Customer Reviews

Plush You!: Lovable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I was quite disappointed with this book. It is more like a coffee table style gallery of plushies with a few tutorials. The tutorials were for the ones that any DIY'er could figure out on their own. I love many of the artists profiled in this book but I thought I was getting a resource on how to make my own versions of them, not just a display. I do admire the author's goals I just think the publisher needs to be more clear on what this book contains.

October 2007 and I have just received a copy of "Plush You!" from Amazon. According to the editorial review there are over 100 plush toys to enjoy and this is correct. Yes, there are instructions for making at least 15 of them. However, those toys that included instructions were among the most simplistic of the toys. The more complicated and whimsical toys you could only look at and imagine how to make them. Do not expect this to be a "how-to" book. If only I knew then what I know now.

I agree with the others' comments. This is certainly *not* a how-to book as you'd think. Sure, there's a dozen or so patterns (that must be enlarged), but the cutest works are simply pictures of what someone else made at their own sewing business. It's really a show-off book of what everyone else can do, with "convenient" little bits of info on who made what and where "you, too, can buy it!" sort of a thing. Annoying, and misrepresented.

This book was such a disappointment. It contains many photographs of cool handmade toys, but it only contains patterns and how-tos for a very few of them -- and definitely not for the ones I would have wanted to make. I'm giving it two stars instead of one because it is well-laid-out and could be a good source of inspiration for crafters. But you definitely shouldn't buy this one for its patterns.

Beginning with the cover, this book is misleading. The cover announces that this book contains "lovable misfit toys to sew and stuff". What this 143 page book, in fact, contains is pages and pages of photographs of beautiful soft toys, many of which I would love to have the patterns of, and only 12 patterns, all for the simplest and most amateurish of the toys. I purchased this book, believing that it was a craft book and upon its arrival, I felt both disappointed and misled.

This book is more of a catalogue of soft toys that you can purchase over the internet (almost all of the photographs in this book are accompanied by the web-site address of the artist), than an actual craft book. If you are looking for a good book of soft toys by various artists, with accompanying patterns, I recommend that you purchase Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals instead.

I like to be inspired by a book and this one has caught my imagination and given it some ideas. Even the most complicated of these toys can be figured out easily - if you want to copy them faithfully. But, why would you? The idea, it seems to me, is to give you a jumping off point for letting your own "inner plushy" come out to play. I am a bit bewildered by the negative reviews. I love this book and think it's easily the best out on the subject. Even if I wanted to copy one of the critters exactly, it would be simple to do so - even for a fairly inexperienced sewer. Part of the fun of this type of doll is that each one is completely different from the others. I didn't think the patterns included were particularly necessary, and have to agree they are for such simple dolls that you can just take some graph paper and figure them out yourself. But then, I didn't think any patterns would be necessary. To me these are fun dolls that allow each of us to be playful and creative on our own. It's like the crochet books of the 70s compared to the ones around now - they show you the possibilities and what happens if you do this or that - and let you fly on your own.

The pictures on the cover were deceptively cute, however this book has only a few, not-so-adorable softie patterns inside. If I were a pro at making plush toys I might be able to make some of the cute softies from pictures alone. The buyer must realize that this book is meant to be inspirational, but does not offer much knowledge on how to make the projects it displays on it's pages.

If you are considering this book you have already noticed that toys aren't just for kids anymore. Toys have become soft sculptures and many of the best artists are represented here. This book is a great read, a good source of inspiration and a source for patterns. It is always fun to read about the artistic process - these folks are interesting and talented. I will be sharing this book with many of my friends who craft. I look forward to keeping it on my shelf and pulling it down whenever I need a little creative nudge.

While the patterns in this book are not as easy to use as other books- the information in the book was great. I have spent hours perusing the different websites of doll makers listed in the book. I recieved this as a gift and do refer back to it often for ideas with my own crafting.

There are only 18 projects in this book (most taking only 1-2 pages), and the rest of the 127 pages are pictures of people's projects. Pretty, and interesting, and an experienced plushie maker could probably deduce how to make some of them, but useless as anything but eye candy for the novice.

And, of course, some of the coolest examples are not the ones that have instructions. I'd much rather have had instruction on how to make the wounds on the zombie sock monkeys (too cool) than a completely unnecessary pattern for a sunny-side-up egg (yes, a cute idea -especially one I once saw done as a pincushion - but I imagine even the most novice sewer could figure that one out).

There are a few cute ideas that you might draw some inspiration from, and there are those 18 projects... but for the most part, this book just isn't worth it. Perhaps a library check-out when you need a creative boost, but don't expect much more out of it.