Customer Reviews

Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Softies" is everything that the similarly themed Plush You!: Lovable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff should have been. This book provides a range of soft toy patterns (mostly sewn, although one is crocheted and two are needle felted) from an array of soft toy artists with detailed instructions on how to make them (the problem with "Plush You!" was that the instructions and patterns were omitted). The patterns were designed by artists from all around the world, although many of them seem to be in the "cute" style that is commonly associated with Japanese craft books, even those designed by non-Japanese (not that there's anything wrong with that - I am particularly fond of Japanese-style crafts).

The best thing about this book is that it is incredibly user friendly. It is spiral bound, and rather than having the patterns printed on the pages of the book (forcing the user to either photocopy or trace them, which can often result in the book being damaged), the patterns are printed on loose pieces of paper which are enclosed in a big envelope at the back of the book.

Given the range of patterns in this book, it is likely that you will find at least one toy that you would like to make, which, as far as I'm concerned, makes this book good value.

This book is so cute. I give it a 5 stars for content, photography, ease of use, etc. But, after completing one project, the Portuguese Plaid Dog, I am not impressed. The neck gusset is completely the wrong size for the dog, and the under-gusset for the legs does not match the outer body - seems about 20% too large. The top head gusset is enormously wide and about 1 cm too long. Also, the lettered markings on the patterns do not match up correctly. I am an experienced hand-stitcher, and I have made several soft toys with gussets for my children, but this dog had me stumped. I have redrawn my own patterns to get it to fit together properly. It's a shame, because this dog is the cutest thing ever, with a clever use of color and fabric. The other items in the book seem far easier! Just curious if anyone else has made the dog?

My 10 yo daughter and I love this book. She has already made the treeling, the lonely dollop, and the green cross. The directions are well written and easy to follow. The projects are all super-cute. Be sure to order yourself some wool blend felt from Colonial Crafts - so much better than craft felt.

I love this book. It's nice to make something besides the usual teddy bears. My favorites are the ice cream sandwich and the treeling. My boyfriend really likes the tooth. This is the book for you if you want more than the usual patterns out there. You will have fun with the patterns and enjoy making each softie your own by changing the facial features or adding embellishments. I like every single softie in this book, and I'm pretty picky! I highly recommend this book!

I'm an experienced plush maker but Double Scoop has me stumped. The bottom "scoop" is way too small to fit the diameter of the cone's top, and the "drip" that goes in between the cone and the scoop wasn't long enough to go around the diameter of the cone! Fixing this is going to require some serious work on my part and I don't know where I went wrong.

"The Lookout" was easy to make, but it was much simpler to make: just sew 2 identical pieces of fabric together!

To improve this book, I would add more images of the steps. Some of the directions were confusing without an image to accompany. There's plenty of cute eye candy in this book, but I get the feeling they didn't really test the patterns before including them.

I love this book!! It has both the colourful images and the simple & easy instruction on how to make the plush toys...and its so wonderful that the book come with the templates. Its so easy and convenient to use.

This book is a collection of 25 softie projects designed by artists from all over the world that were compiled by Therese Laskey. In case you are not familiar with softies, they are plush toys that first became wildly popular in Japan; soon after, the craze spread to the rest of the world. Softies are like cute, squishy zombies aiming for world domination. They eat brains only in the sense that once you make one, you can't think of anything else.

Before I talk about the actual content, I want to mention one thing that I love about this book. It is spiral bound so that it lays completely flat when it is open. This comes in so handy when you are working on projects and you need to follow the instructions as you go. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to prop a book open while you are trying to figure out how to put something together.

The first section discusses the making of softies and includes clear and concise explanations of various assembly and embellishment techniques including illustrations of all of the embroidery stitches that are called out for in the individual instructions. Even if you are a beginning crafter, enough information has been provided for you to be able to work your way through the simpler projects.

The second section is devoted to the softies themselves. The project pages are well done and are fun to read. The introductory page has a bubble at the top that shows the difficulty level, finished size of the softie and the assembly method. Below that, there is another bubble that calls out the materials and embellishing methods, if any. So, at a glance, it is easy to select a project that is right for your skill level and available materials. The detailed instructions are shown on the pages that follow and include a full page photo of the finished softie. Each project also includes an entertaining blurb about the artist that created it.

At the end of the book, there is a resource list for materials and an index for easy searching. On the back cover, there is a pocket that holds full size patterns printed on a nice weight of white paper (*not* tissue) so there is no need to enlarge or trace patterns. You just need to choose a project, cut out the pattern pieces and you are ready to go. The techniques used are sewing (by machine and/or hand), needle felting or crochet. Projects include dogs, a whale, a robot, an ice cream cone, teeth, an elephant, even paper doll dresses (which I think would be adorable to hang in a sewing room) among others. The hardest part might be choosing which one to do first.

I have to take a moment here to give kudos to the photographer, Laurie Frankel (her website is at http://www.lauriefrankel.com). The photographs are delightfully done. Instead of putting the softies against a static background in a studio, she has artistically posed the softies in locations and with props which imbues them with personalities. One of my favorite shots is the photo of three soft-sculpted molars posed in a dental office on a tray with dental tools. The photos make the projects irresistible.

My only complaint, and it is a very small complaint, is that the text is a bit small in certain areas. But, fortunately for these aging eyes, the font style and color compensated for this by being easy to read. It was not unbearably small, but I did have to look a bit closer than I would normally.

First off what's the diff? Both (book and kit) have some of the same projects, both have instructions on individual projects, both have basic embroidery how-to's and both come with patterns, but that's about it.

There are 25 projects in the book and 15 projects in the kit, only 5 are the same in both. Two of the projects they have in common are Treeling and the Cake. One of the cutest in the book is the Ms. Tea Bag and the Snow Bunny's.

Biggest difference between the two is that the kit is a... kit o_o; Meaning it already comes with embroidery floss, needle, and felt to make your first ever softie :D, the pattern cards are nice and handy for the on the go projects, and everything fits in a nice box. The book, on the other hand, has 10 more patterns then the kit, 20 of which aren't seen in the kit. They have a lot of super cute ones like the Lonely Dollop (buy it and find out XD) and the trio of teeth (sweet, crowned, and cavity). The photos in both are great, making you totally prepared to potentially come across three softies in your dentist office or spot a furry softie floating by under a cluster of balloons.

I found the directions to be very straight forward and easy to understand. The patterns are all labeled clearly and are a no brainier to figure out.

If you've never made a softie and are looking for something to start you off with the kit might be the thing for you, if you're looking for some inspiration and lots of ideas the book might be ideal. Then if you've become totally obsessed like me, just buy both :D

http://craftychango.blogspot.com/

I don't actually own this book as of yet, but I can not wait!! Right now I am hooked on "Aranzi Aronzo Cute Dolls (Let's Make Cute Stuff)" by Aranzi Aronzo and Rui Munakata. I am sure that my niece and new nephew appricate getting a custom doll every time I visit!! These books are so great not only for what they have to offer but they inspire soooo much in the imagination. I have created my own patterns too. It is easy once you see how simple everything is constructed.... but still the books are sooo worth it since everything in them are SOO CUTE!!

This is an EXCELLENT book! This is the third book that I have ordered. We bought one for each of our two daughters and they liked it so much that I ordered one for myself!