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Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction Review

This won't be as picture heavy or have an attached project as I've just got a new job and it's now eating away a large chunk of my time so today's basically it for this review unless I keep pushing it back. I hope you all can understand - I might make a plush to go along with this review later though, we'll see!

Today's review, for those who are unaware, is Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction by Abby Glassenberg. Right away I'm sure you can tell that there's something spectacular about this book - it's not Stuffed Animals: Here's a Bunch of Patterns and That's It, Go Make Them. It includes 16 projects and 52 lessons. 

That's a big deal.

There are no other recent books of this sort to my knowledge. There's a focus on books with a set of patterns that you can use to make just a specific set of toys which, if you'd like, maybe you can modify or something. There is no focus on teaching you how to do it yourself. Maybe to reduce competition. It's a good thing, anyway, that Abby is very willing to share her knowledge both on her blog and in this new book.

This book starts out teaching you very basic things like tools you should use and fabric types then quickly moves into things like freezer paper, how to lay your patterns on fabric and, eventually, we get into the real meat of the book - learning techniques like drafting head and underbody gussets (and, in this picture with the elephant, adding darts to the underbody gusset to give the legs a more natural standing pose).

Not only does she teach you how to use spheres to make a bumble bee, she gives you the pattern so that you can play with it, use the technique, and practice what you've just learned. If you haven't got any ideas for plush of your own, it's incredibly helpful to have.

This book is extraordinarily helpful and I honestly believe that everyone who is interested in creating plush work should own this book - it's as simple as that. The pictures sometimes aren't extraordinarily helpful but I'd rate this book at 11/10. It's just that fabulous. The techniques are helpful, the patterns are helpful, and I'm insanely biased because Abby is an awesome person and I've been following her blog for ages. I have been waiting for this book before I even knew it would exist.

If you have any questions about the book, feel free to ask away in the comments (but if I were you, I'd just buy it!).

Surprise Mini Spotlight!

As I was browsing my very over crowded pile of watched deviations, I couldn't help but notice this gorgeous little gem awaiting my hungry eyeballs...

I knew instantly that I had to revive this blog with a post about him as I'm a fan of both the artist and the song it's based off of. This Little Lion Man was crafted by the ever brilliant 13anana.

There's just something about his face with the little reflections in his eyes and his wee nose that I'm really in love with. That "something" is probably his expression. I mean, just look at his face. That expression is probably the cutest thing I've seen for a long while and after having a night spent being upset, this is such a breath of fresh air for me... And would you look at that tiny fluffy tail and his brilliant fur mane!

And I haven't even mentioned his adorable outfit - this plush has a better fashion sense than I do and he wears those suspenders very, very well.

I'm pretty jealous of the skill that went into little fellow and if I had $35 laying around, I'd snap this little guy up (oh the woes of being a broke college student). If you'd like to grab this little fella, though, I wouldn't mind! You can find him here!

Sew Kawaii Review

I have mixed feelings about Sew Kawaii by Choly Knight. I received the book from my mother this Christmas and instantly used the patterns within to help me out with a commission. More on that in a little bit.

The projects in the book are cute, simple, and easy enough for beginners. The projects are even ranked for your convenience from Very Easy ("So straightforward you can breeze through them") to Easy ("Good for a third or fourth project") to Experienced Beginner ("...For when you're ready to move... into something with a little more detail") to Intermediate ("...When you already know most sewing techniques and how to work your way around a pattern"). In my opinion, even the Intermediate stage is very easy but if you're wanting to go in order from easiest to hardest, there's a separate index that groups all the projects together by stage rather than by type of craft. 

The guide in the front of the book goes over a pretty good deal of material from the basics on varying fabric types such as knits, woven fabrics and plush fabrics to different, basic tools like your sewing machine, a few different types of thread, fabric markers, etc.rfdc

 A large portion of the guide covers how to applique since that's a large part of this book. There are also invaluable handsewing techniques and a short glossary of techniques terms anyone with an interest in plushie making needs to know.







If you've ever been to an anime convention, there's a 99% chance you've seen most of these plush designs.

They're not very unique which makes them great for "kawaii" lovers looking for this specific type of plushie but not really for much of anyone else. It's a pretty niche group this book is catering towards, in my opinion, with its lacy arm warmers, cute animal scarves, and sweeter-than-sugar hats. After looking at the projects I'm left with a distinct feeling of "I swear I've seen this before."



Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I personally like that about this books because it reminds me of a childhood spent with an obsession for anime and "kawaii" things.

It also reminds me of why I got into plushie making in the first place. I just don't think that everyone will benefit from a book that teaches you Japanese terms in the lower left hand corner and would love nothing more than to teach you how to make a cute little riceball plush.


For those of you that would look down on the book as "weebish" however, consider the following

This is the llama plushie from the book. It's an intermediate project and, thus far, the only one I've (sort of) attempted. I personally wasn't too big of a fan of the oversized face and ears and the way its legs are splayed out like it can't walk.

This cute little fluffy pink alpaca is my interpretation of this piece which I actually created for a commission It's pretty obvious that I altered the pattern given quite a bit. Your plushies don't ever have to be a carbon copy of what you see in books or bought patterns.

While embarking on this project though, I did notice several issues with this book. The directions on this project were unclear with steps such as "Sew the [head/neck/feet/etc]" and then an utterly unhelpful picture of some hands under a sewing machine. I didn't even know which parts of the pattern went against what other bit. 

This book also displays a really big pet peeve of mine: "Enlarge pattern by 250%" This is an issue for many people because not everyone has a scanner or copier or the money to go to the nearest copy shop and enlarge 22 patterns by 250% just to be able to use them as intended. Thankfully I needed a small plush but if I'd wanted the full size, I would have been out of luck. 

All in all it was a pretty good book. I'd probably give it a 5.5 or maybe even a full 6 out of ten. It's a helpful resource and a pretty good starting point for most beginning plush artists but there are definitely better books out there

I Lied.

Okay, so I didn't quite get to update this blog as much as I wanted to or planned to. Oops! I'm going to make up for that on Friday with a review of the book Sew Kawaii by Choly Knight

I'm going to let you guys know exactly what I like about this book and what I don't like so much soon so you can decide whether or not to invest in your own copy. 

I'm also going to feature some new artists sometime late next week after I get adjusted to my classes for the semester. Eventually I'm going to work out some form of schedule for this blog just to make things easier for everyone - maybe a weekly Friday update and a weekend update? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Let The Voting Begin

At long last, I have returned to this blog - which I left so that I wouldn't distract from the contest. You can comment here and let me know if that was a good idea or not so that in the future, I'll know whether to time hiatuses like this or just keep on trucking.

Our September Holiday Contest, the contest of choosing lesser known and often uncelebrated holidays and honouring them with beautiful plush work, has come to a close with four magnificent entries surviving the submission process. Where others were turned away for not complying with the rules or because people simply didn't pay close enough attention to the folder they were submitting into, these four passed every toll booth and road block. Without further ado...



Needle Felted Elephant in Blue by feltieflaffy

"I chose elephant appreciation day for a few reasons. I personally love elephants, but they have had a sad past in circus history. Though elephants were one of the most beloved part of the circus, they were often horribly mistreated, malnourished, and if they became too old or lame to perform the incredibly difficult tricks they were tasked with on a daily basis, they were killed. Elephants are majestic, incredible animals and I wanted to celebrate their holiday with this piece."





September Rose Contest Entry by onetruetree (her etsy listing is here!)

"September Rose was named for the month she was born in and her mother's favorite flower. September is a girl in love with girliness, the ultimate symbols of which she believes to be roses and rabbits. She spends long hours in her mother's rose garden with her toy rabbit embroidering floral motifs or writing poems about the changing seasons while sipping tea.

Created this doll to participate in simply-plush's September contest! I just found the Festival of Roses prompt really inspiring and I wanted to create something that I thought "felt like" September (with a rose theme), and this is what I came up with. I feel like she embodies the last few weeks of summer/the first few weeks of fall pretty well, as well as the sweetness and delicacy of roses."




Roselia Plush by Plush-Lore

"i did mine on Festival of Roses. the reason i chose this holiday is because i am a fan of gardens flowers and plants in general! for this contest i chose to make the rose pokemon Roselia. i enjoyed making this one it looks so peaceful and happy XD i hope you all enjoy too! i know i did not get this out in time for the Festival of Roses but i hope you all enjoyed!"

 

Elephant and Ladybird by StrandedAutumn

"Elephant & Ladybird I made to celebrate Elephant Appreciation Day. Who doesn't love elephants, they live in family groups and look after each other"

To vote - check out the poll in the sidebar using this blog post as a reference. Easy as pumpkin pie! Voting will end on November 6th. There will only be one winner! To vote - check out the poll in the sidebar using this blog post as a reference. Easy as pumpkin pie! Voting will end on November 6th. There will only be one winner!

Etsy Shop Spotlight

Today I decided to show off a store one of you amazing artists have set up here. Choosing was easy - I counted up each shop listed here (if your shop isn't listed but you would like it to be, drop me a line at simplyplushgroup@gmail.com, as a comment here, or as a note on deviantArt) and then used a random number generator.

Today's number was 4 which means I'm reviewing a really great one today - check it out under the jump!