Customer Reviews

Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Fuzzy Felted Friends

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

 

 

I was excited to purchase this book, since I recently invested in the supplies necessary for needle felting. The cover of the book suggested that the projects inside would appeal to me. The book was ultimately disappointing, because other than the dogs on the cover and a few other projects most of the content requires wet felting rather than needle felting. Although some of the projects such as the bird coin purse look great, I don't have the materials necessary for wet felting.

This book would not be good for beginners because the instructions are vague, and consist mostly of patterns and dimensions. Little guidance is given on how to construct and attach basic shapes.

If you enjoy both needle and wet felting this would be a good choice for you. If you are only interested in needle felting then do not buy this book - choose one that is devoted solely to needle felting.

I was drawn in to buying this book based off of the cover photo which was exactly the type of work I wanted to learn to make. The description states, "step-by-step directions, and helpful how-to illustrations make it easy". However the instructions for most of these creations only had four steps and a few illustrations. The illustrations would tell you what size diameter you should make the body and head, but gives you no idea about what quantity of wool to start with or what specific techniques to use. The photos are adorable to look at, but as a "how to book" falls extremely short.

The next two books are courtesy of the Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts book series by Chronicle Books. The series includes four books: Amigurumi, Fuzzy Felted Friends, Lacy Crochet and Woolly Embroidery. Since I don't crochet I only have the embroidery and felting books.

The books were originally published in Japanese and have been translated into English. We've all run into badly translated foreign movies, instructions, and websites. These are nothing like that. They have been remarkably well done. The only thing that gives away their foreign nature is the naivete of the text.

Woolly Embroidery begins with 33 pages of color photos of the motifs and projects. This is followed by a guide to wool embroidery, useful tools and materials and thread color charts. There are also clear illustrations for 30 different decorative stitches. I find that particularly useful. The patterns are adorable, some even having a touch of that 1970's crewelwork look that's so popular.

Fuzzy Felted Friends is laid out in the same manner, with about half the book being full color photos of the projects. Several pages of step-by-step photos of the different techniques follow. The instructions for the projects are next and, fortunately, have both metric and standard measurements. It includes projects for wet and dry felting, for both felted animals and pouches/bags, for useful items and purely decorative cuteness.

I would say these books are suited to the crafter who has had some experience.However, they do have projects that are do-able by the beginner with a little bit of patience. I do wish there was a little bit more substance to each of them but $15 for an 80 page softcover book is still fairly reasonable.

The projects are sweet and varied. I love the variety which you can build off and the friendly inviting photos. Some criticisms are fair, the author could provide more information and yes, beginners might stumble here and there. A felter with a wee bit of experience should easily overcome the book's few shortcomings. (Use the 'Look Inside' feature for an overall impression of the book. Keep clicking on 'Surprise Me.') Maybe I'm as easily influenced as soft wool, but I feel the author put genuine effort into this book. I adore it; it's like holding a friendship in your hands.

Although it may seem like a very small book, coming in at only 80 pages, "Fuzzy Felted Friends" is packed tightly with patterns for felted projects - 25 in total, and as the series title suggests, these items are CUTE! Projects included in this book include pincushions, tea cosies, bags, purses, mobile phone charms, card cases and toys, all of which take the form of some sort of cute animal. As I have said in some of my other reviews of craft books, although I really enjoy making cute soft toys, I just don't have the space for them in my house anymore (not that that stops me from making them), so the fact that most of the items in this book have some purpose, other than sitting there and gathering dust, makes it very appealing to me. I can make these items without feeling guilty.

The projects in this book are a mixture of needle felted and water felted items made from raw wool (no felted knitting or crochet patterns are included). The book is divided into three sections, the first section gives colour photographs of each of the projects, the second gives brief instructions on the general techniques required to make these projects (only about 10 pages in total), accompanied by black and white photographs, while the third section gives more detailed instructions for making the individual items (with black and white line illustrations). The pictures in this book are gorgeous, and for me, this book was worth buying just to admire them. However, the instructions are somewhat lacking. As a felting beginner, I would have liked more guidance on making these projects. Nevertheless, I would think that more experienced felters would enjoy this book immensely.

I have only returned two books in my life, and this was one of them.

I purchased this book because the cover looked promising. When I received it, I realized that these two little dogs were the only projects like that in the entire book. As another reviewer also mentioned, the vast majority of the projects in this book are also for wet felters, not needle felters.

The real reason I returned it, though, was the truly horrible writing and directions. I realize that this was written by a non-native English speaker, but could the publishing company not have tried to clean it up a bit before releasing it to the unsuspecting public? I am already a fairly experienced needle felter, so I could have figured out how to do the (very few) needle felting projects on my own. However, a true beginner would have been totally lost and would probably give up on the hobby as a result of this hideous book.

There are a lot of good needle felting resources out there. I encourage the new felter to check out some other books and websites rather than buying this trash.

I love this felting book..its fun and easy and great pics to do your projects....B.W.

This book from Japan is a wonderful book if you want to get started in needle felting. It has detailed instructions to go along with the many colored pictures showing the item you would like to create. The author also has little notes about her fuzzy friends and why she has created them making this a personal experience as well as fun and easy. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started in needle felting. Not only is it about cute fuzzy animals but she also includes some everyday items such as pillows, pouches, and a rabbit shaped plate just to name a few.