Sept 10
I received this book whilst my brother and my sister-in-law were staying with us which was handy because it meant we could spend two very enjoyable evenings 'doing makeys'. Nila has made softies before and Tom has had a little go but Tom counted himself a novice. Zombie softies has 16 designs from which to choose, Tom and I made a two skull zombie, but Nila had a go at the three skull design (difficulty levels start at one skull and go right up to four). The patterns are ready to trace or copy at full size which was nice. Some pieces are teeny tiny so used up some of my silly-small scraps of felt. There are very good instructions for all the techniques and stitches you need at the front of the book and there are brilliant diagrams with very specific directions for each zombie, right down to how many strands of embroidery cotton to use. You do need a good selection of beads, buttons, threads, felt, and other miscellaneous haberdashery, we ended up with nearly all my boxes of treasure out on the table, but it was nice to be creative and use up some precious bits. The zombies are tiny and bits of the process were very fiddly but they are totally ace, so that makes up for any earlier extreme concentration in their construction!
Tom, the novice, enjoyed making his zombie and with a little help and advice he was very capable. I think the book would be a fun project for a sewer wanting to work with some funky young types, even if they had never sewn before but if you were giving it as a gift into a non- sewing household it is worth putting in some supplies as if you were buying everything you needed from the instructions it would soon add up.
I really liked this book and I really like my zombie, the book is going from here to Tom and Nila's so more horrific(ally cute) undead can be unleashed upon the world.
* Jennyflowerblue.blogspot.com *
Oct/Nov 10
Did you think that all felties were lovable? Well, there's a darker side to the feltie character rarely seen public until now. Zombie Felties aren't cute at all, their eyes dangle from empty sockets, and their innards protrude in unruly loops and swags of horrible pink floss. However, they should appeal to teenagers and slightly ghoulish stitchers looking for projects that can be turned into keyrings, bag tags and other accessories. There are 16 projects in the book, from gyrating Zombie Thrilla (a tribute to Michael Jackson), through gesticulating Zombie Bunny and Classic Zombie, trailing his tiny grace bandages. This book should appeal to anyone wishing to raise 16 gruseome felt creatures from the undead.
* Needle & Handicrafts *
Oct 10
Soft toys are meant to be cute and loveable, right? Well, maybe times have changed, as these definitely don't fit that category. Here instead are sixteen different creepy creatures waiting to be brought to life (or should that be unlife?) by you.
Felt is always a pleasant material to work with, and when you are making decorations instead of playthings (the models in this book are not toys) using it makes sense. Freedom from fraying edges allows the creative juices to run unchecked, and the projects in here are definitely different. Choose from a range of gruesome zombie beasties and zombie bride, pirate, undertaker, fairy, baby and more. The projects are ranged according to difficulty with simple models rated with one skull coming handily before the final ones with four. At the front are some useful, easy to follow instructions on how to make the models and work with felt. I've been working with the stuff since early childhood and learned something so the instructions are pretty thorough. With their funny captions, cartoon drawings and clearly illustrated steps the projects are surprisingly simple despite their small, potentially fiddly stature. Perhaps the best news of all is that no hard-to-obtain items are used in their creation. Just the thing to decorate a Halloween party with, or why not make them as take home presents for guests or to pop into trick or treat bags? This is a refreshingly imaginative take on the somewhat hackneyed world of soft toy making that will also appeal to amigurumi enthusiasts.
* Myshelf.com *
