My second book, Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction, was released four months ago. Today I have a little recap of some of the activity that has surrounded the book since it's release.
This is the two-minute trailer video. I hope you enjoy it! We also shot four 30-second vignettes featuring some of my favorite projects from the book: the elephant, the ram, the kangaroo, and the dinosaur.
Stuffed Animals is a comprehensive guide to soft toy design. It's got 16 projects and 52 lessons that teach you how to design your own stuffed animals, from very simple flat toys to complex softies with joints, darts, and gussets.
My goal was for this book to become a reference that sewists and designers would turn to again and again for many years as they work on their own creative projects. I'm so happy with how this book as been received. It went into a second printing just two months after it's release! Thank you so much to everyone who has left a review on Amazon. It's got 25 five star reviews!
And there's been quite a bit of wonderful coverage on blogs, too. They're linked up on this handy links page, but I wanted to share with you a little of Jill Hamor's review that went up on Wednesday because it really touched me. I love Jill's work and have so much respect for her skills as a doll and toy maker. I read the first paragraph of her review while in my car waiting to pick up my daughter and my eyes filled with tears. She totally got it:
"Almost 10 years ago, as I started to experiment with sewing dolls and stuffed toys, I often wondered – how do people learn how to do this?
I mean, you can go to school to learn how to design clothes or simply
take a class or two at a local fabric shop to get a grasp on the basics.
There are also plenty of books, blogs, online courses and tutorials on
designing and sewing garments and quilts. And sure, there are books
and patterns for sewing dolls and toys – but my question was how do people learn to design stuffed toys? Where is there a book or a course for that?"
-Jill Hamor
Right! It was with this question in mind that I wrote Stuffed Animals.
I also want to show you a small sampling of the projects people are making from the patterns in the book. Here are a few elephants, fishes, and rams. These patterns demonstrate how to design an underbody gusset, an outline toy, and a head gusset.
Elephant by Cintia of My Poppet; Elephants by Renee Ettia; Elephant by Rona Keith
Fish by Jody Herbert; Fish by Pam Harris; Fish by Mignon Prider
Ram by Jenna Dancy; Hornless Ram by Elisa Kolle; Ram by Courtney Darling
Make a fun toy while picking up new techniques along the way. Instead of just following sewing instructions, learn the "why" behind how patterns are made! If you've made a project from the book feel free to share it on my Facebook page. I've got a great community there and we would love to see what you're up to!
All of the templates in this book are full-sized (except for the dinosaur which is at 90% because he was just too big to fit), and you can also download them for free and print them out from the publisher's website right here (even the dinosaur is full-sized there!). I think that having downloadable templates makes it really easy to get started sewing. Yay!
I will be teaching a Design Your Own Stuffed Animal class at Gather Here in Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, October 20, 2013. I'd love for you to join me if you're interested in drafting an original softie pattern!
I'd love to sign a book for you if you buy an autographed copy in my Etsy shop! You can also find it on Amazon and in stores everywhere.
Thank you so much and happy softie sewing!
I got Stuffed Animals as soon as it showed up on Amazon. I was so excited. Within days I got a horrible concussion which led to nausea and terrific headaches. When I was almost over that I suddenly began to feel drained and wanted to sleep all the time. After three weeks of that I suddenly got worse so my husband took me to the doctor where I found out I had Mono and the Flu. Your book has been on the coffee table jeering at me. I have not the brain power to concentrate on it, and this might sound funny but it is so heavy. I look forward to the day that I can devour it up.
Hi Abby,
I checked Gather Here October classses schedule but nothing has been posted yet! But I will keep my fingers crossed that you will be teaching on a weekend, so I can come and meet you, and get your book autographed. Can’t wait!
Feel better, TerriSue!
Hi Tanya,
Yes, the class will be on a weekend! I’m going to edit the post to include the details, but I will be teaching a “design your own stuffed animal class” at Gather Here in Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, October 20.I think it will begin at noon.
Congratulations again on the success of your new book, Abby! This is exactly the type of reference that I have (and continue) to look for whenever I want to learn a new skill. Thank you for sharing your expertise in designing with the rest of us!
You already know how much I love your book. So glad it is doing well!! I have so much respect for the design process after making only a handful of soft toys. I don’t know if it came easy or not for you, but as I’ve put these pieces together of your designs, I just keep thinking–how did she do this???
Wish I could come to your class! Have a great time.
Kristen Ridge
Thank you so much, Kristen!
Thank you, Casey, and I can’t wait to see your book soon!
Those elephants are darling! Hope to get the book soon!
This book is on my wishlist, Abby. Last year I made it back to the US for Christmas with my (grown) kids, but this year not. So I order all my Tom’s of Maine and such from Amazon, have it shipped to a friend, and ship it here. You know stuff I can’t get here and stock up on? I think this year there are going to be a couple of books in that box! Amazon let’s you look inside and it really does look like a lot of help wrapping the mind around those tricky doll sewing shapes.
Abby, I just bought your book and love it! However, I am kind of novice when it comes to sewing patterns and I am stumped by how to attach the head piece to the body piece for the first pattern (the fish). Is there a tutorial that can help me understand how sew those pieces together when one piece is concave and the other is convex?
Yes, I have one! Here it is: http://whileshenaps.com/2013/07/how-to-pin-softie-pieces-together.html
I hope this helps.