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!
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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!
