Needle-Felted Wool Sculpture

Bofur the Dwarf Needle-Felted Wool Sculpture (as seen in Peter Jackson's films of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit")


Bofur is the seventh doll completed in our "Hobbit project". He is based on James Nesbitt's portrayal of Tolkien's character, as seen in "The Hobbit" films by Peter Jackson. After making the Throin and Bilbo dolls, Elizabeth and I decided that it would be a fun idea to make all of the dwarves from Thorin's company in "The Hobbit" films. We are working on multiple dolls at one time, because a few of them are very intensive as far as leather work or embroidery (Elizabeth's department!). To keep things going ahead, we've got three dolls "in the works" at any given point. This gives Elizabeth time to work on the hand sewing and leather, while I'm felting on a different doll.

Bofur is a fellow absolutely filled with character! He stands 9" tall (without his hat) and weighs in at a solid 4-1/4 ounces. He was felted with .40 and .42 gauge needles and features some pretty fun fiber and fur in his costume — along with a lot of leather and knitted work. There are six different types of wool in the costume. The base of Bofur's body is made of dark brown Romney (though none of it shows), and his head and clothes feature Cotswold, Gotland and Merino wool, along with some Mohair and Alpaca fiber. His hair is made from "All Cooped Up" wool doll hair. Making his rather iconic hat was a lot of fun. It was cut from an old leather coat and lined in felted Gotland wool.

When it came to the non-felted accessories, Bofur was a bit simpler though rather time consuming. His boots were felted and then covered over with Elk leather and Goat fur tops. His belt is made from an odd piece of leather (still with some hair on it) that we had saved for something special – and Elizabeth made the small attached canvas pouch. His tunic is decorated with bone-bead toggles, and his striped scarf was knitted on .0000 knitting needles using vintage wool darning yarn.

Of course, no doll of Bofur would be complete without a small clump of Athelas (or Kingsfoil) in his hand, so we made one by trimming some fabric leaves!