Honey badger tutorial for sew a softie day

Did you know there is an international sew a softie day? Thought up by Trixi Symonds of Coloured Buttons, the 16th of July will be a day focused on sewing with kids and teaching kids the joys of sewing. There will be workshops and sewing events, and for the two weeks leading up to the day, bloggers all over the world are sharing tutorials for sewing softies (You can find the whole list of tutorials on Trixi’s blog). If you’re here specifically for finding a tutorial, welcome!

I love the idea of a day dedicated to sewing with children. I started sewing as a child, beginning with simple projects my mother thought up for me. I’m the type of person who loves a challenge though, and I remember in grade eight home economics class, where I sewed a dress while everyone else worked on a simple pair of shorts. For those of you who like a challenge, this tutorial is for you! My aim is to help make the process as simple as possible by providing very detailed photo instructions.

This project is geared toward an older child (or adult) who already has experience sewing. You will need to be able to use the sewing machine, but other than that, its mostly down to following instructions precisely and pinning carefully! If you can do those things, don’t be afraid to give this a try. You’ll learn lots of useful techniques for sewing softies, such as putting in a gusset, sewing curved seams to give a stuffed animal a round body, attaching ears and limbs by machine and by hand, as well as practice stuffing and embroidering. Most of all, enjoy the challenge and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck!

This tutorial is for a cut-and-sew softie. Before we begin, a few words about cut-and-sew patterns. These are patterns that come with all the pieces printed directly on the fabric, so that all you need to do is cut everything out and start sewing. The nice thing about this is that you don't waste time and precious sewing energy on thinking about what to make and choosing fabric, but everything is all ready to go. I sell a range of cut-and-sew patterns in my shop, and if you want to try a simpler one, start with the polar bear pillow case. 

• Step 1: When your fabric arrives, it will look like this, with all the pieces printed and ready to cut out. I sewed this one out of linen/cotton canvas, which is a sturdy but not too heavy fabric. You could decide to order the cut-and-sew softie on a different base fabric, that's what's nice about cut-and-sew softies on spoonflower, you can order a design printed on any of their fabrics. But be aware that some fabrics will be easier to sew than others.

• Step 2:  Cut out all the pieces. The seam allowance (1/4 inch) is already included.

• Step 3: Here are all the pieces cut out and ready to sew together.

• Step 4: Start by sewing the legs together. This kit comes with a little tag, that you can attach to the leg. To do that, fold the tag in half, right sides together, sew around three sides, snip the corners and turn. Then lay it onto the back of the leg as shown, before you sew the two leg pieces together, right sides together.

• Step 5:  Now sew together both legs, arms, ears and tail. These all follow the same principle: put the right sides together, pin them together so they don't slip around while you're sewing, then sew all the way around, leaving the top side open. make little snips right up to the seam around the curved bits (without cutting into the seam!) - this will make them look smoother when you turn them inside out.

• Step 6: Now turn all of these pieces inside out. This can be a bit fiddly, but there are some tools that can help with this, or just use a knitting needle or a pen or pencil (I've been known to use my teeth!)

• Step 7: After you've turned all these pieces inside out, give them a press, either with an iron, or just go along the seam with your thumbnail to flatten it out. 

• Step 8:  Now you can stuff all of these pieces. I used fabric scraps to stuff the bottom of the arms and legs. This makes them a bit heavier and harder. Then I used stuffing to fill the rest of them. A tip for stuffing your softie: go slowly, and put little bits of stuffing in at a time, pushing it down firmly so that the softie doesn't get lumpy. That being said, I used less stuffing in the tail, so that it would hang better, and only a very tiny bit in the ears (or none at all if you prefer!)

• Step 9: Here are all the pieces stuffed and ready to be attached to the body.

• Step 10: Now its time to attach the ears. First make a little fold in the bottom of the ear and attach it with a few stitches. The final width should just fit between the top of the head (although don't forget the seam allowance! see picture 11) and the start of the white part of the badger's body.

• Step 11: Pin the ear in place, with the dark side against the badger's body. Then sew it on.

• Step 12: When you fold it back out it should look like this. Now, when you sew the two body pieces together, make sure the ear is folded in, onto the body, and it will get caught in the seam, so that the ear is attached to the body (see picture 15).

• Step 13: You will now need to do the same for the arms. Lay them on the front body piece (the same piece that has the ear attached) about two inches below the ear. Attach them to the body with a few stitches, and when you attach the front body piece, again make sure they are caught in the seam as shown in the photo.

• Step 14: With the ear and arm tacked on, you can now attach the two body pieces together for both sides of the badger. Here you will be attaching two curved pieces together, which will make the stomach nice and round. Its important, when sewing curved pieces together, to use lots of pins, to make sure the fabric doesn't slip around while you're sewing. Another tip is to keep the dark fabric on top, since it is easier to move this to fit the curve. Remember to take your seam allowance into account when starting this seam, as shown on photo 14, the tip of the top fabric will stick out a bit, so that the seam starts exactly at the right place. If it helps, first put a pin through the place where the seam should start (1/4 inch in from the edge of the fabric) on both the top and bottom fabric, then secure them in place with another pin.

• Step 15: After you have sewed your seam, make little snips right up to the seam (not through it!) along the curve, so that it will lie flat. Fold open the seam and the arm and ear should be securely fastened onto the body. Now do the same for the other side. 

• Step 16: Lay your two body pieces next to each other, and fasten the tail to one side of the body with a few stitches. Do the same with the two legs. Make sure the legs are pointing forward, and attach them 1/4 inch in from the front of the badger's stomach. 

• Step 17: Now it is time to sew on the gusset. A gusset is a piece of fabric that is added between the two body pieces in order to give the head more volume. The gusset piece is attached from the tip of the nose to the back of the head, making a round head shape. Starting exactly at the tip of the nose (again, put a pin 1/4 inch in on both pieces of fabric to find where to start) sew along the gusset. Important: on the nose side, start the seam 1/4 inch in, don't start at the edge of the fabric! Make sure you back up a few stitches to this point, so the seam won't unravel. Do the same in the following steps.

• Step 18: Once the gusset is attached, make little snips to ensure the curve will be smooth.

• Step 19: Now attach the other side of the body to the gusset. the red pin on the picture at the tip of the nose shows where to start the seam, again make sure you don't start right at the edge. Pin the two pieces of fabric together, and this time sew all the way from the point of the nose down to the bottom of the badger. Before you sew the seam, pin it all the way, to make sure the bottom edges will line up when you get there!

• Step 20: This picture shows the seam, starting 1/4 inch in from the nose and going around the top of the head and down the back. Now snip the curve.

• Step 21: The next seam will close the front of the badger. Start your seam right where the top seam finished: 1/4 inch in from the top of the fabric. (When you start the seam there will be a lot of fabric from the top of the head in your way. Make sure to fold it away from you and don't catch it in the needle as you sew.) Then sew down the front of the badger. Again snip the fabric where the seam is curved.

• Step 22: Turn the badger the right way around, this is the exciting moment where she starts to come alive! with your finger, smooth out all the head seams and check that they look all right. If your nose doesn't quite line up, don't worry, you'll be embroidering a nose over it, and can cover up some small mistakes. If everything looks okay, then stuff the head and the body.

• Step 23: Using a needle and thread, close the back seam using a mattress stitch. I started at the beginning, secured the thread inside the body, and then stitched first along one leg, pulled my stitches tight, then stitched back over that leg and along the other leg, before stitching back to the middle. This will make sure the seam is secure.

• Step 24: Your badger is almost done! with some embroidery floss, stitch the eyes, nose and mouth as shown in the picture. I also added a few whiskers, by making little knots and snipping off the thread. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy sewing and don't forget to share photos with the hashtag #sasday2016.

If you've gotten this far and want to give it a go, from now until July 14th you can buy two fat quarters for the price of one on any type of fabric in my shop. I've designed a matching trench coat for Honey badger (shown in the picture above), and there are also other animals in the collection. 

Ps. you can read more about how I designed the honey badger prototype here. There will be a tutorial for the trench coat coming very soon, and a pattern for the little cardigan is also in the works.

diy play mat

A play mat is something you only need for a short period of time, and its also something that takes up quite a bit of space. Play mats can be quite garish, so I never had one with my first daughter. With the second, however, I decided I wanted to make one (maybe mostly as an excuse to get some of my fabric printed). This tutorial will walk you through the process of "re-upholstering" a play mat.

I first looked at different kinds of play mats, and decided the easiest way to make one would be to buy one second hand and re-use all the "hardware", that way all I needed was a piece of fabric and a sewing machine. 

I bought this pink play mat at a charity shop for three pounds. Its not too bad as play mats go, but the fabric is hideous polyester - which is a magnet for hair and dust, and I wanted something that I would like to touch, especially since I would be putting a baby on it. I got to work planning and measuring and decided to make a simple round shape, adding interest by printing different designs on the fabric to make it look like a quilt.

The fabric I used is a heavy cotton twill fabric, which was very nice to work with and feels sturdy and soft. If you find a round play mat and want to use the same fabric I did, you can order the panel in my shop on any of the base fabrics available on spoonflower (I debated between the cotton twill, the thick organic jersey or the cotton / linen fabric). Most of these designs are also available in my shop as single fabrics / wallpaper / gift wrap as well. Depending on the shape of the play mat you're re-doing, use any fabric, or design your own like I did! This tutorial I wrote a few years ago walks you through the same design process I used here.

The following photos show the steps I took for making my play mat. These are kept quite general, since every play mat will be different, but they show some things to consider if you'd like to redo a play mat of your own.

• Step 1: This photo shows the back of the play mat. Before you take it apart, look at how its sewn together and think about how you want your new play mat to look. I made a few changes, such as deciding not to sew the petal shapes, but to do a simpler stuffed circle around the edge instead. I also designed my play mat to be slightly larger. I couldn't make it too much bigger, because then the arches wouldn't fit. If you're designing your own play mat and printing it, rather than using existing fabric, make sure you measure and plan everything carefully, because you won't be able to cut more fabric. 

• Step 2: Take off any fittings you will need.

• Step 3: These are the pieces I reused: the stuffing from the petals, the batting from the bottom of the play mat, the buttons and clasps for attaching the arches, and the arches themselves. I kept the original fabric for these.

• Step 4: Once I knew the diameter of the play mat, I created a file in gimp and filled it with different designs. When the fabric arrives, don't forget to wash it first, so that it won't shrink when you wash it after you've sewn it!

• Step 5: These are some of the designs I used. I used mostly existing designs and recoloured some of them to create an overall matching look.

• Step 6: Cut out the play mat, leaving a seam allowance, and cut out a piece of backing fabric the same size (I used an old curtain).

• Step 7: Calculate where on the back the clasps need to go (its helpful not to throw away the old play mat, so that you can easily see where to place things). Sew them on. To make the play mat bigger, and to shape the stuffed outer circle, I added four strips of fabric around the outside of the mat. Now sew the whole thing together, right sides together, leaving an opening for stuffing.

• Step 8: Pictured here is the stuffing going in. Before I stuffed the outer circle, I first put the round piece of batting into the play mat, and sewed around the inner two circles to keep it in place. You could hand quilt this, or use the machine like I did. This will leave you with a round tube around the outside of the play mat for stuffing.

• Step 9: Sew the opening closed by hand, then sew on your buttons if you're using them, attach the arches, and your play mat is finished! I also printed a number of butterflies on the fabric, which I want to sew, stuff, and hang from the arches, but that hasn't happened yet!

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fabric blocks tutorial

A few months ago on instagram I posted a picture of some fabric covered blocks I made for my daughter. Here is a picture tutorial of how I made the blocks. I used an old greengate placemat that I had kept, hoping I could make something with the beautiful matching fabric. And the blocks I've actually had since I was 13, dragging them across various continents in the hope that some day I would get around to covering them! I made ten blocks.

• Prepare the fabric
• Measure your foam blocks and make a template - I made mine 1/4 inch wider than the blocks on all sides
• cut out squares of fabric

• Sew six squares together in a cross shape, starting and ending the seams 1/4 inch in from the edge of the fabric
• Sew Y-seams so that you have a little cube, leaving one edge open for turning

• Trim the corners of the fabric, turn the cube and poke out the corners
• Stuff with the cube and close the last seam by hand

another sock monkey

At the beginning of the year I decided to finish one old unfinished project every month. (Actually, I thought I'd try every week, but that was a bit overambitious :-)). Last month I finished these little booties, and in February I finished this very pink sock monkey.

I bought these socks years ago with the plan to make a sock monkey out of them, at the same time that I made this monkey. The socks sat in my sewing box for years and now I finally got around to sewing them. Its such a nice pattern (there's a very clear tutorial with lots of photos here), but it does make a difference what kind of socks you use, i.e. how long the socks are, how big the feet are they're for. Its kind of cool how a few snips and stitches can transform a pair of socks.

felt hair clip

Just after Christmas I started sketching ideas for more little things to make with felt. I came up with this little sketch of a cherry blossom and a leaf, thinking of making it into a little felt hair clip. Now I finally put it together. This is a rough draft, I want to refine it a bit, and then maybe make a pattern / tutorial.

how to wallpaper a dollhouse

I'm making progress on my dollhouse renovation. I love the exterior paint colours and have been slowly building up layers of white paint inside to cover all the colours. Here are some work in progress shots. As you can see, there is a lot of bright paint to cover! One of the first things I did was remove the plexiglass windows which were dark and covered in paint. Then there was a lot of sanding and scraping and cleaning to do.

Yesterday, after a third layer of white paint that didn't cover the bright green on the upstairs walls, I decided to try wallpaper. Here are some pictures of the process and some tips if you want to try it yourself!

0. Choose some paper! I went to a few stores looking at wrapping paper before I found this paper in Flow magazine (it was a good excuse to buy the magazine as well, which I love).

1. Make a paper template of the area you want to cover, especially if there are windows involved. I have little window sills that needed to poke through the paper. Very important: measure at least three times before you cut the actual paper!

2. Cut out your paper template,

3. and try it on the wall. If you look closely, you can see that there is some wall showing through at the top of the window, so I adjusted my template accordingly. If you measure correctly, then cutting the actual wallpaper should go smoothly.

4. Cut the wallpaper. I used a quilters ruler as a guide to make sure everything was perfectly straight and squared up.

5. Try it on inside the walls. My paper didn't fit all the way around both walls, so its important to make a fold on one paper to go around the corner and start the other paper in the corner on top of the folded paper, so there is no gap.

6. Using your template, cut out the windows and window sills.

7. Another way to make sure the windows are positioned correctly is to place the paper inside, and mark the back with a pencil, especially if the corners of your windows are not completely square.

8. Once the paper is cut out, I used modge podge glue to attach it. This meant working quickly, putting down a layer of glue and smoothing it out with an old drivers license and then putting more modge podge on top to act as a varnish, that is especially important around the windows so that the paper doesn't tear when it is handled.

9. The finished room! And because I was so motivated, I right away laid the floor upstairs. I'll post a tutorial another time.

I'm very happy with how it turned out, and am thinking about whether I want to wallpaper downstairs as well (the white paint did a better job of covering downstairs, so it isn't strictly necessary). If I had had the time though, I would have gotten a wallpaper swatch from my spoonflower shop. The swatches are only $5 and are 12 x 24", so would have been the perfect size for the wall. Since they are peel and stick, I wouldn't have had to mess about with glue. So if you want to try this project, head over to my shop and buy a swatch of peel and stick wallpaper :-)

Here's a shot of the dollhouse how it looks now. You can see the exterior paint colours and the floor as well as the two different papers I used as wallpaper upstairs.

christmas tree

On the weekend we put up our christmas tree. We have it in the bay window which takes up some of the precious light these days, but since the sun goes behind the houses at quarter past three, it doesn't really matter. 

The last three years I've made different kinds of ornaments each year. Last year I knit these baubles, the others will have to be another blog post! This year I made felt ornaments as part of my preparation for teaching a felt craft evening. I love the little dala horse. It was kind of a make-up-as-you-go thing, so I'd like to make another and think it through a bit more.

advent wreath

The felt craft evening was fun and I'm looking forward to the next one in two weeks. This time I want to do a mini felt advent wreath and am working on the tutorial. I love the tiny candle flames.

felt christmas bauble tutorial

I've had a lot of fun the last few weeks playing with felt and creating some felt ornaments in preparation for teaching a craft evening. For those who attended the evening - welcome! - here is a step by step pdf tutorial for the christmas bauble with photos. For anyone else - enjoy the tutorial and I'd love to see what you made.

christmas tree

Our Christmas tree is making our living room a very enjoyable place to be these days. Gemütlich. Gezellig.

The red ball I knit from this pattern on ravelry. I kept it simple but would love to try some with a pattern. I changed the number of increases and decreases slightly to fit the ball I was using. 

I made the clay circle at the same time as I made these plates. 

And the little mushroom is just cute. 

another box

Storage space is a bit limited in our new apartment. Since we have quite a few open shelves, and with many boxes left over from moving, I wanted to try to make a few storage boxes. I followed this tutorial.
I love how sturdy the box is (I used double layers of cardboard with the grain going in opposite directions) and also how easy it is to make it exactly the size I need. I have two more in the making but unfortunately no more of the forget-me-not wrapping paper!
The pictures show the step-by-step process.

boe zegt de koe

About a year ago my aunt blogged about this embroidery that she bought second hand and which she then gave me for my birthday.
I finally framed it today and wanted to share the final result:

Can you spot the difference since I got it? (Hint, it says roekoe).

Whoever embroidered this was amazingly neat, just look at the back! I learned a new technique of cross stitch trying to emulate the technique when I stitched the dove. The design is by Dick Bruna.

some little boxes

Last week I finally had an idea for what to make with some wrapping paper I bought a long time ago that has been sitting on my desk. Little boxes! I love little boxes. These were constructed with thick paper, covered with the forget-me-not wrapping paper and stabilised with thick matting board.

I put eyelets in and added a little ribbon as a pull.

the finished box

which is a drawer. I got a bit lazy after making two and noticed that two cadbury tin boxes I have fit perfectly. The outside bit of the drawers I made out of a box we got as a gift box for Christmas. I only needed to turn the lid into a side, add some prop-ups to hold up the middle bit and glue some sides down.

I've noticed while writing that explaining the process isn't as easy as just doing it! So hope at least the pictures inspire you to make one too. I have one of those wooden small set of drawers and wanted to get another, but now didn't have to buy one, plus its a lot nicer!

sock monkey

I made a sock monkey yesterday. I found this pattern and went out and bought a pair of socks - thick and striped.



The sewing was quite easy and I had some wool stuffing from a pillow. Its a gift and I think I'll make a few more!

 

another little box

this is another little box I made recently, although technically I didn't make it, I got the small wooden box from my mother many many years ago and always dreamed of decorating it somehow but never coming up with a good idea. Recently, while I was working on making christmas decorations, I had the idea to use a serviette and modge podge to cover the top. I first painted it white and then glued the top layer of the serviette on, making sure it fit the top exactly, but letting the petals go over the edge. Here is a close up:

I use it to store paint in.

little box

I finally finished this little box. I love the golden knob to open it. I filled it with embroidery floss, but could also put spoons in it.

manitoba oak

During the Christmas holidays Irian and I spent some time in Doug's shop. We wanted to make a small project that didn't need a lot of power tools. Doug had some slices of manitoba oak that were slightly curved from damp that he said we could use. I used the sander to smooth the edges to a circle and finished it with varnish. Because of the curve of the wood its shaped like a little bowl or saucer and I use it to put things like earrings in.