Review on Smart and Efficient Felting by Shantel Griffin

I would give this book 4 stars for the explanations of the techniques at the beginning, but only 2 stars for the projects. I bought this because I was interested in a Fair Isle bag made from my favorite sweater. And there was a large color image with a few suggestions for cutting the front and back rectangles at a slight angle to make it more interesting, and suggestions for handles. It didn't tell me anything that I couldn't already understand myself. "Favorite Jumper Bag (Cardigan)" had a whopping 5 pages of pictures and instructions, but I can't say I thought the finished product all looked professional (ie like anything I'd like to wear with me). Some of the other bags had really cute or interesting designs (one in particular had a piece of felt cut out to reveal a flower and bunny design to be placed on top of a contrasting colored felt, but how are these so the layers stick -- WITH GLUE Not something that could be cleaned or washed if it got dirty In fact this has been the problem with most pocket sweaters but I doubt the washability of pockets made from premade felt and they look like they will soon get dirty.. but there was an interesting suggestion to make a felt clasp for a large snowflake bag (it was beautiful as some other things should have had the designs glued on. WOW!) THE BEST PARTS of this book for me were in the beginning.Create a solid figure while felting creating a solid mound (birds in this case, which didn't impress me, but it is still useful to know the basic technique) Needle felting around a template, e.g. B. a styrofoam ball, and create a hollow shape. I will keep the book for those directions, not for any of the projects in it. But I will admit that the booties are really cute, and it was interesting how the author designed the felt on two sides in different colors to make the booties, as well as a pair of really cute "prankster" slippers, although off one piece felt, looked like they had a lining. On the other hand, how long can you enjoy baby shoes that are difficult to keep clean? Also for the book: one page with suppliers and another with an index. Most suppliers are in the UK and only 1/3 of them in the US.