Felt Basics

Cutting the felt: Pattern pieces can be cut out and pinned onto corresponding felt colors. Cutting quantities are also on each pattern piece. On smaller pieces, I find it easier to hold the pattern pieces while cutting instead of pinning.
Floss: When stitching your kit, you'll want to use 3 strands of floss. The floss in your kit is six strand floss. Cut the floss to approximately 18” for stitching. This length prevents the frustration of knots and tangles that can happen with longer lengths. Separate the floss into the desired number of strands by pulling them apart. Thread the needle and tie a knot at one end.  
Sewing: All pieces are sewn with 3 strands of floss unless noted in the instructions. I use and recommend the whip stitch to sew this felt project. See instructions below for guidance using the whip stitch, straight stitch, and French knots.

 

Step by Step

If you need any help with the steps in this pattern, here are a few extra photos of the steps to give you a closer look. 

 

Fun Facts

•Steller sea lions range throughout the Pacific Rim (from southern California to northern Honshu in Japan, and to the Bering Strait). Genetically, there are three distinct populations called the Russian population, Western population and Eastern population. Steller sea lions are highly gregarious and use >600 traditional haulout sites (an area used for resting) and ~100 rookeries (an area used for breeding and rearing young) on remote and exposed islands. These sites can be rock shelves, ledges, boulders, and gravel or sand beaches.
•Adult Steller sea lions eat a wide variety of fishes, including Pacific herring, capelin, sand lance, Atka mackerel, walleye pollock, salmon, Pacific cod, rockfishes, salmon, flatfishes, sculpins, squid, octopus and occasionally seal pups.
•Stones are commonly found in Steller sea lions’ stomachs from pebbles to rocks up to 12 cm (5 inches) in diameter! Scientists are not certain if sea lions swallow rocks by accident or if they serve a useful function. It is speculated that rocks might help grind up fish, or act as ballast when diving, or might help ward off hunger pangs when the animals are fasting on shore.
•The deepest dive recorded for a Steller sea lion was 424 m (1,400 ft).
•Females live longer than males. The average age at death (life expectancy) is 4 years old for males and 10 years old for females. However, the longest some can live in the wild (i.e., longevity) is 16 years old for males and 23 years old for females.
Don't have the Stellar Sea Lion kit yet? You can buy it here!