Needle Felted Imp, Wool Fantasy Creature

Description

This needle felted imp isn't from any film, game or cartoon. He's our own creature: a gray art doll about 25 cm (10 in) tall, sculpted from natural wool one needle stab at a time. And like everything here, he's made to order. We start felting yours after you order. Nothing waits on a shelf.

He sits with his long tail curled beside him, one clawed hand raised, and gives you a slightly grumpy look from under his brows. Not angry. Just unimpressed.

What an imp is

Imps come from Germanic folklore. They're small, a bit ugly, and more mischievous than evil. For a long time people couldn't really tell them apart from fairies: both might help you one day and play a trick on you the next. Our imp keeps that mood. He looks like he knows where your keys went.

What we felted

Amber eyes and heavy brows
Tall pointed ears with wispy tips
A paler chest and face against the gray body
Dark claws on every finger and toe, and a long curled tail

We leave the wool a little fuzzy on purpose. Up close he looks more like a small wild animal than a figurine. People who see realistic felted creatures often say it took them a second look to notice it was wool at all.

Yours will be one of a kind

Every imp is felted by hand, so yours follows these photos closely, but the fur and the expression come out a little different each time. No two have quite the same face. You see photos of the finished piece before it ships.

Want him bigger, in another color, in a different pose, or a whole other creature? Maybe the gremlin you used to doodle in school notebooks, or a monster from a story your grandmother told. Send a sketch or a description. Our fantasy creature with a crown started as a painting, and the same wool work went into this realistic felted fox. More one-off characters live in OC plush.

Materials used

The imp is made of natural wool, shaped entirely by hand with felting needles. No fabric skin over it: the wool itself is the surface. Small stabs of the needle pack the wool into a firm shape that holds the brows, the knuckles and the curve of the tail.

Gray wool for the body, with a lighter shade for the chest and face
Darker wool for the claws on his fingers and toes
Amber eyes set into the felted face

Felted wool is firm, not squishy. He's an art doll made for display rather than rough play: a desk, a bookshelf, a curio cabinet. Want another coat or eye color? Say so before the first layer of wool goes on.

Lead time

A needle felted imp usually takes 2–4 weeks to make.

The body starts as a loose core of wool that gets firmer with every pass of the needle. Then come the limbs, the tail and the ears, built up layer by layer.

The face takes the longest. A few millimeters of wool on the brows turn him from sleepy to grumpy, so we go slowly there. The time frame includes a small reserve for handmade surprises. If you have a date in mind, mention it in your first message.

Delivery

We ship worldwide. Delivery usually takes 7–20 business days, depending on your country and the carrier. Around the holidays couriers get slower, so it can take longer.

An imp makes an odd, memorable gift for a friend who loves dark fairy tales, folklore or fantasy art, or for a collector with a shelf of strange little creatures. Add the making time to delivery and count back from the date. For Christmas, order by November 1.

Before he ships, you get photos of the finished doll. We pack him so the ears, the claws and the tail arrive in shape.

Guarantee

We've been making custom toys since 2009, many of them creatures that exist nowhere else. A small felted figure with a face that has to look just right is the kind of work we know well.

You see your imp in photos before he leaves the studio. If you still don't love him, you get a full refund within 14 days, for any reason.

Not sure about the size, the color or how grumpy he should look? Ask before we start. It's easier to change a detail at the beginning than to re-felt a finished face.