Needle Felting Lesson: Octopus

Welcome to the needle felting lesson: 3D Octopus. Together we’ll work through the process of needle felting a 3D octopus with two options for the eyes and eight tentacles. This lesson was originally recorded in February 2025.

Forming the Head & Adding Color

Step 1. is to form the shape of the octopus head using the natural core wool and our single needle tool. As the shape begins to form an oval, remember to leave loose fibers on one end of the head. You will use the loose fibers to help attach your tentacles. Step 2. Using 1/3 of your large blended batt, lay the fibers over your core shape and felt the color in place with your single needle tool. Then use the multi-needle tool. Continue leaving loose fibers at the base of the oval.

Viewing Tip: Click on the first image and then scroll through the enlarged format, you’re able to see everything much better.

Adding the Eyes

Step 3. Here are two design options for adding the eyes to the head. Eyes can either be formed by placing a round eyeball of dark wool with a highlight into a depression felted into the head, or by creating two mounds with pupil details.

A Second Design Option for the Eyes

An alternative design to add eyeballs would be to avoid the creation of two depressions that you lay the eyeballs into and instead build up two mounds of wool directly onto the head that share the same batt coloring as the rest of the head. You’ll then place a dark pupil on the top center of each mound and outline the pupil with a lighter contrasting color.

The large octopus featured in this video started as a lap project on long car rides during family adventure days. Tentacles are a great option for car felting! This one of a kind piece is available for sale: Octopus II. With every new octopus I create I am also thinking up stories for an underwater children’s book. These early creations are my character studies.

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Meet Your Instructor

Hi, my name is Hillary Dow. A few of my many hats include mother, wife, traveler, outdoor adventurer, author, family chef, marketing professional, felting artist in Maine, and oh so many more. I write children’s books illustrated with my wool creations. I picked up my first felting needle about five years ago and it wasn’t long before I realized I had finally found MY medium! Like any labor of love, I simply keep going to learn more while honing my skills. It is such a thrill to be a part of helping someone develop their skills and CREATE artwork. Thank you for joining me!

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