Needle felting poly fill

It's so easy to under or over stuff your amigurumi.. 

I tend to over stuff as I like my toys to be able to hold themselves up .. unless of course they are meant to be floppy ..

Okay even then I have a hard time leaving them without stuffing lol 

However with larger plushie creations it's so easy to over stuff and end up with stressed or "holy" stitches... 

Until recently I haven't made many larger plushies.. so it wasn't a big issue for me..

Then I made this super cute Dino but had so many issues with getting the legs firm enough.. the head was okay..

With the necks I use rolled tied felt to keep the heads from being wobbly..

but the legs ugh.. I ended up having to add some stitching to the stitches to tighten and close holes in a few areas.. and adding more spots over other areas .. 

I came across a video on YouTube after that... it  was for small "display only" types of amigurumi.. 

one of her tips was to needle felt the polyfill firm.. 

She stated that she had been hearing about the technique for some time before trying it herself mostly in Europe I believe.. 

I had to give that a go... 

I was working on a medium size duck that needed it's bill filled firmly..

I shaped the polyfill to size placed it inside the bill 

and worked it firm while still in the piece.. being careful not to go through the yarn.. being very careful to keep my fingers far away from the needle.. 

 it did take a few minutes probably close to a half hour.. 

So if you count your minutes per item this may not be for you.. 

 it does take a bit more polyfill as well ..

    However the results were so worth it as far as I am concerned..

I have no issues putting in a little extra effort and time to get an item that I like better..

The process of creating an item matters to me.. the energy placed in it while making it .. something that you pick up and it feels good.. that is what I want to make.. 

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No stress on the stitches, no holes.. firm shape without anything else added to it... as in wires or other shaping materials.. 

 Easy to get the shape of the piece needed... as long as you keep your fingers out of the way painless too lol 

Next I had to try legs... now this little piggy would have been able to stand without much effort.. but I wanted to so.... 

truthfully I miss needle felting but plushies are much easier to take to market..  and have sold at a better rate for me at least... and I really like making them as well..

           if I can combine the two.. 

I'm so okay with that .. 

       I started with needle felting to do eyes on crochet toys after all lol 

I add a bit of stuffing to stand a little taller than the yarn piece so it stays placed well after stitching on... 

Look at these feet btw... so cute..

and the snout.. and ears.... 

Pattern by CrochetGrove 

The added bonus is how much easier it is to place and stich on the piece.. 

This piggy is designed to have an almost splayed look.. 

which normally would have taken a dozen knitting needles to hold in place while I tried placement over and over.. and probably removed one after stitching lol .. 

I have been seeing these cute little needle felting kits at the dollar tree.. an inexpensive way to get a felting needle to give it a try.. 

 I would like to be able to play with wool sometimes .. mostly not a problem with all the fun and or beautiful non- life threatening yarns out there these days... but then I see a sweet little kit like this ...