Wee Felt Worlds: Book Review + Freebie

Have you ever tried needle-felting? I've been interested in trying out this craft for a few years but hadn't done so until I had the opportunity to take a look at Wee Felt Worlds:  Sweet Little Scenes to Needle Felt, edited by Amanda Carestio. What a fun book!

There are over 50 mini-projects to make with wool roving that are suited to both beginners and advanced needle felters. The projects have a retro, kitschy vibe and include dinosaurs, pirates, scientists, and robots.  The Deck the Halls section includes some adorable miniatures to make for Christmas.  Here are a few of the other super-cute designs:  

Little Cub's Adventure

Sweet Shoppe

Circus Maximus

 
I am a total newbie to this craft, and I wanted to see if I could make one of the projects using only the instructions in this book. The "Getting Started with Needle Felting" first chapter was a perfect introduction to the techniques that I needed to begin, and the suggestions for creating different shapes were very helpful.  For example, it is a lot easier to make a the base for the body of by starting with a base of fiberfill and covering it with roving. I found the instructions and diagrams to be very clear and easy to follow for a total beginner like myself.

At first I couldn't decide whether to make the dog or the cat (both pictured in the "Welcome to Our Wee Felt World" photo above)! After I started on the dog I decided to switch to the cat because it is an easier project for a total beginner.  It took me two tries to make the body (and I pricked my fingers a lot!) but in the end I combined the techniques for the two projects and even added my own embellishments in order to make this sweet little kitty:
 

Not too bad for a first try, right? And it was fun!  You can really let your imagination go wild with this book.

{freebie}

Would you like to try out a couple of the projects?  First, stop by my Scribd page and download the PDF instructions for the Big Purple Alien Blob pictured below (so cute!) to start creating your own miniature felt outer-space diorama:

Next, stop by the Lark Crafts blog for a step-by-step tutorial so you can create the mini UFO.   

If you are interested in trying out the craft of needle felting I highly recommend Wee Felt Worlds.  The projects are charming, easy, and can be used to make ornaments, magnets, toys and more.


Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review but as always, my opinions are my own.