insect a priority to make. More on that later...

Here you'll find a fairly easy way to make a bumble bee from old fabric, felted wool, felt pieces and wires.

What is felted wool I hear you ask?!

It's long strips of wool that you can buy online and you felt (stab) it repeatedly to make into a felted shape.

Here's a link to felt flat pieces

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISHEvUkrBeY

Don't worry if you don't have felted wool, you can use ANY other fabric piece or even paint the bee to make it.

Supplies

black felted wool

yellow felted wool

38 gauge star felting needle

foam

old clothes

felt scraps/strips no less than 15cm by 15cm - optional lengths but too small will take you too much time!

wire twisties (ideally from computer product or bread bags)

strong clear plastic pieces ( ideally from packaging or food packaging, ensure thoroughly washed!)

black permanent marker pen

Step 1: Find Scrap Fabric to Make Into a Bee Body

I used some old gym t shirts that were easy to roll and I sewed 3 x twisty wires for the legs

If you already have fabric that you'd like to use as the bee body, that's fine! There's no rules that this has to be a bee either, you can create any other insect or creature that you fancy.

Step 2: Double Stitch the Wires Securely

If you don't have twisty wires, I found shoelaces also to be effective.

Step 3: Make the Bee Stripes

I was hoping to felt the wool directly onto the body of the bee, but the t shirt fabric proved to be too slippery and the felt did not bond at all. The amazing thing about felted wool is it's ability to make a shape after stabbing the wool repeatedly on the foam board.

The first pic here shows the wool felted with a 38 gauge felting needle.

The second pic is the felted piece stabbed into a piece of yellow felt that will be sewed onto the bee body.

Step 4: Use Plastic From Packaging to Make Wings

I used some strong plastic from some food packaging and used a permanent black market pen to design the wings.

Draw both sets of winds on one long strip and bend in the middle.

Apparently bumble bees have 2 x sets of wings that flap side to side, so please make 2 x sets as the pic has.

Just sew through the middle part of the wings to attach onto the body.

Step 5: Step 5: Back Side Bee Nappy

Sewing the felted wool pieces around the body was relatively easy, however I found the tricky part was to make a "felt nappy" that fitted around the bottom of the bee and have mini holes for the legs to stick out from.

Using another piece of scrap felt, I could mould the felt nappy