What do you think?
Rate this book
Wool Pets: Making 20 Figures with Wool Roving and a Barbed Needle
Anyone can make cute and cuddly creatures from a handful of fluff and a barbed needle! There are only a few books written on the subject and most of those focus on ‘flat’ needle felting on a surface.
This book is about sculptural needle felting—creating 3-D animals and figures using the felting needle to sculpt wool. The book shows the techniques and describes how the felting needle works with wool fiber to create felt, while explaining the differences between this art form and other forms of felting. The reader learns how to hold the needle, what sort of materials to use, and why.
There are about 20 complete projects including various birds, bugs, four-legged animals, and people—each one unique and irresistible! Laurie also shows the reader ways to display their felted creations as mobiles, ornaments, or arranged in shadow boxes.
This book is about sculptural needle felting—creating 3-D animals and figures using the felting needle to sculpt wool. The book shows the techniques and describes how the felting needle works with wool fiber to create felt, while explaining the differences between this art form and other forms of felting. The reader learns how to hold the needle, what sort of materials to use, and why.
There are about 20 complete projects including various birds, bugs, four-legged animals, and people—each one unique and irresistible! Laurie also shows the reader ways to display their felted creations as mobiles, ornaments, or arranged in shadow boxes.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
35 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 3, 2025
I found myself a bit disappointed in this book. I just finished Woolbuddies by Jackie Huang and was so charmed by her finished, whimsical and professional-looking pieces. In comparison, the projects in this book look like they need more time under the felting needle, as well as some better choices regarding detail (like eyes). I guess this would be a good book for a beginner but there are definitely better books out there.
April 5, 2014
I thought this was a good book for someone new to needle felting. I have been doing it for over a year and have my own techniques by now, but still like to see how others do certain things, to get new ideas and improve my own work.
The instructions seemed very clear, except for one thing that I noticed. In the basic techniques section, the author explains how, in her instructions for the separate pieces, you will often see the phrase “keep the fibers loose at one end” after sculpting a body part. She explains how that makes it much easier to connect pieces, like a head to a body, because the loose fibers help to make a secure attachment between the two pieces when they are felted down. I totally agree. The first piece I ever did was done before I knew this little trick, and I had tons of trouble securing the head to the body, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. But then, in several of her project instructions (as in the owl or the penguin), I see that she has said to felt the body completely smooth, and the same with the head, and then to just keep poking through the head from both sides to attach the two pieces. And where she said this, it seemed to me it could have been much more easily done with the method she described earlier. I can see how this would be confusing to a beginner.
My one other criticism is with some of the photography. The step-by-step photos are excellent, and show up very clearly. But I felt that some of the photos of the finished pieces didn’t really make them look all that finished. I know that its not always easy to photograph felted figures, because the loose fibers seem to be sticking out all over. I usually like to take a picture of a piece when I finish it, and I know that sometimes I have to take quite a few, or even stop to trim some of the loose fibers and take new photos, and keep trying different angles, before I get one that looks the way I want. Since these were professionally taken, I just felt that the pieces should have looked smoother, except where the piece is intentionally “wooly” (as in the sheep). Several were very good, but others come off as very fuzzy, and made the pieces look as though they should have been gone over once more, or maybe trimmed a little bit. For one example, I think the cover photo is much better of the penguin chick, while the adult penguin’s face doesn’t show up well at all. I only say this because, since the author has been needle felting for over 5 years when the book came out, I am sure the pieces themselves look much more finished than how the photos represent them.
As a last comment, I am a little surprised that the author didn't mention using a wire frame inside of any of the pieces. This is a little more advanced, and is not necessary, but sometimes helps with arms or legs (or even to make a bendable tail) on certain pieces, as an option.
Other than these things, I think this is a very handy book for someone new to the craft, or to someone who wants to make one of these specific figures, and I enjoyed reading it.
The instructions seemed very clear, except for one thing that I noticed. In the basic techniques section, the author explains how, in her instructions for the separate pieces, you will often see the phrase “keep the fibers loose at one end” after sculpting a body part. She explains how that makes it much easier to connect pieces, like a head to a body, because the loose fibers help to make a secure attachment between the two pieces when they are felted down. I totally agree. The first piece I ever did was done before I knew this little trick, and I had tons of trouble securing the head to the body, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. But then, in several of her project instructions (as in the owl or the penguin), I see that she has said to felt the body completely smooth, and the same with the head, and then to just keep poking through the head from both sides to attach the two pieces. And where she said this, it seemed to me it could have been much more easily done with the method she described earlier. I can see how this would be confusing to a beginner.
My one other criticism is with some of the photography. The step-by-step photos are excellent, and show up very clearly. But I felt that some of the photos of the finished pieces didn’t really make them look all that finished. I know that its not always easy to photograph felted figures, because the loose fibers seem to be sticking out all over. I usually like to take a picture of a piece when I finish it, and I know that sometimes I have to take quite a few, or even stop to trim some of the loose fibers and take new photos, and keep trying different angles, before I get one that looks the way I want. Since these were professionally taken, I just felt that the pieces should have looked smoother, except where the piece is intentionally “wooly” (as in the sheep). Several were very good, but others come off as very fuzzy, and made the pieces look as though they should have been gone over once more, or maybe trimmed a little bit. For one example, I think the cover photo is much better of the penguin chick, while the adult penguin’s face doesn’t show up well at all. I only say this because, since the author has been needle felting for over 5 years when the book came out, I am sure the pieces themselves look much more finished than how the photos represent them.
As a last comment, I am a little surprised that the author didn't mention using a wire frame inside of any of the pieces. This is a little more advanced, and is not necessary, but sometimes helps with arms or legs (or even to make a bendable tail) on certain pieces, as an option.
Other than these things, I think this is a very handy book for someone new to the craft, or to someone who wants to make one of these specific figures, and I enjoyed reading it.
February 26, 2016
A great introduction to basic needle-felting, with a variety of animal projects ranging from simple to challenging. Instructions are clear and precise, with plenty of room for experimentation and improvisation. Materials are cheap (needles cost me 88 cents here, with a small block of foam running $3 and roving ranging from $1.75 to $5 an ounce (which is a lot of roving.))
February 29, 2012
Top notch book with great intro to tools, materials and methods. Sweet animal figures. Projects range from very easy beginner to more complex. Adorable photos. Very well put together.
November 10, 2025
Good explanations and step by step instructions and photographs on how to make some cute needle felted critters.
A book I will be adding to my craft reference collection.
A book I will be adding to my craft reference collection.
April 4, 2009
Super book, easy instructions and satisfying results!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews