Raven Class

A six-week course in needle felting & doll making

The Felted Raven class is a six-week course that combines faerie-making with intermediate to advanced felting techniques. There is an option to join for the raven only. In the first two weeks, you'll hand sew faeries using natural fibers, learn to dye wool locks for hair, embroider delicate faces, craft tattered wings, and sew clothing from vintage fabrics. In the second portion of the class, you will learn how to felt a lifelike raven using needle and wet felting methods. You can choose to create either a perched raven or one with wings outstretched, or both. You’ll learn to build a wire armature, sculptural felting to form the raven’s body, and various techniques to create realistic bird feathers, and a detailed raven face.

Materials are not included. A resource list will be emailed upon registration, detailing where to find materials in Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Unfortunately, EU registrations are not currently accepted due to GSPR regulations, but I am working hard to resolve this!

Kits will be available to purchase from The Olive Sparrow in Canada.

This is an intermediate level class.

Course structure

New lessons will be sent out every Friday for 4-6 weeks (depending on whether you are taking the full class), with about 3-6 hours of work time recommended each week. You can work through the lessons at your own pace, as you have permanent access to the lessons. I am available throughout the five weeks and after to answer any questions via email and FB. The class will meet over Zoom every Saturday to discuss progress and share work.

Please read through the FAQ if you have any questions, or contact me directly.

The Course:

Week 1 - Crafting a Faerie

Creating and wrapping a wire armature for a large doll and a baby

How to shape and embroider an expressive face

Hand stitching a movable body

Week 2 - Creating clothing, hair, and wings

Playing with different fibers and patterns to dress your faerie.

Sewing on hair (we’ll talk about how to hand-dye mohair locks using natural plant dyes)

Creating realistic wings with synthetic fibres and bit of nature

Week 3 - Felting foundations

Creating a wire armature for your raven

Building up the form & sculpting your raven with wool batt

Week 4 - Feathers pt. one

Wet felting feathers with wool and silk

Creating a face and beak

Week 5 - Feathers pt. two

Felting feathers & building wings

Week 6 - Finishing details

Attaching wings and finishing details

Felting a gnarled branch

What’s included:

• 4-6 weeks of modules comprising of video tutorials for each lesson.

• Weekly Live Zoom Q&As with me to see where everyone is at and discuss the process and any challenges.

• In-course support with me for the duration of the course – you can ask questions whenever you need!

• Access to the Raven Facebook group This is a wonderful way of connecting with other students during the course, sharing photos of work, and getting/giving feedback.

• Access to private Lavender & Lark Facebook group Join the Lavender & Lark Faerie makers Circle to connect with other alumni, share work and see what others are creating.

• Permanent access to the course content (for as long as my site is online).

• 40% discount on most future classes *this only applies to full classes

Prices are in USD

**Please be aware that the faeries I will be teaching you to make are my aesthetic and one that I have spent years developing. So, you may not use this doll pattern to sell from commercially. Doll making is a wonderful art form and this workshop is all about building skills and learning techniques that are versatile and can be applied in all sorts of ways in your own doll making journey!

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