Sewing Softies

For most of 2015 I was a bad blogger. I had so little brain power that managing to get crafty was a trial, writing about it was impossible!

This year I’m determined to be different! I’ve realised that the biggest thing holding me back is the dreaded goggle box so this year I’m going on a bit of a TV diet. My evenings are for reading and making, with the odd film thrown in for good measure!

Already this year I’ve managed to pick up an unfinished plan and get going with it! I found this book hidden in the depths of my sewing room.

Sewn Toy Tales by Melly & Me. I bought it when I was still very new to sewing and I was determined that I would hone my skills making beautiful soft toys for my children. Unfortunately, always reaching a bit further that I should, I decided to start with one of the more complicated patterns in the book. I discovered it was all a bit too fiddly for me and I put the book away and forgot about it.

I was having a bit of a clear out before Christmas (my sewing room had to be fit to accommodate some guests over the festive season) and discovered loads of books I forgot I even had. Sewn Toy Tales came back into my life just in time for me to sew up a present for my niece’s birthday. January birthdays are hard to remember to fit in after the craziness of Christmas so I’m really glad I found this book in time to sew her something!

I had planned since I bought the book to make Mabelle the Mouse for her so once I hoked out some suitably lovely floral fabric I got cracking. And then I promptly realised why I hadn’t made her the mouse before! Everything is on such a small scale that it was so fiddly! The tiny arms and feet were so hard to sew well. Then once they were made I realised I had over stuffed them so machine sewing them into place was incredibly difficult. There was a lot of hand sewing done at the end to make sure everything was well secured. I’ll definitely do the next one better!

I love how she turned out though and my niece was delighted. Apparently this mouse has been renamed Squeak and is very happy in her new home!

I’m looking forward to making more toys this year. It was a great way to improve on my sewing skills. I’d advise any novice sewists that this book is great, there’s loads of really useful information in it and the patterns are beautiful but start with the easier patterns at the start of the book so you don’t put yourself off!!

I have another kiddo’s birthday this January(on the 7th!) so I better get cracking on another pattern!