Look I've had time this week to get on with padding the shell, I got so in to it that I did not take a picture of the work half way though, so you could see the layers. Under the layer of yellow craft felt is two layers of carpet felt, yes carpet felt that old fashioned under-lay of brown fibres. You have to peel it apart and take out the plastic mesh in the centre, then make a template of the area that you are padding, round of the edges and sew it down.

You can see from the picture below just how many stitches you need to sew down the carpet felt, as it needs to be really firm to take the embroidery on top. I really enjoy doing it as its very free and easy stitching!
You can also see just how many metal thread ends I had to sew in at the back, luckily I have just the needle for the job, its a small curved needle, I only have one, so take great care of it.