It’s best to attach parts like ears or a tail to your softies by machine, versus by hand, especially if you’ll be giving the toy to a young child. Machine sewn seams are strong which means that the parts are less likely to come loose over time or after several washings. And they’re perfectly even,…
How to Use Safety Eyes
Safety eyes are a quick and easy way to add eyes to your softies. Today I have a short video (it's under a minute!) demonstrating how to insert them. In the video I'm using an 8mm black eye just like the eyes on my Halloween pattern, Candace the Candy Corn. I'm also using two tools…
How to Ladder Stitch: Joining Softie Parts with Invisible Stitches
Ladder stitch is a revolutionary technique when it comes to sewing softies. Once you learn how it works, you never look back. Whenever you want to add ears or a nose or a tail to your softie, ladder stitch them on and the stitches will be totally invisible. Need to close up a stuffing opening?…
How to Make Perfect Felt Circles
First up I have a new pattern in my shop today: Ruby the Reindeer. Get a jumpstart on your holiday sewing with this fun softie! You can find the pattern, and 33 others, in my shop. Thank you! And now, onto cutting felt circles… +++++ I love felt circles, but cutting perfect circles freehand is…
How to Pin Softie Pieces Together
I love pins. Pins are like tiny fingers that never get tired. If you pin properly you can seam together any two pieces of fabric easily and neatly and create almost any kind of three-dimensional softie shape. Yes, pinning is tedious at times, but it’s this sort of preparatory work that makes sewing projects succeed….
How to Tell Which Side of Fleece is the Right Side
First, happy 4th of July to you! We went to the Needham parade this morning. Our eldest daughter, Roxanne, is away at sleep away camp for a month. This is the first time she isn’t with us on the 4th of July, one of her favorite holidays. She’s very patriotic. The little girls were excited…
Favorite Tools: The Ball Point Awl
Sometimes success is all about having the right tool for the job. A ball point awl is one of my favorite softie-making tools. Here's how I use it: To free fur from seams. When you sew with faux fur, bits of the fur pile will get caught in the seams. Freeing the fur from the…
Two Essential Tricks for Sewing Thick Fabrics
Today I I have two great little tips for you that will make sewing softies from plush fabrics easier. Have you ever sat down at the sewing machine with a softie piece pinned and ready to sew only to find that you can hardly fit it under the presser foot? I love to use faux…
Sewing With Fleece: Tips and Tricks for Making Great Softies
Shelley the Snail pattern available right here. Fleece is an amazing fabric for sewing softies. Here's why: it's machine washable it's easy to find in almost any fabric store it comes in a huge variety of colors and patterns it's super soft and huggable it's durable it's forgiving of stitching mistakes Despite fleece's many fantastic…
Olivia the Octopus Softie Pattern
The idea of making an octopus crossed my mind on Saturday and I quickly became totally obsessed. Once I start down a softie-making road, there is no turning back! And so today I have a new pattern in my Craftsy pattern store! A fleece octopus that is fun to sew and fun to hug! I've…