I realize that designing and sewing a stuffed animal may be a new sort of project for many people. If you sew at all you probably already have much of what you'll need to get started and, as I point out in the trailer, you can make beautiful softies from humble materials. But there are…
How to Design Cut-and-Sew Softies and Dolls on Spoonflower
A few weeks ago I got in touch with the folks at Spoonflower, the print on demand fabric company, to see about getting some cut-and-sew softie and doll fabrics to play with. I thrilled when they agreed to send me a few fat quarters and today I’m ready to show you what I’ve…
All About Polyfil: An Interview with Judy Novella of Fairfield Processing
Some craft supplies are, well, kinda sexy. A pack of vibrant Aurifil thread, an Amy Butler jelly roll, or a display of Martha Stewart irridescent glitter: these are the eye candy of crafters. Poly-Fil? Not so much. It's white and fluffy and comes in a big plastic bag. It may not be the most exciting…
Top 5 Most Useful Thread Types for Sewing Softies
When I sit down to sew a stuffed animal I like to have all the best tools and materials right at my fingertips. Sewing softies isn’t an expensive craft and most of what you need is pretty humble and easy to find: some soft fabrics, a needle and thread, fabric scissors, a marking pen, and…
Giraffe Sewing Pattern Coming Soon!
Here's what I've been working on this week: a giraffe! I love giraffes and there aren't very many sewing patterns for them so I thought I'd jump in and make one. This guy is of the "sit up and have tea at your tea party" variety. He's got a bag of polly pellets in his…
New Pattern: Cute Critters
I've been working on these little felt critters for the past few weeks and I'm pretty excited about them! Plush keychains are huge for elementary and middle school kids here. I see them on almost every backpack. I figured it might be really fun to design a pattern so that you and your kids can…
learning to make teddy bears
I am learning to make jointed teddy bears. Although making teddy bears is not so different from making any other kind of softie, it is intimidating because there is a whole huge community of artist teddy bear makers out there and they are very particular about the way these things are made. There are long,…
doll animals
I've been working on animals that are made like dolls. The heads are animal-like, but the bodies are like dolls that you can dress. Roxanne picked out the pink fabric for this bunny's dress. It is reversible with a tiny snap closure and little buttons at the shoulders. Thank you so much for all of…
Bunny
We had a great weekend on the Cape. The weather was perfect. Jen and Adam have a beautiful modern home way high up on the bluffs overlooking the bay. Roxy got to play with their daughter who is two years old and so smart and funny. It was really nice to get away, even if…
Tea Time Mod Doll
Sometimes I feel badly that I spend much of each evening up in our room with my sewing machine, instead of downstairs with my husband so last night I tried staying downstairs for a while. I was hanging out on the couch, starring vacantly at the baseball game on T.V. and starting to doze. So,…