Tiny Felt Cuties & Creatures

February 6, 2023
Fiber artist Iris proves that good things come in small packages with her winning debut, a guide to making pint-sized felt animals. She begins with a primer on hand sewing, providing tips for threading a needle and illustrating how to sew basting, blanket, and running stitches. The adorable projects include a cat, dog, fox, frog, skunk, and dolls, all tiny enough to fit in one’s palm. The process for each involves cutting out felt shapes following the patterns provided, sewing them together, stuffing them, and adding eyes, noses, ears, and other details. Iris offers helpful tricks of the trade and recommends taping paper pattern pieces to felt for greater precision when cutting, as well as filling the animals’ narrow legs by balling stuffing into small pieces and pushing them into place with a toothpick. Other projects are for such accessories as a doghouse, pet bed, and a mushroom dollhouse inspired by the author’s “childhood dreams of living in the forest like a tiny gnome.” Encouraging words (“You’ll surprise yourself with what you can make”) and easy-to-follow instructions will have even reluctant crafters game for creating their own felt menagerie. The cute designs are hard to resist.

March 15, 2023
Our collective fascination with tiny crafts shows no signs of stopping. Maine-based crafter Iris offers her first how-to on the making of mini-miniatures from felt, focused on recognizable creatures and their accompaniments: dolls and dollhouse, dog and its pet bed, frog and toadstool. Each of the dozen or so patterns is rich in step-by-steps that are both narrated and photographed. An upfront section zeroes in on hand sewing, from how to thread a needle to how to do embroidery stitches like French knots and daisies. Designs do not include a list of suggested materials (Iris mentions the use of felt scraps) nor an indication of difficulty level, despite the broad range of abilities of hand sewers, so this could be a hindrance. Nine pages of minimum-size pattern templates are ready to use and/or enlarge.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2023

This guide to felt sewing offers instructions on creating miniature toys, gifts, and keepsakes that can be stand-alones, a set, or a tiny world of items. Self-taught fiber artist Iris gives detailed steps and high-definition pictures for each critter, house, and doll. While it's written for beginners, readers may find that even a little textile crafting knowledge of basic embroidery and introductory sewing stitches will help, as not all basic sewing/embroidery steps are as detailed as the patterns that appear later in the book. Specific types of felt, pipe cleaners, and snaps are not listed in the tools and materials section either, so a quick read through the book before starting is essential for organized crafting. All the materials, however, are relatively easy and affordable for most readers to purchase, even with inflation concerns. After the first project, the repetition of ideas and jargon for each pattern helps readers grasp the foundational steps. VERDICT This book is full of adorable projects that are perfect for gifts. This title complements introductory sewing and embroidery how-to books well.--Elizabeth Chandler

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.