The Wind in the Willows Felt Friends: Beginner-friendly sewing patterns to bring Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale to life

Price: $14.99
(as of Jan 27, 2024 00:55:53 UTC – Details)

Bring The Wind in the Willows to life with beginner-friendly sewing patterns for felt animals.

Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows is a classic that has entertained adults and children alike for over a hundred years. Characters such as Ratty, Mole, Badger and the irrepressible Mr Toad, have influenced children’s stories ever since.

This book instructs you in the joyful craft of hand-stitching wool felt animals, made posable thanks to interior wire armatures. It will teach you basic sewing and the specialized techniques required to create these charming felt friends that will provide hours of play.

The book includes five key characters from the classic Kenneth Grahame tale, with interchangeable clothing, accessories, and a few small furniture pieces. Interwoven throughout the book, a collection of magical photographs and quotes from the original book highlight the animals and their accessories in natural settings to spark the imaginations as you create.

This book will transport you to a light-hearted, creative world of charming wool felt animals, imagination and mindful hand-stitching. Through its pages, you can explore your stitching practice while letting your storytelling thoughts wonder.

This book will inspire beginners and delight experienced makers with its designs. While creating enchanting felt animals, you will learn to enjoy every stitch from beginning to end, no matter your level of experience, with detailed illustrations, full-size patterns and step-by-step instructions for each project.

From the Publisher

Mole

Who among us has not caught the fresh, keen scent of spring and been inspired to clean? Deep within his burrow, Mole feels that innate sensation. After cleaning and whitewashing—transferring much of the dust and dirt to his fur—it all becomes too much! Kenneth Graham perfectly captures the spirit of that need to be outdoors and breathe in the bright, green scents of spring; to feel new life burgeoning around us after a long winter. In the book, Mole pops up from the earth wearing a black smoking jacket, but I imagine him in something a bit more colorful so I’ve designed a pea-green blazer, carrot-orange pants, and a garnet-colored cap. An outfit sartorially appropriate for his meadow, river, and woodland adventures ahead, which he enjoys more than spring cleaning…

Ratty

Oh, how I love Ratty and his easy way with friends and poetry, boats, and picnics! He’s a generous and kind soul, and the best of friends to Mole, Badger, and Toad. Being a Water Rat and a mariner at heart, it seems only right that Ratty should have a peacoat with golden pants and a crimson cravat to match the colors in the Royal Marine’s flag! Ratty’s peacoat features a faux double-breasted placket (with snap closure), a half-back belt, tab-cuff sleeves, and contrasting edge stitching. With the coat so handsomely detailed, I kept the pants and cravat simple. But you can still mix things up by adding pockets, embroidery, edge stitching, or whatever details you like. It just depends on your time, imagination, and the materials at hand.

Badger

Badger is a great protector of his small friends. On snowy nights deep in the Wild Wood, Badger welcomes travelers into hearth and home for a hot meal and some rest. His underground burrow is quiet, secure, and snug. “Once well underground, you know exactly where you are,” he says, and he has the wisdom to know that he has no control over what happens up above, so he doesn’t worry about it. Although he does venture above ground, Badger believes that peace exists only underground. It’s where he is at home, so I’ve chosen warm colors and nature-inspired embellishment for his cozy apparel. Lost in the Wild Wood on a snowy night, Ratty and Mole are stumble across Badger’s home. Ringing the doorbell, the friends are greeted to the sight of him in his very finest night-time attire…

Toad

I think Ratty says it best. Toad is always good-tempered, always glad to see you, always sorry to see you go! He is simple, good-natured, and affectionate. Although sometimes boastful and conceited, Ratty knows that his dear friend Toady also has some great qualities. In this classic story, Toad is full of enthusiasm, with new adventures and catastrophes around every bend. His dapper felt outfits reflect his outlook, mixing an eye-catching teal waistcoat with bold scarlet pants and shiny patent shoes. I like to think that over the last one hundred (plus) years, Toad’s boastful and conceited ways have matured, mellowed, and modernized. Today, stitched dapperly in colorful felt, young imaginations can channel Toads’ best self, with his good temper and adventurous soul.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ David & Charles (September 13, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1446309223
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1446309223
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.37 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.75 x 0.5 x 11.25 inches