Inspiration file 35
Yummy-looking strawberry cakes

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What do you suppose the cakes in the picture are made of? Must be whipping cream?

No whipping cream. No fresh strawberries. Neither butter nor flour. The yummy-looking cakes are all made of wool roving by the needle felting artist Rio Fukuda. Needle felting is the process of intertwining or tangling wool fibers using barbed needles called felting needles. As the felting needle is moved up and down, the barbs on the needle catch the scales of the wool and entangle them creating a material called felt.

Halved strawberries as a topping on each cake are appetizing. The fruit’s pith and pink flesh recreated in needle felting technique are true to life. Fukuda says, “I added achenes, which are usually called seeds, to strawberries to make them look more real. Then I realized the ones without achenes would look way prettier and luscious.” It is the knack of her lovely creations that Fukuda dares not make them too realistic or detail.

The enjoyment of a real cake will be over after eating it up. However, the needle-felted strawberry cake that can be displayed for a long time may be a nice gift for your friend or someone special. Would it be a big challenge for you to do the same project in the picture? If so, how about trying to make a piece of cake first? Once starting, the fluffy wools will soothe your heart.

Fukuda has her own studio named “Coffret de laine”, which means a small box of wool, in Kawaguchi City in Saitama prefecture that is a typical suburban town in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Colorful and delicious-looking pastries with felts are displayed in the studio. She periodically holds a workshop there, too.

It may be a good time for you to relax by touching soft wool roving to form an adorable thing with your felting needle.

You can see the website of Rio Fukuda at http://riofukuda.com/