Making Felted Friends: 25 Toys and Gifts

Summer 08

I must confess I have never comtemplated either making felt or animal friends . However this book in 25 steps will enthuse anyone who does. The introduction is attractive and is clearly illustrated and so colourful. It explains the different procedures clearly and the list of tools and equipment needed, although long, include many everyday articles.

Kathleen Toms, Penzance

Jan 08

Twenty-five funky, fuzzy and fleecy felted toy projects feature in this book. It's not just the making of the toys that this book covers but also the process of felt making. I really enjoyed reading the introduction in this book, which provides us with a background on felt making. Did you know that it dates back 8,000 years and it may be one of the original textiles people used? It was discovered before weaving and spinning. So when you start felt making after reading this book you will probably get a feeling of earthiness - being able to make something fantastic out of something so basic.

The cover of the book and its brightly coloured felt animals immediately drew my five year old son's attention to the book as he wanted me to read through the book with him to show him all the different characters - oblivious to my lack of skill in felt-making he asked me if I could make him some felt toys. I spent the whole weekend devouring the book and reading up on the `Getting Started' chapter, I was unsure whether I would be any good at this craft but from the clear instructions I purchased the materials needed. The materials included wool, soapflakes, wire, pipe cleaners, pliers, wool carders (like a dog brush) and a bamboo mat.

Next weekend I progressed to following the chapters `how to make flat felt' and `how to make pre-felt.' This was great fun and I never realised how easy it was to make felt. My son loved felt making. I'd definitely recommend it as something to keep kids really occupied. The instructions were really easy to follow and I felt very proud of myself and very grateful to the author by the end of the day. I felt as if I had learnt a very ancient craft.

On the Sunday we decided to attempt to make a creature from the book. We had 25 options - some of these being: * Alphabet panel with pockets

* Fancy Fish

* Shaker Snake

* Simple felt picture

* Bird

* Exotic Bird

* Village Duck

* Groovy Cat

* Spotty Dog

* Sausage Dog

* Percy Pig

* Funky Monkey

* House Mouse

* Spotty Spider

* Porcupine

* Dinosaur

* Armadillo

* Butterfly Mobile

* Spider mobile

There were variations on many of these projects that you could choose but we opted for a brightly coloured dinosaur. I must add that my son spent about 20 minutes looking at all the pictures as he thought they were all so wonderful and couldn't choose. I was very happy making the project, as the instructions were so clear. Every few sentences was combined with a step-by-step photograph, so at no point was I left wondering what to do.

There's nothing I would have changed about this book apart from a whole chapter dedicated to needlework as my sewing leaves a lot to be desired but I think I managed quite well despite my lack of ability in that area. We were really pleased with our first attempt at felt-making and are looking forward to creating some more felt wonders from the book shortly!

Sarah Cooper

Mar 08

Sue Pearl introduces a beguiling menagerie of comical creatures, which can be simply made using pipe cleaners, wool, felting materials and an assortment of funky embellishments. There are great ideas to work on with youngsters, or leave them to get on with it themselves. Sue's fabulous friends are wet felted and decorated with needle felt shapes, beads and buttons. Sue explains all you need to know to get started, with easy-to-follow instructions. The 25 step-by-step projects include clear photographs and a colourful selection of strange and wonderful animals.