Most people learn how to sew a dart because they’re sewing clothing. Darts are one of several ways to shape the clothes to the body.
But sometimes I use darts in my softie designs. Just like clothing, they can give a softie a nice rounded shape. You can get rounded shapes with curved seams too – but sometimes a dart is just right. Especially if I want to suggest a belly button!
Darts are sort of like partial seams – little tucks in the fabric. I’ve met a lot of folks who find them intimidating, but they’re actually very easy to sew. Watch the video to see how easy.
See? Learning how to sew a dart isn’t hard at all! And – unlike clothing where you really want those tapered ends of your darts to be PERFECT so they lie nice and flat, any imperfections in a stuffed animal’s belly dart just makes it look even more like a belly button. See where I positioned the end of the dart on Munch here?
Here’s a free felt bird pattern for you to play with! Her name is Daisy. 🙂
Want to make her? All it takes is some felt, a bit of stuffing, and a few easy embroidery stitches. And a pattern, of course. 🙂
She uses just half a sheet of wool-blend felt for the body (I used purple sage, but it’s since been discontinued), a few small scraps for the beak and comb (I used strawberry dream and straw), and embroidery thread in your favorite colors.
You can find links to sources for all my favorite supplies here.
Comb - lazy daisy for the flower with DMC #152 and the leaves with DMC #320. Backstitch the stem with DMC #320.
Step 3
Cut out each piece carefully on the lines. Be sure not to cut into any of your stitching!
Soak the pieces in cool water to remove the stabilizer. I like to soak them for about an hour, then rinse off the mushy stabilizer under cool running water. Use a kitchen sprayer to get off any stubborn bits. Let them dry flat on a towel. Don’t wring them out - just lay them on a towel dripping wet. They’ll dry overnight.
From here on all the sewing is whipstitch around the edges of the felt. I used two strands of floss for all whipstitching. DMC #326 matches the strawberry dream felt I used for the comb, and DMC #161 matches the purple sage I used for the body.
Step 4
Put comb pieces together, right sides facing out, and stitch all the way around the edge. You’ll end up with three comb pieces.
Step 5
Repeat Step 3 for the wings, pairing one embroidered wing with one blank wing.
The blank sides of the wings will go up against the bird’s body where you can’t see them.
Step 6
Place the two body pieces right sides facing out, with the comb pieces sandwiched between the layers. Stitch the body pieces together along the top edge of the body. Stop when you get to the tip of the tail, but don’t tie off your thread.
When you get to the tip of the tail, slip the belly piece into place. The narrow end is the tail, and the wider end is the breast.
Stitch one body piece to one side of the belly piece. When you get to the front, stop stitching, but don’t tie off your thread.
Step 8
Go back to stitching the two body pieces together, this time stitching up the front of the face.
Slip the beak in between the two layers, right up at the top of the face, and stitch through it as you go.
Tie off your thread when you get to the top of the face.
Step 9
Flip the bird over.
Start a new piece of thread and stitch the free side of the body to the free side of the belly, starting at the front tip of the belly.
Stitch for a few inches, then tie off your thread.
Step 10
With a new piece of thread, stitch the rest of the body closed from the tail to the other side of the stuffing opening you started in Step 9.
Stuff the body neatly. You can add plastic pellets if you like, for weight, but this shape doesn’t need it for balance.
Step 11
Sew up the rest of the stuffing opening.
Now she’s just waiting for wings!
Thread a long needle and knot the end. Start sewing underneath one wing, near the front. Sew through the body and out the other side, through the opposing wing. Take a small stitch back into the wing, through the body and out through the first wing. Stitch back and forth like this a few times to secure the wings. Don’t pull the thread too tight or you’ll distort the shape of her body. Knot your thread underneath one wing and bury the tail.
Done!
Isn’t she a beauty? I think this design would also be very pretty stitched up with a single color thread on a single color felt. White thread on this purple sage would be lovely! You’ll just have to make another. :)
Update – I decided to stitch up a new version of Daisy with different colors. Look how pretty she is in this cream felt! (It’s actually called straw.)
Since she’s all hand-sewn, this free felt bird pattern is a great portable summer project. Take Daisy to the beach, to the pool, camping, on long car trips – you get the idea. 🙂
Happy stitching!
Play with some felt! Try the Oddballs – a fun pattern for silly monsters.
We’re in the final stretches of the doll-a-long… have you added hair to your doll yet?
I think the hair is one of the most exciting parts because there are so many options! For a general how-to for adding hair, check out this blog post.
Let’s chat hair options, shall we?
Curly Hair
The A Doll Like Me ebook contains instructions for making curly hair:
Here are a few more tips for working with curly hair for your doll:
Keep in mind that if hair is curly, it will appear shorter than if it were straight (due to the curl). You might want to cut longer strands of hair to compensate.
The curls are obtained by blocking the yarn into place. Yarns that don’t block well (like acrylic) may not end up as curly as wool yarn.
Since the curls are blocked, they will ‘come out’ if you wash/wet your doll’s hair. If you’re planning on machine-washing your doll, go with straight hair.
Straight Hair
Straight hair can be any length or style! Here are some fun suggestions/tips:
If you’d like to add bangs, simply cut some shorter strands and attach at the front of the head.
For highlights, cut yarn in a few coordinating colors of yarn.
For a bob hairstyle, attach the yarn, and then trim along the bottom so all of the hairs end at the same length.
Try putting hair in braids or pigtails!
Which style are you choosing?
The doll-a-long runs until Thursday… still plenty of time to finish yours! Tell me, which hairstyle does your doll have?
I talked about fabric grain in this video about working with polar fleece. Fleece is stretchy across the fabric (when you stretch from selvedge to selvedge) and much less stretchy when you stretch the length of the fabric (along the selvedge). Watch the video to see that stretch in action.
But what difference does the grain of the fabric make when you’re sewing softies?
I thought I’d make two softies – one with the pieces cut on the grainline indicated, and the other cut the exact opposite way.
I made both of these elephants from the same pattern. I made them both from similar weight polar fleece. I stuffed them with the same amount of stuffing. The dark grey ones has larger eyes, but other than that they’re identical.
Except for the grain of the fabric.
I made the light grey one exactly as the pattern indicated – with the stretch running across his body. I wanted to emphasize his fatness. 🙂
I made the dark grey one with the grain running opposite of what the pattern indicated – so the stretch was running up and down his body.
Can you see the difference?
Jo said the light grey elephant looks fat, and the dark grey elephant just looks bloated – which I thought was pretty funny. 🙂
The dark grey elephant is clearly taller – that up and down stretch made a big difference there. And there’s a subtle difference in the seam between his face and his body. It’s a tiny bit more defined, because his body bulges a bit more above and below it. It’s also clear in person that the tummy of the light grey elephant bulges out more than the dark grey.
The dark grey elephant doesn’t look bad. And if you make a softie (especially a big bulky one like this) with all the grainlines cut wrong you won’t have a disaster on your hands. But your finished softie will look subtly different from the one on the pattern cover – and the results will be much more pronounced on a softie with skinnier, more precisely shaped parts.
So now you know!
Any other fabric mysteries you’d like me to tackle? Leave a comment or send me an email.
Oh – and if you want to make that elephant yourself – you can get the pattern here. It comes with a pattern for her little mouse friend too. 🙂
You can even find shaped buttons (like a little duck or fruits)! Use your imagination about which button would make your doll shine!
Start your thread
I begin by attaching my thread to the button. If you’re unfamiliar with sewing, watch the video in my blanket stitch tutorial to see how to get started. Instead of sewing on felt eyes (as shown in the tutorial), you’re sewing on a button!
Sew a nice pattern
How you place your stitches depends on the type of button you have. Check out my suggested stitch patterns (shown in brown thread):
Once you’ve finished firmly attaching the button, tie a knot! Ta da!
Where will you add buttons?
They’d be cute on shoes, on dress straps or even as hem decorations! Go crazy!
Happy Father’s Day!
In the crafting world, moms get a lot of credit. They’re usually the ones to pass down the actual skill of sewing, crocheting or knitting.
I think, especially on Father’s Day, it’s important to reflect on the skills that fathers pass on to their children. Even though the men in my life didn’t teach me any craft skills, they instilled in me a do-it-yourself (and entrepreneurial) spirit, and passed on the value of quality workmanship.
Read my tribute (written last year) to the great guys I have!
I never thought so many people would be interested in my yogurt-making! I make my own yogurt (once a week, if you’re curious), and every time I mention it, I get requests for a tutorial. So… here it is!
It’s not hard to do! And for folks like me (who like plain yogurt, or even flavored yogurt without lots of sugar), making your own can be easier than finding the one you like in the store. Making your own yogurt is also cheaper than buying it, although not by as large of a margin as other homemade items (like bread, for example).
The Equipment
To make yogurt, all you need to do is add a culture (ie. friendly bacteria) to warm milk and keep it at 120 degrees (f) for 6-8 hours.
There are various pieces of equipment available to help you achieve the required temperature. You can use:
a crock pot
your oven (if the temperature setting goes low enough)
a yogurt maker
I use a Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker, and I love it. It keeps the temperature just right (as well as the humidity) and it doesn’t use much energy to run.
It’s important to note that a ‘yogurt maker’ doesn’t ‘make’ the yogurt (in the way that you dump ingredients into a bread machine and get a finished loaf of bread), it just keeps the mixture you’ll make at the right temperature for it to turn into yogurt.
Some people balk at having a yogurt-making appliance, but I don’t have a crock pot and my attempts at using the oven have been unsuccessful. So, it works for me. You’ll have to find what works for you!
The culture
You also need some happy bacteria to start your yogurt. The easiest thing to do is buy a small plain yogurt from the store, and divide it up into ice-cube trays and freeze:
You can also find culture in powder form, but I haven’t personally tried that approach.
How to make yogurt
Step 1: Heat your milk to almost boiling
Heat the volume of milk that you want to become finished yogurt (which probably depends on the size of your vessel).
If the milk boils a little, it’s okay. But, try to turn the heat off before it becomes a rolling boil.
Step 2: Let the milk cool
Now, let the milk cool to 120 degrees. Some folks use a thermometer, but I just stick my finger in and see if it feels like a nice bath temperature. If you skip this step, the too-hot milk will kill your bacteria.
Step 3: Add your culture
Whether you’re using the ‘ice cube’ method, fresh yogurt or powder, add the culture in and stir with a whisk. Use about 1 tablespoon (or two ice cubes) if using yogurt as a starter.
Pour the mixture into your vessel. I, personally, found the little jars that came with my yogurt maker too difficult to clean, so I use a glass storage bowl that fits inside my yogurt maker.
Step 4: Keep warm for 6-8 hours
Using a yogurt maker, this is easy. Turn it on and wait!
Step 5: Refrigerate and enjoy!
When your yogurt is done, it should look like yogurt. You know, solid-ish stuff with some liquid on top:
Draining the liquid is how you make Greek yogurt, but I like mine just this way. Refrigerate, and then enjoy!
Hadley is a real cutie, made of super soft cuddle fleece with a snappy red bandana around his neck.
But look!
Make him up in black and white fabric and you have a zebra!
Oooh! Look again!
Change the fabrics again and add a twisty horn and you have a unicorn!
Do you have three children or grandchildren? Make all three versions of this one pattern! Or just do it because it’s fun. 🙂
I think I’m going to make myself a blue horse in honor of Eric Carle – one of my very favorite artists.
Want to make your own? Join the club! Everything you need is right here. Sign up now and you’ll get instant access to all four patterns released so far.
I’ve been seeing some fabulous works-in-progress and finished dolls in the Ravelry Doll-a-long thread… have I seen yours?
Today, I’m going to share some tips for crocheting on the dress/skirt/tutu for your doll!
Tip 1: Start without a head
The dress can be added after your doll has been stuffed and assembled, and many people prefer doing this because they can ‘envision’ what clothing will look best.
However, it’s actually easiest to crochet clothing on before the doll has been stuffed.
In doing it this way, you can crochet on the dress (and easily maneuver the body) without the bulk of stuffing or the head getting in the way.
Tip 2: Join the new yarn with a sc, in the back
Okay, so this ‘tip’ is written in the pattern, but I thought it was worth repeating!
It may look like the doll’s body doesn’t have a front/back… but take a look at the feet! The toes point forward to the front!
Attach your new yarn with a sc, at the center back of the body. This way, any jog in the rounds will be hidden at the back.
Tip 3: Hold your doll upside down
When attaching the dress, you want the right side of the dress fabric to face outwards.
This means holding the doll ‘upside down’ (head towards you, feet away) when you attach your new yarn.
Notice how the right side of the dress is now facing outwards? That’s important! It will continue to do so as you crochet:
Tip 4: Weave in that end!
When you finish the dress/skirt, you’ll have an end that needs to be woven in. Whip out your tapestry needle, and zig-zag it through the wrong side of the fabric!
How’s your dress coming?
Well… if you’re doing one of the girls, that is! I know a number of you are crocheting Ethan, so you don’t need a skirt… but the same tips apply to attaching the sleeves!
Here’s how my Avery looks:
She’s almost done! Now to make choices about her eye color…
I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time. Abby told me about it way way back in the early days when she was just starting to write it (it takes a long time for a book to come out!) and I’ve been following along with interest as she designed all the animals, took all the photos, and edited all the drafts.
And now it’s here.
And it’s fantastic!
In many ways it reminds me of Anatomy of a Doll – my very, VERY favorite doll-making reference book.
Like Anatomy of a Doll, the book is filled with detailed information showing the reader lots of different techniques (a variety of ways to attach a head, a ton of joint options, etc.). For each technique introduced, Anatomy of a Doll has loads of photos of finished dolls – showing you the many different ways that technique can be applied.
Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction goes one better and has a project! A project with detailed instructions and clear step-by-step photos showing you exactly how to do it so you can practice that new technique right away.
Brilliant!
As I said – I knew about this book long before I had a copy in my hands. As soon as I opened it up I knew I was in for a treat. People – the Table of Contents impressed me! I’m not kidding. Each chapter is the name of the animal you’ll be making, and below that is a list of all the lessons in that chapter.
In the Camel chapter (yes – there’s a very cute stuffed camel) you’ll learn. . .
How to Design a Jointed Animal
Thread Joints and Exposed Button Joints
Invisible Button Joints
Cleft Hooves
Eyelashes
Eyelashes! I love it!
I read the book from cover to cover and it’s simply terrific. Fun projects. Clear instructions. Good photography. Well organized. It’s all there!
Oooh – and here’s another nice feature. The pattern pieces are all (except one) full-sized. No enlarging needed! AND you can go to the website of Lark Books and download them so you have digital files – which would make it super easy to print them out on printable freezer paper. No tracing! (You all know how much I loathe tracing.)
Abby has written a book that will become a well-worn reference for both makers and designers. I love that she assumes from the beginning that readers will want to design their own softies at some point. 🙂
We all learn best by doing and Abby gives us 16 projects to make, with 52 lessons to learn. Those lessons are so well-explained that you learn why you do things a certain way to achieve a certain effect. You’ll become better at making softies from anyone’s patterns, and you’ll be on your way to designing your own creations.
I was going to make one of the projects from the book – but every time I opened it to decide what I wanted to make I kept being drawn to the interesting joint she teaches in the Kangaroo chapter. (Here’s a little video showing more about the kangaroo.)
I’ve never used it in any of my designs, and never run across it it any of the patterns I’ve sewn. I was intrigued! I decided instead of making one of the projects from the book, I’d use this technique to design a new softie in my own style.
I thought about making a remora (or suckerfish) attached to a shark, but then I realized very few people would actually want a remora-stuck-to-a-shark stuffed animal – and for the few kids who would want that, they’d want the remora to be removable.
So I decided on a caterpillar instead. 🙂
A cute, bendy caterpillar with very sturdy joints between all his segments. And easy to sew! (You can get his pattern here.)
It was so much fun trying out this new technique! It’s one that kind of twists your brain around, but Abby explained it so well that my prototype turned out perfectly on the very first try – which hardly ever happens. 🙂
Have I convinced you yet that you need this book? How about when I show you this?
My favorite project in the book. I love those droopy eyes!
Or this?
Look at those big puppy feet!
Or this?
You all know I love zipper mouths. . .
Seriously. This is the reference book on sewing stuffed animals. I’ve read (and I own) a lot of them and this is THE BEST.
Occasionally, in a pattern, you’ll read the instruction ‘attach with a sc’. What does this mean? I’ll tell you!
Attach with a single crochet
This technique is used to attach a new yarn to an existing crocheted work. It’s used in the doll patterns to attach a piece of clothing like a dress or a sleeve. You might also use it to attach a foot to a slug, prickles to a hedgehog, a mane to a lion, and more.
Here’s how to do it. Begin with a slipknot on your hook:
Now, just pretend this loop is any ol’ loop! Insert your hook into the indicated stitch on your crocheted fabric:
And then crochet as instructed!
Hooray!
Here are handy links to all the posts about attaching parts. . .
