How To Make A Wool Needle-Felted Mushroom

I looked all over the internet for a tutorial for one of these and couldn't find one.

I have to thank the lovely Amanda from By Hook and Thread blog who
emailed me instructions on how she made hers.

This is the first time I have tried needle-felting and it turned out quite well.
Big Seed seems to like playing with it.
This one is a little big though, he tries to use the top as a hat!

Wind your wool around a cardboard tube.
Use your special needle-felting needle and stab the wool at an angle.
Make sure you don't let the needle touch the tube or it will break easily.

I bought some white wool tops/roving from here at Handmade Presents in the UK.
Katrin at Handmade Presents is kindly offering readers 5% off a wool order if you mention this blog,
as long as you mention it in the message column of your order.

If you feel confident you can use 2 or 3 needles at a time.
Once it is sturdy, stick a ball of ordinary wool in to make it easier to felt with several needles.

Edit: Amanda says, "Just a little tip, before you wrap wool around the tube, pull it apart and lay some across and some down to cross the layers. It helps the scales of the wool to attach together in the needle felting process."

Here is the finished stalk.

Then find a bowl the appropriate size for the mushroom cap.
Wind the white wool around the bowl as you do for the stalk.
I then took some red wool torn into long strips and attached it to the top.
You can see some faint gaps on top as I didn't have enough red wool to be honest.
You can use all red wool if you have it and omit the white wool part.

For the spots, take a small amount of wool and roll it into a flat ball.
Place a cushion on your lap and stab it with the needle, turning it over several times,
until you have the desired spot.

Attach the spots to your cap.

Pop your cheeky gnomes inside, and put the cap on.
A new home for your gnomes!

Most importantly make it in secret in the evenings, then
watch your child's face light up in the morning when they discover the new arrival!

Speaking of gnomes...have you entered our Summer Gnome Giveaway here?