#494...sweater deer head

I came across this antler mount at a thrift store and thought I could turn it into a cute wall deer for my friend Nancy's nursery.

I used a sweater, a scrap of plaid wool, some leftover wool/cashmere yarn and some fiberfill stuffing. Here is my finished stuffed animal deer. 

Here's how I crafted him......

I started with this felted wool sweater of mine that made it into the dryer and shrunk to fit a small child. The process of washing and drying wool, felts the wool, making the weave tighter and the fabric more "felt-like."

I cut the sweater into the various face patches I wanted for the deer and started hand sewing them onto the mount.

I built the nose-area up using sweater and some fiberfill stuffing to give the deer a profile.

Once the face and nose are were completed, I added his eyes and black nose. I used my machine to make the plaid ears, and then embellished them with sweater scraps. Here is another "during pic" while I was working on the face. On the left, you can see the inspiration pic I pulled from Etsy of a small felted deer lapel pin.

Deer left for his new home yesterday. I'm excited to visit him when his new little owner arrives in a few weeks.