Archive for November, 2008
Posted Thursday 27 November 2008 and filed under: Other Softies, Tutorials/Free Patterns
Tags: ,Bantha, pattern, softie, Star Wars
Know a die-hard Star Wars fan and looking for just the right thing to give them for Christmas? This Bantha plush may be the perfect gift! So cuddly and so cute.
{image credit: Starwars.com}
This fellow is easy to put together and mainly comprises one large cube and four cylindrical legs. Instructions are also easy to follow with lots of good pics to help you through the process.
More about Banthas here.
Find the free pattern here: Cuddly Bantha Plush by Starwars.com
Found via Craftzine.
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Posted Wednesday 26 November 2008 and filed under: Designing, Tips-n-Tricks
Tags: ,character, characterisation, design, drawing, making, Plush It, Sewing, Tips-n-Tricks
Softie artist, Serena Kuhl, recently launched the “Plush It” show at the Ruban Rat Gallery in Sydney, Australia (all participants were given the same softie template and were asked to customise according to their own style).
Serena also recently posted very helpful articles on the plush making process based on her own experience and the experiences shared by the show’s participants on the Plush-It blog.
It is always of great value to see how other artists create ‘behind the scenes‘ - you will notice that the artists featured each had their own method and means of problem-solving and working through their initial concepts. I also thought Serena’s article on characterisation was insightful and the exercise included is a good one to use if you find yourself hitting a wall when it comes to designing your softie character.
I will add the remaining steps to the list below as they become available.
>> 1. Plush Making Process: Drawing
>> 2. Plush Making Process: Characterisation
>> 3. Plush Making Process: Sewing
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Posted Friday 21 November 2008 and filed under: Sewing, Tips-n-Tricks
Tags: ,fleece, how to, Tips-n-Tricks
I received an email a few weeks ago from Ginny who wanted some guidance on sewing up fleece for softies. Fleece is a fairly inexpensive material, comes in many different colours, is stretchy and flexible, and has a soft/fluffy texture well-suited for softie-making.
I have used sherpa fleece, polar fleece, chenille fleece and terry fleece (amongst others) to make many softies for kids. Here are a few examples: Shmerpi, Springbean, Bunnito, Doddi-Bears. However, sewing it up can be a real challenge - some machines ‘eat up‘ the fleece and/or stretch it out disproportionately.
I pointed Ginny to an excellent step-by-step guide on Burda Style on how to sew fleece.
The How-To addresses sewing up a garment but all of the tips can also apply to softie-making, particularly how to transfer the pattern pieces; suitable machine needle, thread, and stitch; and finishing.
Go here: How to Sew Fleece Fabric by Burda Style
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Posted Friday 21 November 2008 and filed under: Softie-Related Events
Tags: ,Christmas, Get Involved, Softies for Mirabel, Toy Society
The Toy Society is holding a special holiday season event - A Toy Society Christmas. As stated on their website:
“A co-ordinated simultaneous world-wide toy drop the weekend before Christmas. On that weekend a map with drop locations will be uploaded to the blog so you can see where all the Toy Society elves are active. Each toy drop will also then be uploaded to the blog as well as any finder emails.”
Please follow this link for all the details: A Toy Society Christmas
Also, the Softies for Mirabel Christmas Appeal deadline is quickly approaching - you will need to get your handmade softie to Meet Me At Mikes by December 5. More details are here.
Two great excuses to make use of one/two/three of the many free patterns linked from this site!
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Posted Wednesday 19 November 2008 and filed under: Food Softies, Tutorials/Free Patterns
Tags: ,batting, cone, Food Softies, hand-sewn, Ice cream, pattern, softie, sweet
With Summer just around the corner here in Australia, this softie cone-&-triple-scoops-ice-cream seems very fitting! But then again, there is always an excuse for ice-cream any time of the year - especially softie ice-cream 
{image credit: Unfurled}
Free Pattern and instructions are in jpeg format. Just save the images to your computer and print out. Unfurled has made her softie by hand (rather than using a sewing machine) so if you plan to use a sewing machine to make this one, you may need to do some of the steps differently in order to join pieces together.
Imagine the fun combinations you could come up with for the triple scoop!
Find it here: Triple Ice Cream & Cone by Unfurled
Found via Craftzine.
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Posted Wednesday 19 November 2008 and filed under: Animal Softies, Sea Animals, Tutorials/Free Patterns
Tags: ,hand-sewn, ocean, pattern, sea, Seahorse, small, softie
Futuregirl has recently released the pattern for Sasha the Seahorse for free on her website:
{image credit: Futuregirl}
Made of felt, easy to hand-sew and very sweet! Also comes with Baby Seahorse pattern. (How cute would these look as little Christmas ornaments?!)
To obtain access to the free pattern you will need to provide your email details here.
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Posted Friday 14 November 2008 and filed under: Dolls, Tutorials/Free Patterns
Tags: ,Beginner project, doll, jersey, Martha Stewart, pattern, rag doll, softie
Craft-Queen Martha provides a free project on how to make this simple, sweet, and huggable doll:
{image credit: Martha Stewart}
In true Martha style, this project is professionally put together for you and the step-by-step instructions are a breeze to follow. The pattern is in downloadable pdf format. This doll requires cotton jersey for the skin and rolled up batting for stuffing (though, if you didn’t have this on hand, regular polyfill stuffing would be fine).
Project is here: Handmade Doll by Martha Stewart
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Posted Friday 14 November 2008 and filed under: Designing, Tips-n-Tricks
Tags: ,monster, pattern pieces, process, softie, storage, Tips-n-Tricks
Talented softie-maker, Michal, takes us behind the scenes once again and shows us the steps she goes through to transfer a monster softie sketch in to a pattern pieces and then putting the softie together:
{image credit: Yarn and Coffee}
To view the steps in order, start with this picture and then click the next picture in the top right-hand menu.
A very good tip from this series is to keep all your pattern pieces for a softie in a clearly marked, transparent pocket for easy storage in a 2 or 3-ring binder. I only started organising my large amount of softie patterns this way a few months ago and it has made a huge difference as I am no longer wasting time looking for lost pattern pieces
Related post:
>> The Process of Designing a Softie by Yarn & Coffee
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Posted Friday 14 November 2008 and filed under: 4-Legged Creatures, Animal Softies, Tutorials/Free Patterns
Tags: ,Beginner project, elephant, pattern, softie, Wool felt
Craftster member Meshell shares a free pattern and instructions on making this wool felt elephant:
{image credit: Meshell}
Instructions are easy to follow and pattern is in a jpg format (to save pattern, left-click on the image and select “Save image as”, then choose where to save your image on your computer. Enlarge image to desired size before printing out).
Details here: Wool Felt Elephant by Meshell (on Craftster)
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Posted Tuesday 11 November 2008 and filed under: Designing, Tips-n-Tricks
Tags: ,design, ideas, inspiration, resources, softie, Tips-n-Tricks
Amy from LuckyKate Crafts has begun a three-step series on how to design a softie.
{image credit: LuckyKate Crafts}
Her first post of the series provides some great links and ideas on developing and defining your softie character. I’ll update this post with steps two and three when they are available also. In the meantime, check out step one on Ideas, Inspiration and Resources.
How to Design a Softie Series by LuckyKate Crafts
>> Step One: Ideas, Inspiration and Resources
>> Step Two: From Pattern to Prototype (added 24/11/2008)
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