FAQ

1. What is My Woolen Friends?

My Woolen Friends is the place where wool and joy come together to give you the most adorable and uniquely needle felted items, handmade right here, in heart of Berlin, Germany.

2. Who is My Woolen Friends?

All of the My Woolen Friends items are made by yours truly, Ioana aka Io.

I am a self-taught needle felter and I first fell in love with needle felting in February 2020.

I am madly passionate about needle felting as it allows me to tap into my creativity in way I couldn’t before. I am also a photographer and a big music lover.

3. What are My Woolen Friends made of?

This one is rather obvious as My Woolen Friends are – gasp! – made out of sheep wool!:) I mainly work with two types of sheep wool, that I purchase from small, family-owned businesses based in Europe. About 90% of my items are made entirely out of Tyrolean Bergschaf wool. Sometimes, I also use Norwegian wool as coating for some of my dinos, like Nightsky Dino, Summersky Dino, Spicy Lime Dino and Out Of the Blue Dino. Recently, I started working with Merino wool, which I only use for the Highland Coos.

The vast majority of my items are environmentally friendly and natural. The only plastic I am using, are occasional plastic eyes, that some of the items have.

4. Are My Woolen Friends toys or safe for children?

My Woolen Friends are made for display only and they are not suited as toys, especially for children under the age of 3.

With that being said, if someone still wants to buy a woolen friend for a child, that is very well possible, as long as they understand, that these goods are not meant as toys and that I can, therefore, not be responsible if the goods get damaged or broken while used otherwise than as stated above.

5. Do you accept custom orders?

As a general rule, no, I don’t take on custom orders. I am, however, flexible when it comes to such things as adjusting the colour and/or size of an item or small details on already existing designs.

Examples of custom changes that I can do: I had one customer that wanted two dinos in a more realistic colour (shades of green) and no spots on their backs; or I had one customer asking me if I can needle felt a dino using dog hair. In this case, I was able to fulfill the customer’s wish because the dog hair was long enough, but this doesn’t mean it will work with just any type of animal hair.

Custom changes that I cannot do: brand new designs, especially something completely different from my style (for example, a very realistic style).

The reason why I don’t accept custom orders is because it is so extremely important to me that I enjoy the process of felting my little, woolen friends. That includes listening to my own creativity and keeping an independence over what I do. Custom orders can often put the artist in the position of putting the customer’s wishes over the artist’s style or choices, which can be soul crushing. Nobody really wins in such situations, which is why I would like to avoid them. I hope you can understand where I’m coming from.

6. Shipping

Shipping is possible within the European Union. Since Summer 2021, My Woolen Friends can also be shipping to UK, USA, Canada and Australia. However, please keep in mind that orders outside the European Union are subject to customs and import fees that may apply, for which the customers are responsible.

Edit: New prices apply for international shipping beginning with the 1st of July 2022. The shipping pricing list below has been updated with the new prices.

Shipping costs:

CountryWith TrackingWithout TrackingLocal Pick-up
Germany6,50 €Free
Rest of the European Union14,50 €
Non-EU Europe 23,00 €
United Kingdom & Switzerland 18,00 €
USA / Canada/ Australia23,00 €

7. Packaging

Every order is packed carefully in environmentally friendly, recycled and recyclable packaging.

To find out more about how I pack your orders, please check out this post I wrote about it on my blog.

8. Why My Woolen Friends?

By purchasing from My Woolen Friends you are supporting a female-owned, tiny business and helping me follow my dream. Not only that, but you are directly valuing and appreciating unique and passionate manual work over impersonal, computerized mass-production.

As I choose and create my own designs, each item in this shop is made because I want to, not be because I have to. This allows me to work with joy and really put my heart into what I’m doing, which I’m sure is reflected in all of my work.