Cute Dogs to Needle Felt

Introduction 6

Materials and tools 8
Wool 8, Felting needles and pad 10, Other materials 12

Techniques 14
Preparing wool 16, Needle felting 22, Additional techniques 28, Making features for your dogs 32

The dogs 38
Cocker Spaniel 40, Labrador Retriever 50, Shih Tzu 58, Border Terrier 72, Standard Poodle 82, Pug 96

Going further 108

Index112

About Gai Button

Gai Button is a sculptural artist who works in needlefelt, clay and other media. With a creative mind and love of animals great and small, Gai used fur from her pet poodle to make her first little dogs before expanding her horizons to take in different wools, silks and fibres to make all manner of creatures. Gai's needle-felted dogs are in collections all around the world, and she has written a number of articles for both craft and dog enthusiast magazines. Gai lives in Kent and demonstrates across the UK.

Visit her website www.gaibutton.co.uk, or find her on Facebook @needlefeltinginkent

Booklist, November issue

U.K. crafter-author Button shows readers how to needlecraft dollhouse-size dogs using only wool, needles, and a bit of polymer clay for eyes and noses. Offering six popular dog breeds, Button suggests starting with the cocker spaniel and working up to the pug, with the Labrador retriever, shih tzu, border terrier, and standard poodle in between. Remarkably lifelike though teeny-tiny, each project features detailed instructions, including templates and step-by-step needling diagrams as well as standard guidance in the form of colour photographs, a list of
materials, and so on. Thorough upfront materials define terminology like neps and rolags, instruct readers mixing colours of wool, and offer common-sense tips (such as "buy extra needles"). Two paws up for these canine likenesses.