BLOG: Sewing

Sometimes it’s really good just to play around with a crazy idea or set of rules and see what I come up with. Several years ago I was playing with some basic geometric shapes and I tried to see how many animals I could come up with, and how much I could simplify its features before it stopped looking like the animal I was trying to convey.

The shape I had the most fun with was a triangle-based pyramid – so when Mollie at Wild Olive announced that she was playing with triangles all March long, I knew I had to share this idea with her.

Over on Wild Olive today you’ll find the pattern and instructions to make this dinosaur/dragon.

Using the same pattern and much fancier/hard-to-work-with fabrics I also made a dragon.

That dragon even talks fancy. 🙂

In my book Creature Camp, kids made penguins and chicks using the same basic pattern.

Didn’t the kid sewists do a great job with these?

Today I’m going to show you how to make the mama and baby kangaroo like in the top photo.

First – hop over to Wild Olive to download and print the pattern and see the basic instructions.

Step 1

Modify the pattern.

Measure up 2 1/4″ from the base of the triangle. Draw a line parallel to the base.

Done!

Step 2

Cut out your pieces.

Cut out the triangle pattern piece. Use it to cut 3 triangles in the body fabric, and 1 triangle in the belly fabric.

Cut the pattern piece into two pieces on the line you drew in Step 1.

From the trapezoid bottom piece, cut 2 pouch pieces in the body fabric.

From the top triangle piece, cut 2 baby pieces in the baby fabric.

Step 3

Sew the pouch.

Put the two pouch pieces right sides together and sew along the top (shorter) edge using 1/4″ seam allowance.

Flip them right side out and press that finished top edge flat.

Step 4

Make the baby.

If you want your baby to stay attached the the mama (that keeps the baby from being a choking hazard) then sew a ribbon to keep them together. If not, you can skip the ribbon part.

Lay one baby piece face up on a flat surface. Pin one end of the ribbon to the center of one side of the triangle.

Lay the second baby piece face down of the first, with the ribbon sandwiched between the layers.

Sew all the way around the edge of the triangle, leaving a turning hole where the long end of the ribbon is coming out.

Clip the excess fabric off the corners.

Turn the baby right side out, stuff it, and sew up the opening.

Step 5

Put the kangaroo together.

For the most part the instructions will be just like what you see on Wild Olive. You just need to construct the belly piece.

Lay the belly piece right side up on a flat surface.

Lay the other end of the ribbon down the center of the belly. You can see where the edge is sticking out the bottom and pinned in place.

Layer the pouch piece over the belly with the ribbon sandwiched between them.

Lay one of the body pieces over the belly and pouch layers you just constructed and sew all the layers together along the bottom of the triangle.

Keep attaching triangles, just like in the Wild Olive instructions, until your four triangles look like this.

The stuffing hole is in the seam between the two left-most triangles.

Finish sewing up the kangaroo following the instructions at Wild Olive.

What other animals can you make from this same basic shape? My sketchbook has ideas for a horse, a mouse and a shark. 🙂

Have fun!

Milton Monkey is wearing pretty dashing bow tie. 🙂

It’s an easy and fun accessory to add to any softie or doll!

This one fits most mid-sized softies – you can adjust the length of the strap pretty easily to fit whatever toy you’re trying to dress up a bit.

You can also leave the strap off and add a pin to the back to make a hair bow for a girl doll or softie.

Here’s the bow tie tutorial. . .

Cut out the pattern pieces as follows:

• for the neck cut 1 piece 2″ x 14″
• for the bow cut 2 pieces 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
• for the knot cut 1 piece 2″ x 2 1/2″

Step 1

We’ll start with the bow part.

Place the two bow pieces right sides together and sew almost all the way around the edge using 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave 1-2 inches open in the center of one of the long sides so you can turn it right side out. Clip the corners.

Turn the bow right side out and press it flat.

You can hand sew the opening closed, but it will be hidden when you add the knot so you don’t need to. I didn’t.

Step 2

Now let’s prep the knot.

Fold the knot piece in half the long way and sew, using 1/4″ seam allowance.

Turn the piece right side out. Turn the tube so that the seam runs up the back and press it flat.

Step 3

Now for the neck band.

Fold the neck band in half the long way, pressing a seam down the middle.

Now fold the edges of the band in to that center fold and press. It should look like this.

Fold in the raw edges at the ends and press it flat, refolding and pressing that center seam.

 

Sew the folded edges together, as close as you can get to the edge. Sew a 1″ piece of hook and loop tape to each end of the band. Remember – one piece of the tape goes on the outside of the band and the other goes on the inside. I always try it out around a pretend neck to make sure I have it right before I sew the pieces in place.

 Step 4

Let’s put it all together!

Pinch the center of the bow together. Wrap the knot around the pinched bow and the neck band. Fold the raw edge of the knot under and sew it in place.

This doesn’t have to be super neat – it will be on the back of the bow. While I’m at it (especially if this is for a child), I also tack a couple of stitches into the bow and the neck band to keep things from sliding.

Done!

You can easily make a whole bunch of bow ties in a range of colors and sizes to dress up all your toys and softies! Make some up in fun holiday prints to dress up for the different holidays!

Have fun with it! And Happy Sewing!

Best,
Wendi

Here’s a free doll pattern to make a sweet Itty Bitty Sleepy Baby – a cuddly beanbag doll.

She’s a sleepy little girl who wants to curl up and take a nap in a special someone’s pocket. :­)

She’s super easy to make -­ great for beginners. And she’s just the right size to be a mini doll for the dolls in The Dress Up Bunch. Fun!

Want to make her?

Here’s how!

Throughout the pattern, the links go to online video tutorials demonstrating the techniques used, or to sources for the materials. All seams are 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Happy sewing!

Materials

• scrap of people ­colored fabric
• scrap of wool felt for the hair (I used black)
• less than a fat quarter of pajama fabric (I used Mini Pandas in pink flannel from Timeless Treasures)
• embroidery thread for the face (I used Sulky 12wt. cotton thread in black)
• plastic pellets (I like Poly­Pellets Weighted Stuffing Beads)
• polyfill stuffing (I like Soft Touch Poly­fil Supreme Fiberfill)

Step 1

Download the free doll pattern here. Print it at 100% size.

Cut out all materials as directed on the pattern pieces. You should have:

• 1 body front piece
• 2 body back pieces
• 1 head cut from people-­colored fabric
• 1 head cut from felt
• 1 front hair cut from felt
• 2 pigtails cut from felt

Step 2

Trace the face onto the people-­colored head piece.

Embroider the eyes, nose and mouth using backstitch and a single strand of Sulky 12 wt. embroidery thread (the equivalent of two strands of regular embroidery thread).

Step 3

Sew the hair to the face piece.

Stitch very close to the edge and use matching thread.

Step 4

Sew the two body back pieces together along the center back line, making sure to leave a few inches open for stuffing.

Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end of your stuffing opening.

Step 5

Open up the center back pieces and press the seam nice and flat, including the edges of the stuffing opening. That will give you a nice clean edge to sew when you’re closing up that opening by hand.

The stick shows where the stuffing opening is.

Step 6

Fold the bottom of the head and the top of the body in half to find the centers. Line those centers up so the head is exactly centered on the body.

Sew the face to the body front and the felt head piece to the body back.

Step 7

Fold the heads up and press.

The seam allowance should be pressed toward the head so the body remains flat.

Step 8

Lay the body front face up on a flat surface.

Lay the pigtails over the face as shown in the photo. Don’t worry about making them perfectly even -­ crooked is cute. :-­)

Pin or clip in place.

Step 9

Place the body back face down over the front, sandwiching the pigtails between the layers. Pin or clip the layers together carefully.

I match the neck seams first, then the center bottoms, then the dips at the sides and then the tips of the arms and legs and the head.

Step 10

Sew all the way around the body using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Make sure you’re catching the pigtails.

I changed the thread color when I got to the hair. I didn’t want specks of pink colored thread to show at the seam.

Clip into the seam allowance at all the concave curves and points as shown in the photo.

Step 11

Turn the body right side out.

Awwww! Isn’t she a cutie? Take a moment to admire your work so far. She’s almost done!

Step 12

Stuff the head pretty firmly with fiberfill.

Pour 1/2 cup of plastic pellets into the body and sew up the opening in the back using ladder stitch.

Finished!

Give her a big hug and then slip her into a special someone’s pocket. :­-)

I designed her to be just the right size to work as a sweet baby doll for everyone in The Dress Up Bunch. Because dolls need dolls to play with, of course. :-­)

If you like this, there are two more similar free doll patterns you should take a look at – the Itty Bitty Bunny and the Itty Bitty Pocket Pirate.

Like all Shiny Happy World designs – you’re welcome to sell items you make with my patterns, but please don’t sell or distribute the patterns themselves. 🙂

If you like this free doll pattern, sign up for the Shiny Happy News! Subscribers get a weekly newsletter with updates, special offers and links to happy things. Sign up here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Because it’s fun to keep a pirate in your pocket. 🙂 Especially when that pirate is filled with plastic pellets for that lovely, squishy beanbag feel.

He’s also just the right size to be a mini doll for the Dress Up Bunch dolls. 🙂

Want to make him? Here’s how.

Download the pattern here.

Like this? Sign up for the Shiny Happy News! You’ll get more free patterns, plus sewing tips and tricks, new tutorials, fun videos, yummy recipes, special discounts and more!

Best,
Wendi

I’d like to have a few words with whoever invented the Tooth Fairy.

Seriously.

Let’s start a tradition where a child places a teeny, tiny tooth under their pillow and parents have to retrieve it in the middle of the night without waking the child.

This is madness.

The night after Jo lost her first tooth she caught me frantically scrabbling around under her pillow in the dark, looking for a tooth the size of an apple seed.

She (naturally) asked me what the heck I was doing.

“Ummmmm. . . nothing. Just checking to see if the tooth fairy came yet. I. . . ummmmm. . . couldn’t wait until morning.”

Which she bought, but only because it was her first tooth and she was six years old.

After that somebody gave her a tiny little tooth fairy box that hung from her bedpost. It was just the right size for holding a tooth, but the money still had to go under the pillow.

I kept thinking about making a tooth fairy pillow that would hold tooth and money, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what I wanted to do. By now she’s lost all of her baby teeth, but as soon as I saw this cute new fabric I knew right away that it would make a perfect tooth fairy pillow.

Luckily, you all give me an excuse a reason to keep designing things that Jo outgrew years ago. 🙂

The pocket is big enough for grown-up fingers to reach in and find a tiny tooth. It’ll hold paper money or fun coins (Jo got a dollar coin for every tooth). And being snug up against a plump pillow means teeth and coins won’t just fall out.

The pillow is also big enough that it won’t get lost in the mountain of stuffed animals that help our kids hide those lost teeth. 🙂

If you have an especially light sleeper, you can add that ribbon loop so you can hang the pillow from a bedpost or door handle. It’s easy and the pattern has instructions.

The best part of the project is that you can position the tiny pocket anywhere on the pillow you like. Make sure not to cover up your favorite bit! I especially like this little block showing how many teeth dogs and cats have. (Sorry – this fabric is discontinued now.)

Jo would have latched right on to fun facts like this! She also would have liked the grossness of the picture of tooth decay. 🙂

Ready to make your own?

Download the free tooth fairy pillow pattern here.

And I’d love to hear some tooth fairy stories from others! Surely (hopefully) I wasn’t the only abject failure out there?

Happy stitching!

I call this pencil-eating pouch The Gobbler.

It’s so much fun to choose fabrics and sew this project! If you can sew a straight line and sew on buttons – you can make The Gobbler.

You can make it even if you’ve never sewn a straight line – the pattern has links to videos teaching you everything you need to know. 🙂

This video shows how to cut fabric using rotary cutting tools.

This video shows how to sew a straight line and turn corners.

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Happy sewing!

Best,
Wendi