Today’s book review is not about sewing, but of a different type of needlecraft. It is a really fun and stress relieving craft that also involves needles, but using wool instead of thread. Have you tried it before? It’s needle felting!
What is needle felting? Basically, you take some wool, and you jab at it with a needle till it combines together to form a solid wool block and while you jab at it, you shape it into the different shapes you need, then you combine them to form figures. Sounds easy?
My first encounter with needle felting was when my eldest bugged me to buy her a felting kit from Daiso before and I thought it will be cool to see how it was made, but before I got to it, she got exasperated with the fact that the wool wouldn’t stay together, broke a couple of needles and so I didn’t even get to try it. So when Tuttle sent me this book – It’s a Small World Felted Friends (and one more that I will review later). I jumped at the chance to actually learn from an expert.
Finally! Something that looks presentable! The rabbit on the left was made by me, and the donut on the right by my daughter. We didn’t follow the patterns in the book exactly because the only wool we could find was at Daiso and they were mostly in kits, which meant that the amount of wool for each color was quite limited. But we followed the techniques taught in the book and I must say that needle felting is extremely stress relieving! Until you jab your finger with the needle that is 😛
Back to the book, the theme of this book is Cute and Cuddly Needle Felted Figures from Around the World – there are so many cute figures in this book that my girls were gushing over them and happily ordering me to make them all. Here are some of my favourites!
Pandas are just so inexplicably cute! Something about the black and white combination on an animal looks so surreal. Have you seen them in action before? They are really cute in real life and these are even cuter because they are mini sized!
One of my earliest memories of my toys was a little doll wearing a Dutch costume, the only thing I remember about it is the little hat and the colorful dress. Looking at how the different wool colors were used in the dress, this looks like quite a complicated pattern but so pretty to look at! The little windmill on a base behind her is one of the detailed lessons in the book.
Another animal that is super duper cute. See the little joey peeking out from the mama kangaRoo? 🙂
Who can resist these beautiful, intricate Russian dolls? Look at the colors and details!
There are 3 detailed lessons in this book, with full step by step instructions. Most of the basic techniques are covered in these 3 lessons so you will be equipped with all the knowledge and skills you need to make all the cute figures in the book.
The lessons included are :
Castle on a Base (learning how to create a landscape on a base)
Making a Teddy Bear (learning how to attach body parts like limbs, eyes and ears etc)
Multi-purpose Dangle (how to attach thread/straps for handphone/bag charms etc)
Here is an example of the instructions.
It’s a small world after all!
More cuteness on the back cover, but you can see more here in the book flip through review. Enjoy!
Buy now from Amazon (Affiliate link)
Title : It’s a Small World Felted Friends
Author : Sachiko Susa
ISBN No. : 9784805314364
There is another book on needle felting – Adorable Felted Animals that was also published by Tuttle. I will post a book flip through plus some pictures from the book next week. Stay tuned!
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