Hey all, I introduced my wife to Mouse Guard a few weeks ago and she took quite a shine to it. So much so that she has gone and made this wonderful rendition of Sadie out of wool:
The basic idea is you take raw wool roving and use a special needle to felt it together into the shape you want and then felt on more wool to make the colours and details. The end result is a mouse like you see here. They are made around wires so the arms, legs, and tail are posable and they stand up unsupported. They are not appropriate toys for small children as they don’t deal well with rough handling. If your toddler comes along yelling “Moush shwim toi-et!” your little Sadie might be in trouble.
My wife would love to make more of these mice, and I suggested that there might be some interest from people online for these needlefelted guardmice. She can make mice from the comics or she can make custom mice. They do take quite a bit of work, say 4 hours or more. For your basic mouse guard, the price is $60. That gets you your mouse, a cloak of whatever colour you like, a belt and a weapon of your choice. For example, Sadie here has a belt with two knives and is holding her sling. She’s got her purple cloak and a cute little button holding it together. If you want extra details or accoutrements, she is happy to oblige for an extra $15 per hour. She could adorn your mouse in just about anything you like such as beads or feathers, or pair her with a felt beetle companion. The only limitation on the needlefelting is size. Something like a riding rabbit, while possible, would be very expensive just because of the sheer size.
She also can make other animals including pet portraits if you are interested.
If you want a mouse or just want to know more, please let me know at jmcgarva at gmail.com