More Felt Friends from Japan: 80 Cuddly and Kawaii Toys and Accessories to Make Yourself Paperback – March 14, 2014

My 9 year old daughter got this and was able to sew a dog stuffed animal. She needed help with cutting out the fabric shapes, but the rest she could handle (she's sewn before, definitely not for beginners). The designs are all so cute, similar to classic 50s/60s era Japanese plush doll styles. This book and her first are fantastic.

Extremely simple if you've ever taken a home ec class in school. My personal experience with this was I wanted to make some felt dolls for myself and some friends, but I was worried as I always have trouble with the wire innards and getting the pattern just right. This book is translated into English, and I can't even say that was a huge help because the instructions have very clear pictures and numbers. I use an app on my phone to take a picture of the page and then print it out at 200% or whatever the dimensions are and the pieces all fit together perfectly.My first felt doll took about 12 hours total to make (shush!), but by my fourth one I got it down to about 4 hours, including brushing out wefts of yarn for hair.

As expected from Naomi Tabatha, more quality and cute patterns! I have some of her other books in Japanese, and they cost me $20 as opposed to the below $10 here on Amazon. They're of comparable quality, and the books are also the same exact size. Just as a head's up, like her other books, the patterns have to be enlarged by 200%. They're still easy to follow and put together, but I'd probably recommend this book for people that have sewing/felt work experience, rather than for people with no experience.

List of Projects:Little Zoo - 3"-8" stuffed animals: Giraffe, Chimp, Lion, Hippo, Anteater, Elephant, Zebra, CapybaraMiss Kitty & Friends - 10" dolls: Kitty, Doggy, Monkey, Bear. Outfits: Dresses, Shirts, Pants, Shorts, Overalls, Jacket/Cardigan, Hats, Purse, Tote Bag.Miss Kitty & Friends Finger PuppetsPuppy Buddies - 7 1/2" stuffed animals, one with a flower crownRetro Poseable Dolls - 8" dolls with wire armatures and a 4 1/2" fawn stuffed animalHanging Charms - 18"x16" beaded curtains with 2"-3" felt mascot 'charms': Birds, cats, fish, frog faces, & gingerbread personAnimal Shaped Coasters - Fish, Frog face, ChickEyeglass Cases with AppliquesSmall Applique Pouches in 2 sizes/styles6" Mini Totes with Appliques9"x13" Philosopher's Bag with Appliques2" Mascot Face Brooches: Koala, Bear, Bunny, Chick, Panda, Pig, Dog, MonkeyPattern Sizing & Book Layout:The zoo animal patterns are featured full-size on the inside of the dust jacket. Most of the rest of the patterns appear in the back pages and require 250% enlargement.The first half of the book is comprised of color photos of the finished projects with notes on sizes. The second half of the book elaborates on assembly instructions and patterns.There are helpful references with each set of instructions specifying which page to find pictures of the finished product and/or which page the patterns can be found if they're not included in the instructional section (most patterns are separate from the instructions).If you are the kind of person who needs explicit instructions, this book is probably not for you. The instructions are pretty basic and assume you have a general understanding of sewing/assembly.Creative Ideas:Use Miss Kitty & Friends basic clothing patterns to design other outfits/ensembles. Add trims, sequins or beads to jazz up the outfits.Use buttons for eyes and/or yarn for hair to make the Poseable Dollls mimic La La Loopsy or even Coraline.Enlarge the Poseable Doll Patterns to 333% to match Miss Kitty & Friends pattern sizes to make Dress Up Girls.Enlarge Kitty & Friends patterns by just 120% to match Poseable doll patterns size to make Poseable Retro Kitty & Friends.Add wire to the limbs of the Miss Kitty & Friends patterns to make them more poseable.Enlarge the Mascot Face Brooch Patterns to 187% to match Miss Kitty & Friends Patterns to create a Bunny, Panda or Koala friend.Enlarge Lion's mane & tail fringe and add to a Miss Kitty Doll body to make a Dress Up Lion FriendStitch stripes of color to Miss Kitty to make her a look like a Tabby cat or TigerUse the heads from the Zebra, Giraffe, Capybara and Fawn to make some more interesting dress-up or poseable dolls (enlargements vary)Make Bunny, Panda, Koala, or Lion/Tiger Finger Puppets by adjusting the enlargement of the Mascot Face Broaches pieces or adding manes/stripes to Kitty finger puppetsThere are a lot of great patterns and possibilities to work with!Tips & Tricks:Use clear tape instead of pins or tracing to get precision cut-outs. Just tape around the edges and cut out. Works especially well for tiny pieces!Turn half-fold pattern pieces into whole pattern pieces. Felt is thick, so trying to pin patterns on the fold can be a nightmare - causing imprecise cut-outs, mismatched seems, etc. Flip pieces and match dashed fold lines to trace a full pattern piece on paper, then tape to felt and cut out. You will get much better results!Trace pattern pieces needed before enlargement. Converting half-fold to whole pieces before enlargement is also helpful.

So nice! Really cute book! I made many dolls using the templates of a "retro posable dolls" and sincerely, I can't stop making them! The rest of the ideas in the book are very charming, and I am intending to make the kitty and her friends if, naturally, I can stop to make my adorable little retro dolls! lol.

Adorable book with easy to follow patterns. I have made several of the animals from this book and intend to try my hand at making more. A must for any soft toy enthusiast.

If you are willing to wing it a bit, this book is great. Admittedly, I've only made the kitty and some of her clothes, and the kitty is adorable, but the directions weren't very clear. I had to modify the shorts to make them work.I also found the pattern enlarging requirements to be annoying, because several pages called for different enlargement ratios, and none would fit on a standard sheet of paper.

These are so cute and super fun to make. They are pretty quick, they make great gifts.I am off to make the cat for my daughter

Excellent book. Very clear, easy to make with cheap materials. It arrived very fast in excellent conditions. I'm happy with it cause I waited too much to have it.

Wie erwartet. Schönes Buch. Super angeleitet. Macht Spaß zu lesen und umzusetzen.

I love this book! It is very simple and some of the projects you are able to do look amazing! I bought this book for the wired doll project and the instructions and diagrams were very helpful. It's good for both beginners and sewing enthusiasts!

Me encanta este libro, viene muy completo, los animalillos son super graciosos y tiene un montón de patrones para hacer tanto de peluches como de accesorios variados en fieltro.

This was a present for my daughter, all I can really tell you is that she really liked it and could wait to get started into making things.