Beginner's Guide to Needle Felting

Susanna Wallis is a craft designer and tutor. She has a BA (Hons) in Design and is a member of the International Feltmakers' Association. Craft has been her passion for as long as she can remember. She mostly works in textiles but particularly loves feltmaking and combining wet and dry felting in her work. She exhibits at Country Living fairs and regional fairs, and her work has been featured in Country Living magazine. She also designs paper crafts, embroidery, mosaics and jewellery.

• Introduction 6Materials 8Basic Techniques 12Heart Card 22Country Picture 28Bracelet 36Dotty Bird 40Cup and Saucer 48Pink Lady 56Index 64

Dec 08This is a lovely book containing six projects (shown on the cover) using hand needle felting. These range from a simple design for card-making to a country scene, complete with fluffy sheep. The projects, as they are aimed at beginners, are all quite simple to follow, and there is a good variety of techniques covered. It is a good introduction to needle felting, especially if you are interested in applying the technique to make dimensional objects. The materials you require are quite basic (needles, wool, foam) so you can get a feel for the technique without having to buy a lot to get started. There is the opportunity for further work (for example, using raw wool to make felt balls, carding your wool to blend colours and using pipe cleaners to create a skeleton shape to work around). Pictures are included of variations of each one, so you get an idea of which direction you can progress in. The emphasis here is on making your first experience of needle felting fun and colourful - and it certainly succeeds. Whoever thought that a felt tea service could be something that you just have to have! Samantha Packer