Felt Friends from Japan: 86 Super-cute Toys and Accessories to Make Yourself

This book is amazing! The patterns turn out fantastic projects EVERY TIME! Yes, there are overlaps on the patterns ( so you might have to make more than one copy ~ OR , you can just trace the outlines of the ones you want ~ easy peasy!)but in my mind this is not a detriment at all. The author was able to impart many adorable patterns AND save trees at the same time ~ hey folks, that's a win-win! ;-D Truly, however, it was no problem at all simply make copies & trace. I bought this book as a way for my kids to learn about using patterns & successfully completing items that would inspire them to sew & create. This book did exactly that, and inspired me to make them as well! Every single object in the book is adorable, easy, fun, well-instructed, & just cute beyond all. The toys have a certain innocence about them reminiscent of a kinder, gentler era ~ 50's-60's ~. You would never feel awkward presenting any item in here to any child~ they are sweet & innocent.You will all be happy to know that Naomi Tabatha has produced at least 2 more books of adorable felt dolls, toys & accessories as well! I found mine on ebay, when I entered her name in the search bar.A word about the patterns~ they are dynamic, eye-popping, 3D, with lots of character ~ And her patterns are always correct. I never have to wonder if the time spent on the item will be a waste due to a wonky, ill-thought pattern ~ this simply does NOT happen with Naomi Tabatha's toys ~ I do reccomend stuffing very small amounts of fluff into every tiny nook & cranny, however~ use a chopstick or the blunt end of a bamboo skewer, and stuff fluff in small amounts, till the toy is packed HARD ~ this will bring out the very most character & dimension in these toys. If you can cut a shape, stitch a small seam, & patiently cram stuffing, you can make these.ps~ here's a hint to make these awesome toys go faster, so that you can make more ~ simply set your sewing machine on your widest zigzag ( mine is #4), make certain your felt edges are exactly in the center of your machine foot, & stitch slowly. For curves, stitch slowly, lifting & re-adjusting to match the curves to center of the machine foot. And do be certain to make at least 2 backward stitches to lock the seams at the beginning & end of every seam. At first, you might be dissapointed in how the zigzag looks, but if you stuff in small amounts, using a stick, & stuff firmly, the action of stuffing will draw apart the stitches, & help them look like tiny, perfect handstitched seams. Try it with darker felt colors & thread to begin with, then once you have gotten the idea down, try out some of the lighter colors with matching threads. We have had great success in making these this way, I can finish the larger toys in just an hour or 2! I hope this little hint helps someone out there. ;-Dpss~ I have also included some photos of our finished objects in the customer images link. I hope this helps you to see just how fantastic, easy, & adorable this book truly is!

When opening you can see quite quickly what this book is made of. All items are in full color at the beginning, photographed rather close so you can see the details. The patterns are in the back in black and white, copying can be a bit of a pain with the close binding and many need to be enlarged or copied repeatedly so you can cut out each piece as they overlap together on the ones I used. In my opinion, the instructions are simple to the point of not telling you everything. For instance, on the bags I had to refer to the one page that lists stitches used to make sure I was using the right one because they only lay out a few on the instruction page. They tell you in a few steps what you need to do but not clearly how to do it. Reasonable easy to figure out, but it may annoy some who like patterns clearly layed out and explained. The instructions on how to do the stitches was easy to understand with the pictures, which was nice as I am new to toys and have not done a back-stitch before.(pictures above)I made three bags already for Christmas but plan on pulling it back out after thefirst of next year to start on the toys. These all call for wool felt, of course, but not being able to afford it I made mine with cheap felt-by-the-yard which I got half-price. For a couple dollars I got enough for the bag and added dollar cuts of all other colors in stock so I have plenty to choose from on the many small pieces (plus I have a lot more things I'm making with felt right now). I spent about 30 dollars on all of that, maybe less, versus the nearly 20 it would have cost just to get a piece for one bag. It would look nicer and be stronger in the wool but it looks super cute as is and with a warning not to put anything too heavy in it, they decided to keep all their new Christmas dolls in them when they get them. I'm not against the wool, I'd use it if i could, just saying not to rule out working with felt once you see the price and wonder if you can afford it.It's true that many of the patterns are merely versions of a single pattern, so I think calling it 86 toys is really misleading if you haven't read some of the reviews ahead of time. The ones in here are "super-cute" though and I really look forward to making the toy sized ones. I had fun with the "Cute Book" but am now ready for something a bit more 3-dimensional and think this fits the bill nicely. All-in-all I would recommend if you really like this style of toy and don't mind that most items are tiny animals (with different ears/colors to differentiate) and a dozen items are just "badge" designs you can sew onto purses, clothes, etc. If you're looking for larger toy items like the fawn, you may be disappointed by the small number.Note : The fawn itself, may be worth the purchase on it's own though. It's totally the star of the book and I haven't seen a pattern that comes close to it yet.

The characters in here are 'super-cute'.. the patterns are more fiddly to make (have to cut out more pieces of felt) than other books I own (am very much a novice) and also some have a 'more 3D' element to the characters before constructing, so haven't actually made any yet from here... but liked the book and am sure I will get around to attempting to make some in the future!

I am disabled & my hands are nowhere near as dextrous as they used to be. The patterns in this book are beautifully designed & simply constructed. If you have never made anything in your life, or if you are a more experienced toy maker, Naomi Tabatha's wonderful patterns will bring a smile and are a joy to make.

I completed my first animals from this book and they were gorgeous if a little smaller than I expected. A pair of rabbits made for my sister who loved them. I will make some of the bigger animals next time. Good, clear instructions.

The animals are so cute, I just love this book.

Great book with easy to follow patterns and loads of great ideas