Big Little Felt Universe: Sew It, Stuff It, Squeeze It, Fun! [Paperback]

Jeanette Lim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

Enter the big, beautiful universe of crafting with felt, with this irresistible collection featuring a super-cute Asian-inspired aesthetic.  Twelve “sets” include more than 70 projects, from fruits and a felt knife for “slicing” them to a show-stopping birthday cake with decorations and detachable candles. Hundreds of photos and full-size templates make the crafting easy. With so much imagination-generating power, this book will appeal to everyone!

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JEANETTE LIM has sold more than 9,000 of her original patterns in her Etsy shop (umecrafts.etsy.com). Jeanette is one of the 12 featured crafters in Craft-In (Lark, Fall 2010). She lives in SINGAPORE.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Lark Crafts (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600596754
• ISBN-13: 978-1600596759
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Toys & Models > Stuffed Animals

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready for More Advanced Felt Projects? This is the book for you! March 8, 2011

By Puckleberry

Format:Paperback

If you've been ordering felt patterns from Umecrafts, and/or have mastered the art of making felt items, this book is the next step in the creative process. Beautifully bound and photographed, the author gives superb advice about the tools and notions needed to create your felt item, as well as walking you through the creation of your items with simple instructions and terrific photographs. Prepare to dive into the projects with both feet; they range from fairly complicated to quite simple. It is important to note that all these projects are unique to the book; they are not available through Umecrafts on Etsy. Highly recommended for all crafters interested in making felt creations that are extremely lifelike.

My only issue with the book is that it can be difficult to photocopy some of the pattern pieces that are close to the spine. For those, I recommend using tracing paper instead. It would be useful for the publisher to include a CD or memory card with .pdf patterns for the reader to print out her or himself in future editions.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm torn about this book January 13, 2012

By Channing Quinn Carter

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's AMAZINGLY cute and the projects look so wonderful and the book makes it all look very easy. I will say, however, that it doesn't get too into detail about how to do a lot of the things they're telling you to do in the book so I can imagine some beginners getting frustrated or feeling a little lost as to how to do certain things. If you know how to sew by hand and have some experience with things like this, you'll likely love it. I was VERY excited to get started when I received this book and was looking at everything in it. I want to make almost everything. So far, I've made one slice of cake and a kiwi slice to go on top of it and I must say, I had a lot of frustrating moments. The pattern, at least for those two items, was not perfect... the cardboard form for the slice of cake BARELY fit into the outer felt shell and the whipped cream pieces on the top at the edges of the cake were more difficult to sew together than I anticipated... I guess it's kind of hard to explain the things that I found frustrating when making it all. I've been sewing things out of felt for months and by the looks of the projects, I thought it would be a breeze. I just wish they had given more detail about little things here and there that proved to be challenging. I can't understand why some pieces of felt that I cut out exactly as the pattern indicated ended up being too small once I was halfway through sewing them together. The kiwi slice, for example. I had to improvise when sewing the two faces of it to the thin side piece as the side piece turned out to be over half an inch shorter than it was supposed to be to complete the piece! I was so annoyed. I had to add another piece to it and thus had a seam at both corners of the slice which was fine but not how the book was supposedly instructing you to make it. I just don't understand why that happened - more than once. The thin, long piece of felt that made the "filling" of the slice of cake was also too short. I had to cut a piece much longer than indicated and once I got to the other end of sewing it on, cut off the excess to make sure it was long enough. Little things like that. It could TOTALLY be my fault, for all I know, perhaps my hand sewing isn't perfect (although I've been sewing by hand for around ten years so I can't imagine what I could be doing wrong) or perhaps it's because I'm using acrylic felt rather than wool felt and the book clearly indicates that they are totally different materials and that wool felt is far superior to acrylic which I'm sure is true, it's just more expensive and I couldn't budget for it at the moment. Oh, well. So long as you're careful, precise and follow the instructions closely while watching for problems where you might have to improvise, it should come out just fine. I'll upload a photo of my cake slice and kiwi slice after completing this review. I still intend to make every little piece of fruit for the cake because I think they are so cute and still insist that they must be easy enough to make. Haha... and will likely make almost everything else in this book as well! It all seems so do-able and very cute. I can't deny that I'm still happy with how my two pieces have come out so far. I've looked at a lot of other craft books, especially those working with felt, and feel that the finished results of the projects in this book look much more clean, real, professional and awesome than a lot of other things I've seen in the other craft books. I love things made of felt that look realistic. :) As a final note, the book calls for you to make a lot of forms out of taped together thin cardboard - like the kind cereal boxes are made from - in order to achieve the clean, solid look in some of the projects. Just FYI. It seems to play an important role in making the finished product look so neat and perfect and cool. But as a result, many of them aren't squishy like a plush child's toy. So, if you're making things for a baby or a small child, just bear in mind that if they smash it, it will probably kind of ruin it. :P I'm sure you can opt not to use the cardboard forms otherwise, though! And not all of them call for cardboard, either.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Felt Toy Book Ever! March 3, 2011

By Alice

Format:Paperback

This book offers more than 70 beautifully executed projects! The instructions are simple with TONS of photos to guide you and include easy-to-use full size patterns. The results are spectacular, with just enough detail to be extra cute, but not overly complicated. The projects are divided into sets or themes that include:

Cake (A yummy cake covered with fruits such as kiwi, sliced bananas, decorative frosting, etc.)
Camping (All the gear you need for a pretend campout - a log fire, s'mores, compass, pocket knife and more)
Sundae (An adorable banana split with whipped cream and cherries)
Office (Laptop, stapler, calculator - all the tools for success!)
Plants (Amazing bamboo, violets and cactus potted plants!)
Holiday (Super cute gingerbread house, plus cookies and milk for Santa!)
Veggies (Crunch carrots, juicy tomatoes, white radishes and more from the garden)
Doctor (A medical kit with stethoscope, prescription bottle, bandages and other healing equipment)
Grill (Hamburgers and hotdogs, anyone?)
Purse (Everything you need for a day on the town - lipstick, credit card, compact, cell phone!)
Fruits (Realistic pears, apples, bananas and watermelon)
Tools (A tool belt with hammer, electric drill, saw, wrench and screwdriver)

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in making toys or felties or plush projects!! There's something for everyone included!!