Irresistible Felted Baby Animals: Needle Felted Cuties from Puppies to Pandas

Needle felting designer Susa (Cute Needle Felted Animal Friends) shares an adorable if incomplete guide to creating 20 baby animals with wool felt. Providing a brief overview of tools and materials, Susa notes that she prefers to use felt made by the company Hamanaka (which inconveniently has “limited availability outside of Japan”) and that readers should acquire felting needles, an awl, and craft scissors. A few of the projects, such as the seal pup and Shiba Inu, have step-by-step instructions accompanied by photo illustrations. To make the chick, for example, Susa shows how to roll felt, “punch” it with a needle to “harden the shape,” attach a tiny felt beak, and glue on eyes. Other projects, such as the penguin, raccoon, and lion, omit photo illustrations and instead consist of a list of steps that novice felters will have difficulty following. Patient crafters up for a challenge will find opportunities to learn new techniques, such as creating stripes for the red panda’s tail, but those who haven’t worked with felt before might feel underserved by the lack of tips on working with the medium. This is best suited for experienced felters who can fill in the gaps. (Oct.)