Book Description

Sue Pearl introduces a beguiling menagerie of comical creatures, which are very simple to make.

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. From stripey-legged birds to spikey porcupines, crazy cats and beautiful butterflies, all Sue's fabulous friends are wet felted and decorated with needlefelt shapes, beads and buttons. In this fun-filled book, Sue explains everything you need to know to get started, with easy-to-follow instructions on making flat felt and pre-felt. The projects follow on with clear step-by-step photographs and a wildly colourful selection of strange and wonderful animals.

About The Author

Sue Pearl is a felt maker making felt art pieces for craft galleries and running felt making workshops in schools and in adult education centres as well as felt parties for children for Christmas and birthdays. She also gives lectures and talks with demonstrations on the incredible history and the craft of felt making. More details can be found on Sue's own website www.feltbetter.com where she sells an instructional video as well as finished items.

Reviews

Machine Knitting Monthly
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.

Meg-online
Sept 08 Sue Pearl has produced a really fun selection of bizarre creatures to make from felt. These animals are colourful and full of life. I would be glad to have any of these in my house cheering me up. Her book includes explicit details about the felt making process as well as good illustrations for the construction of the animals. She makes the process look very straightforward and the end results would be a delight for any young members of the family. At the back of the book is a comprehensive list of suppliers, so there is no excuse for not starting your Zoo.

West Country Embroiderers
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

www.meg-online.info
Nov 07 Sue Pearl has produced a really fun selection of bizarre creatures to make from felt. These animals are colourful and full of life. I would be glad to have any of these in my house cheering me up. Her book includes explicit details about the felt making process as well as good illustrations for the construction of the animals. She makes the process look very straightforward and the end results would be a delight for any young members of the family. At the back of the book is a comprehensive list of suppliers, so there is no excuse for not starting your Zoo.

www.myshelf.com
Jan 08 If you read the review of Cendrine Armani's book Felted Bags, Boots and Other Things (also reviewed on this site) then you might be wondering what else you could do with your felt. How about a bevy of colorful soft toys? Indulge your inner child, and learn how to do a few slightly more advanced things with this versatile material. Aimed at the more experience feltmaker, this book might mean less tramping the stores looking for gifts to give to younger family members as well as some great ideas for sales of work. Feltmaking is explained from the beginning but in less detail than a book for beginners so think of it as a refresher course. There are many other techniques explained instead, such as how to make a wire skeleton (so these are not toys for very young children), mold parts like beaks, ears, crests etc and add color. Learn about different types of felt such as needlepunch, flat and needlefelt and above all have fun. Projects include mice, a dinosaur, spiders, octopus, fish, snake (or draught excluder) monkey and pig. At the back is a long list of suppliers for all who live in the States - crafters elsewhere will have to look elsewhere. This aside, this is a good book for learning how to do something not often covered in craft books.

www.thebookbag.co.uk
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