No need to go on safari! You can have your trophy head without harming any animals. Let me show you my new pattern… One of the challenges I had to think about when I sat down to design these was how I wanted to mount them on the wall. If you take a look at…
New Pattern: Plush Taxidermy (Plus a Relaunch)
I’m excited today to release my new plush taxidermy pattern! Come take a look… I feel pretty firmly that it’s a good idea to make a unicorn mount to hang over your bed, don’t you? And a deer for the guest room. Download this pattern now in my shop. +++++ I’m excited to be relaunching…
Coming Soon: Plush Taxidermy Patterns
I got the following very exciting email on January 16 from the Design Director for the Craft Department at Simplicity: “Hi Abby- Happy New Year! Hope all is well with you. I’ve been seeing several versions of stuffed animal heads mounted on plaques, a funny take on trophy heads, and wondered whether you would be…
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 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…
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…