Melly & Me have returned with their Tips and Tricks series for 2010. Their first post addresses a very good topic in the realm of softie making - stuffing!!
And I can vouch especially for their suggestion to use a paintbrush for stuffing. I have been using an old paintbrush for years and it has proven by far to be more effective that traditional specifically-made-for-stuffing tools (that’s my humble opinion, but please try it out for yourself).
And we’re back!! No excuses for the prolonged absence. Let’s just get stuck back into it!
Check out this excellent time-lapse video on the process of making a plush toy by Love and Sandwich. Nothing solves the mystery of bringing a plush toy to life like seeing it in action. Enjoy!
Melly & Me have started a fantastic little series on their blog called “Tips & Tricks Tuesday“.
Their first tip/trick addresses one common softie-making question: “How do you sew and turn out those small softie parts?“. This includes parts like ears, little arms or legs, feet, horns, etc. that are easy enough to sew up but can drive one to instant insanity when it comes to turning them right-side out.
Melly provides a very clear tutorial accompanied by excellent pics.
Rice Babies provides a great tip on how to use animal silhouettes to make forest-themed stuffies/softies from felt. She used these as giveaways for her child’s birthday party:
Tantehilde makes extremely cute rag dolls. She shares a very helpful and clear tutorial on how to make a doll’s wig from knitting yarn, and how to attach it to a doll’s head to get this kind of hair style:
Elise of Zippypops recently contacted me to let me know that she had some tutorials up on her blog. Elise is a very talented doll-maker and you can view and purchase her beautiful creations from her shop.
In this tutorial she shares how to make a doll’s wig using synthetic hair (purchased from a craft shop or costume store) and how to attach it securely to a doll’s head creating this two-bun hair-do:
Here is an excellent tutorial by Crafty Sheep on how to create a gorgeous thick head of hair for a doll (not just for Waldorfs - you could do the same for any kind of handmade doll):
Following on from the previous post on process, Holly from Two Cheese Please (a talented softie-maker from Melbourne, Australia too!) recently challenged herself to start and finish a doll (from sketch to finished product) in 24 hours.
Due to other priorities, she didn’t quite meet her deadline but this is the final doll (how CUTE is she?!):
Holly shares the process/behind-the-scenes (decisions, obstacles, frustration, rework - who said softie-making was a walk in the park? ) here (listed in order):
I think the process of making something can be just as important as the final result - many lessons are learnt for the next challenge. I find it fascinating to see how others approach the process of making, especially how they turn a sketch on a piece of paper into a 3D object. So I hope you will find the next two posts helpful.
Jodie (of Ric-Rac) is from Melbourne, Australia, and makes beautiful softies (amongst other crafty things). More importantly though, she is kind, generous and has an infectious positive spirit. It is no surprise then that she took the time to share over a number of posts the process for making this little guy, Milton:
Copyright of free patterns remains with the respective Author so please use the pattern to make the softie as a gift or for yourself but do not make softies to sell. Thank you!
