Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Good night bunnies //

I'm busy working on a new sewing pattern and tutorial explaining how to make this little new Bunny toy. It will (hopefully) be available for you to download very soon. So excited :)
New little bunny

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Bunny Babe pattern for bunnylovers //

I like to introduce you my friend Babe. I love making bunnies and each bunny has it’s own story. 
Bunny Babe sewing pattern
Stuffed Bunny sewing pattern
Up to this moment I’ve added 4 new bunnies to my Stuffed bunnies collectionBUT I have plans to add many more items into my collection in the near future.
So, the new bunny patterns I added to my Etsy shop is Babe bunny sewing pattern. It is step by step pattern with easy to follow instructions.  I’ve made it so you feel like you sit in one of my workshops and I’m telling you exactly how to make each step.

More soft toy patterns are in work here, I have so many trials at my desk, my notebook is full of ideas and my hands are very busy creating new stuffies. 

The plan is also to write down the baby cat pattern next (Marta´s little babygirl), hope to have it on my Etsy shop during the next month. I know you’ll love her.
With love, Monika

Monday, July 11, 2016

Your Bunny Loves You

Do you have a bunny? Do your love your bunny?
Once you understand bunny language, you will see that there are some subtle signs that rabbits give when they like you. So, first sew your first bunny (bunny pattern is here) and then read more about "How To Tell If Your Bunny Loves You" here.

You will need;
- a pieces of felt in your choice of colours
- a printed copy of the included ‘felt bunny’ pattern
- cotton embroidery thread in your choice of coordinating or contrasting colour
- an embroidery needle
- wadding or stuffing
- sewing pins
- scissors

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to turn the illustration into a real life softie. When finished, it will be around 5,11 inches (13,5 cm) tall. It makes a great gift for kids or any bunnys lover. 

Let's get started!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Tips for stuffing

 Tips for stuffing
Tips for stuffing
You would think that stuffing a plush toy would be the easiest part, but if you rush and push the toy stuffing in as quickly as you can, you will create lumps.

Everyone wants their toys to be soft, but if there’s too much stuffing in the toy it can get quite hard.

So, take time for stuffing and will create beautifully finished toys.

  1. Stuff your plush toy gently. Carefully and gently move small pieces of stuffing inside the soft toy. Get a small handful of stuffing, hold it lightly and if necessary pull the fibers apart with your fingers before you put it into the toy.
  2. Use a good stuffing material. I like polyester toy fill. Its light weight, cheap and easy to work with. Make sure you use the right quantity of filling material, as using too much will stretch the fabric creating a misshaped project and you’ll see the stuffing through the stitches. Read more from my blog post about what do you use for toy stuffing!
  3. Don’t overstuff you soft toy.  If you overstuff, the fur fabric will stretch too far and you finally you have one big ball Toy. But using too little will make the toy too floppy. So, take time to stuff.
  4. Take time and take it slow. Do it slowly, using small amounts of stuffing. If you try to rush you will create a lump and you will have to pull it out and start over. 
  5. Insert little stuffing at a time. 
  6. Stuffing instruments. Knitting needle, Paintbrush handle, Turning tool, Hemostats- anything with a blunt point. I love Chinese chopsticks and my own fingers :)

 Stuffedanimal Elephant pattern
Stuffedanimal Elephant sewing pattern
So, let me know what do you use for stuffing- FiberFill and your own fingers like me? ;)

Thursday, June 30, 2016

What do you use for toy stuffing?

I’ve written about how to stuff your new soft Toy, but now is time to talk about the most important of all: what do you use for toy stuffing?
SwallowPatterns is Stuffing

So, I like to use Polyester Fiberfill (PolyFill) Toy stuffing (ex. here: Baby bunny). It is now the most used toy stuffing and its easy to work with, its great!
Extremely light weight, it’s washable, holds it’s shape and is hypo-allergenic. It’s also very cheap and available in almost every craft store on the planet. :)

Polyester Fiberfill
PolyFill, Polyester Fiberfill
You can also use more natural stuffing, like:
* Wool- It is natural but this toy stuffing material cannot be machine washed or dried in heat
Wool stuffing

* Corn Fibre toy Fill. It is extremely soft whilst maintaining its shape and resilience. Corn fibre can be used for both soft and firm fills. The more you stuff, the firmer the feel. The fibre also holds a very low flammability rating. Naturally hypoallergenic & Anti-bacterial. Hand Wash - Line Dry
This is best for children’s toys because it is light weight, hypoallergenic and washable. You can get corn fibre fill from Inner Green 
Corn Fibre stuffing
* Bamboo Toy stuffing- it's very silky and soft. Most people that have used it, love it. Bamboo stuffing has the density and feel of cotton, and the hypoallergenic and antibacterial properties of bamboo. 
Bambo Stuffing
There is cheap alternative like old pillows, but these have to be clean!! Please wash the pillow before cutting it open if you want the stuffing clean.


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So, in the end,  feel free to experiment, and let me know if there’s one I haven’t thought of!