Customer Reviews

Fleece Dog: A Little Bit of Magic Created with Raw Wool and a Special Needle

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a little experience in needle felting and wet felting, but I've never attempted anything 3-D like this before. I'm happy to say I just completed my first little fleece dog today, and I think the instructions are just incredible. Not only does the author include step-by-step photos and instructions, but she includes actual-size "diagrams", similar to blueprints, for each dog in the book. The only material I cannot find locally are the eyes, so I made do with ball-tipped sewing pins. I can't wait to make a little companion for my first pup! I love this book. The photography and book design is modern and appealing, also.

I hadn't done ANY needle felting when I accidentally happened upon this wonderful little book. In addition, the first printing of this book was completely in Japanese! In spite of that, I was able to look at the pictures and diagrams and create my first needle felted pup! I love dogs and that's what drew me to it... The negative review about the book is misleading. If you have any kind of craft or art ability, you can do do this! As far as finding supplies, if you have access to a computer and the internet, you can find everything you need. Ebay is an excellent source for fiber and felting needles, and even JoAnn.com offers supplies.
Needle felting is a wonderful, portable craft that will delight you and the friends and family you choose to share it with. Give it a try, but remember...those needles are sharp! Don't look up while poking the wool!
:)

The good:
This book is really cute and the pictures are great. Very Inspirational.
The dog building is not for beginning needle felters. The legs can be tricky.But anyone with a bit of experience will be able to do this quickly. There are so many super cute dogs and I am sure I will be making pups from this book for quite some time.

The not as great:
There are a few items that she uses that a bit hard to find as well and it seems like she only shows her products as an option, which you buy in Yen from her Japanese website. It would have been nice to show alternatives (pipecleaners instead of the wire armatures... beads instead of the glass eyes..) or to have a US website ready with the book. I am a bit hesitant to order minute items when I don't understand the prices.

I was so excited when I saw this book! I love both dogs and fleece, so it seemed a natural choice for me. The dogs are so realistic and the directions are quite clear. I haven't yet made any of the dogs, but I do understand there will be a learning curve as I learn to manipulate the fleece and needles to churn out my own, cute dogs made of wool! It's a great book and I would recommend it to any other fiber artists!

This book was my first step into needle felting. I was enamored by the adorable critters and beautiful photography. After reading the book I went to the author's website to order the kit for a few specific breeds. The dacshund was my first one and the results were better than I expected (see photo) ! I also did the husky from the author's kit with outstanding results. I then wanted to try my own project. I purchased wool from a local yarn store, glass eyes from ebay, and used pipe cleaners for the "skeleton". I used my poodle mix as a model and the results were fantastic. (again, see photo).

I have since done reproductions of many of my friend and family's pets. I enjoy this craft immensely as it has quick results (the first one i did took about 7 hours....and I got much much faster as I grew experienced.)

This book was the springboard into other felting activities and projects from other books. But none are as impressive as the Fleece Dogs. They are consistently beautiful.

The best thing about this book is the "actual size" diagrams of the body shape. It is very helpful in achieving semi-realistic forms and proportions (especially for individual breeds). The worst part of this book is the description of the needed materials. It is easy to get intimidated by the very specific type of wire and cotton sleeve the author uses. However it is fairly easy to work around those suggestions with a little creativity and some time spent in a craft shop.

If you are even the least bit intrigued by this book....try it!

I thought this was a great book! I have never done felting before and I found the instructions easy. I'm a beginner but my pups are turning out pretty well, with some practice they will be great.

Great thing to try out!

I bought this book thinking it would be full of techniques for making fleece dogs. that part covers a couple of pages. the rest is devoted to a gallery of the author's dogs. there is nothing wrong with 'gallery' books, i find them an inspiration in many of my crafts. but that's not what i paid for. i actually sent this book back, i was feeling so deceived.

The pattern instructions are easy to follow and the color images help greatly. I would like to see a supply list for the beads used in the eyes of the dogs. The supply list is more than adequate for the roving, but nothing about beads or eyes. All in all, it is one of the best books for needle felting animals.

When I found out this book had a Siberian Husky in it I had to buy it - I waited for it to come out in English and then I got it as soon as I could. The dogs are all quite lovely and it makes it fun to flick through the book and see the artists creativity in making these lovely dogs. Only issue I have is that the directions are given for making a labrador and then you need to go to the area for the dog you are making for any specifics. Kind of annoying really. The book does give you directions on incorporating your own dogs hair into the felt sculptures. I intend to make 2 Siberians - one of my lovely silver Belle and one of my lovely red Damon. I have been collecting fur off of Belle and I am nearly ready to start. We'll see how I go!

Very clear instructional book, it gets you hooked quickly! I have really enjoyed teaching myself and others miniature felting.