Tips for making sock toys
March 10, 2010
I get lots of questions at markets and online about making sock toys so I thought I’d compile them all in one big post. Here’s what I’ve figured out along the way through trial and plenty of error making sock toys.
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Buy good quality socks.
Like all sewing the material you start with makes a big difference to the end result. They don’t have to be really expensive socks just look out for a pair that aren’t flimsy – you want firm elasticity. This helps in avoiding a lumpy sock toy as it holds a good shape over the stuffing. If you’re not confident on the sewing a patterned sock hides a multitude of sins! I buy my socks from all over the place – department stores, online and specialty stores.
Here are a few online resources:
Happy Socks - super cool socks in great colours (international delivery)
Ashi Dashi - Awesome socks with out there patterns like intestines and wood (international delivery)
Pumpkin Patch – Great baby socks for owls and mobiles, but you do have to go in store.
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If in doubt, draw a line.
If you don’t feel confident taking scissors to your beautiful socks you might want to try drawing a line on them before you cut. This can help ease the sock-cut freak out and mean you get the right shape first time.
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Keep your stitching tight
If you’re sewing by hand keep your stitches close together – I find backstitch is the best. If I’m making a toy for a little one I’ll often stitch a double seam, just to be sure.
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Stuff and Massage
Kinda sounds rude but you really want to get a good amount of stuffing in there – you’re aiming for firm but not bulging. Make sure you push the stuffing right to the edges of the seams with your fingers. Once the stuffing is all in give your little toy a massage to help even out any lumps.
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Don’t Panic
There’s a stage in making sock toys where they just look terrible! It’s usually when you’ve stuffed the body but there’s no face, ears or arms on. Don’t give up at this point, I promise it will get better.
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So there it is – I hope this helps and if you have any more questions just leave a comment below and I’ll add the answer to this post.
Toot Tea Towels
March 7, 2010
I’ve spent the afternoon stamping linen tea towels for Sooz’s Tea Towel Swap. Having left the stamping to the last minute (as usual) this was a very nerve wracking experience. 10 tea towels to play with and I just had to hope that two of them would work out OK!
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The Process:
First I did a whole lot of sketches of owls. I probably drew about 50 of them and then chose three that I liked. I simplified them, scanned them in, played with the levels in photoshop to make them completely black and white.
Next I sent the files off to the stamp making man and back came three little owl stamps. There was a big sigh of relief after doing a couple of tests. I kinda couldn’t believe that the stamps worked on fabric.
I measured and marked up on some paper the positions to stamp the owls – this paper got placed under the linen tea towel so I could see the markings through the fabric. I used Versacraft stamp pad (thanks for the tip dudley!) and started stamping away. Once I was finished I heat set the prints and…. viola!
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I have to say I’m pretty happy with the end result. I’ve always loved the look of stamping – the little imperfections and variations in ink give character, although I have to admit some of them are far less perfect than I would have liked.
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I’ll post some pics of the finished tea towels once my swap partners have their parcels!
Vintage Tuesday: Owls
March 2, 2010
I’m feeling all owly this week sketching and stamping owls for Sooz’s tea towel swap that has to go out on Friday. I can’t show you the tea towels just yet but I thought I’d find a few pics of vintage owls and let me tell you there’s lots out there! It seems that owl have always been quite the trend in crafting and homewares. Up the top is a mid-century ceramic owl by The White Mole found on Flickr.You pop a tealight inside and his eyes glow.
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Next we venture to 1975 and Mad about Macrame - back in the 80’s wit knit post both Monika and Amelia commented that their crafty memories of that decade were Macrame. There was certainly no shortage of pot plant hangers in our house at that time but until this week I’d never heard of owl macrame. This one is from a great blog Cathy of California.. If that tickles your fancy there’s plenty more macrame owls to be had over at Bill Davenports Treasury of Macrame Owls.
Back to modern day craft I love this cut out and make brown owl by Alice Melvin…
And if you’re seriously into owls then why not go all out for your next cocktail function with this super cool owl dress, found over at the wonderful blog My Owl Barn.
And the winner is…
February 22, 2010
I’m so sorry, I should have done this last week but I got all carried away and distracted with news of babies and scans. I drew the Stitches and Craft competition (two tickets to the Sydney show and two free owl classes) by random number from all the comments and tweets that came in and the winner is…
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3 – Ornella!
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Congratulations Ornella, email me and we’ll organise tickets etc. claire[!at]craftschmaft.com
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Here are your random numbers:
3
Timestamp: 2010-02-22 02:11:00 UTC
random.org
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I feel better now
February 19, 2010
Sorry about the grumpy outburst yesterday. You know when you’re having a bad day and you think, well it’s gotta get better, and then it just gets worse? Yup, that was my day yesterday.
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So rather than continuing to curse at the world today I simply took myself to Buddha Belly, a cafe surrounded by imperial gardens, and pretended I was in Bali for a couple of hours. Not quite sure how I did this given that the coffee in Bali is horrible and I was enjoying a lovely latte but I managed it nonetheless. Next I took myself to Chatswood to buy a brand new Bernina. Thank you all so much for the tips, it seems the Bernina Activa 230 is very popular and after rave reviews by so many of you I simply walked in, spent two minutes with the lovely sales lady and said that I’d take it. I think she was slightly shocked but let me be honest, I have 6 months of free crafting before another bundle of joy arrives and I turn into a dairy cow for a while. So people I don’t have time to muck around.
Last night I started on a project for my two year old, Oscar. We go to gymbaroo every week and you have to find something in line with that week’s theme to put in the treasure bag. Next week is a seagull. Oscar is obsessed with finding Nemo right now so I’ve taken inspiration from the Nemo gulls and started this. Yes, it does look quite phallic right now. Actually it looks hideous but I find that all my sock toys do at this early stage. I thought I’d post the progress of this one and if it’s a giant craft fail well, you’ll get to see that too. Fingers crossed!
Beginnings of a tea towel
February 11, 2010
In a moment of inspiration from the supremely talented Tania (Myrtle & Eunice), I signed up for Soozs tea towel swap. Love a good swap, I do. I had all sorts of grand plans for screen printing but then I had a change of heart. I’ve been very into stamps for a while now but just haven’t really managed to do anything crafty with them. I remembered that Dudley Redhead had little sets of blocks and carving tools on her stand at Sitches and Craft back in August and I quizzed her about stamping on fabric. It seems the Japanese do it all the time.
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So my current plan is to try my hand at stamping on linen tea towels. Well I’m going to have a go… and if it all turns pear shaped I’ll go back to the nice people who make a stamp for you from an illustrator file. I have 10 tea towel blanks to play with and just have to hope at least one of them is decent enough for a swap. I’m thinking owls, but this could also turn to mushrooms as well, given my mushroom fetish at the mo.
To market with mobile kits
February 6, 2010
So the year got off to a bit of a slow start but suddenly I find myself in market fever. Next weekend I’ll be at Allies Attic in Mosman, on the 6th of March I’ll be at Mathildas market, Paddington and then on the 14th of April I’ll be at the Stitches and Craft Show, Redfern. So now I’m in full kit mode and first on the list are Owl Mobile kits – I had lots of requests last year for a mobile kit so here they come.
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The part I like best about making up kits is choosing the fabric and sock combination. There’ll be 3 colours initially – piggies and cream, pink and robo-blue… whaddya think? The fabrics are mostly Japanese - the piggies I’ve had forever in my stash (oh how I wish I’d bought more!) The little robots were bought from Retro Mummy, and the pink/white flowers are called Hana Bunny. I’m still deciding with the robots whether I should use red/white dots fabric or red gingham. I’ll have them at the markets and in the store next week.
Thanks for all your entries into the Stitches and Craft giveaway, still time to enter I’ll draw the competition on Friday.
Vintage Tuesday: Mad Men Fashion
January 27, 2010
I’ve just finished season 2 of Mad Men. While I could go on and on about how very little has changed in the ad industry since the 60s but this post is all about the fashion. Oh my – I wanna watch that whole season all over again just for the clothes. Is it just me or was there so much more effort put into appearances in the 60s? I’m the kinda girl who has to warn hairdressers that I will never be able to achieve the “styling” that their haircuts require. I don’t wear make-up often. This used be smiled upon as going natural… sadly now I think a little spack filler and concealer would go a long way!
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Anyway, I came across this 1961 Women’s Weekly Dressmaking special with Lucille Rivers. It struck me just how much attention to detail individual figures got and how amazing the tailoring was back then. Now we just tend to wear our “size” in whatever we pick up off the rack. Back then they used to adjust patterns – this booklet details how to adjust for a “flat derrier”, “large pelvic bones” and a “high abdomen” amongst every other alteration you can imagine. Incredible.
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There is but one giggle in this Vintage Tuesday – Lucille Rivers endorses “Bri-Nylon”…
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“BRI-NYLON…. easy washing… quick drying….
no ironing… plus, of course, the glamor of
Australia’s own top-quality Nylon”
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Oh the glamor! I can’t wait for season 3!
PS: Sorry I’m a day late… can we call it fashionably late?
Stitches and Swapsies
January 23, 2010
It’s been a bit of a rough week. Earlier in the week I found out that the Stitches & Craft Sydney show has been postponed to August. Just when I was gearing up for the new year of markets and shows. This has left me feeling a bit like a a ship without any wind in it’s sails – almost like I’m stuck in the harbor waiting for the trade winds to set me off on another adventure but so far this January… nothing. Not that I’m without things to do, I’ve been finalising the Love Owl and new Owl Mobile kits this week and not going to Stitches and Craft means I’ll be able to concentrate on the online store and etsy (one of my millions of new years resolutions). It’s just that I was looking forward to the market buzz.
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So sadly I won’t see you at Stitches and Craft in February but I will most definitely be at the Melbourne show in May. And in other great news I’ll be at Mathildas market in March.
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I signed up for sooz’s tea towel swap. I love a good swap and thought a little change from sock toys into a new craft might do me some good. My swap partners are the lovely Magdalena from the Craft Revival and Nyssa of Surreal Design. So I’ve been off getting some inspiration for styles – I haven’t illustrated in quite a while but I’m really looking forward to it. I seem to remember my dad going through a t-shirt screenprinting phase so there might even be some father/daughter crafting time – not seen since disastrous Year 9 art project. Love a little side adventure.
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So some tea towel inspiration below… Campervans by Pearl & Earl, borrowed spoons by Skinny LaMinx, “T” towel by SpinSpin, Chopper Bike by Pearl and Earl
Hello 2010!
January 7, 2010
Happy New Year lovely blog readers!
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I know, I know…. I can hear you asking, where have you been?? Well, I’ve been sleeping. Seriously. I have been sleeping. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year in Sydney. Good food, great company and gigantic sleeps. I didn’t realise it but exhaustion had crept up on me by the end of 2009.
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I knew a lot of hard work would be involved in quitting my day job and setting up my own business. In fact I’m exhausted just thinking about how hard I worked to get all the patterns and kits out there last year. But there’s also something else… a smile of wonder at all the people (and that means you) who have generously helped me along the way in this venture of mine. So I start 2010 with a huge amount of faith in the hearts of crafty gals and a hope that I can help spread a little more creative goodness around the place. To think I do this for a living now!
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So what’s on the agenda for 2010?
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Well in the next couple of weeks I’ll have an owl mobile kit available in the store and a new love owl kit will be ready in time for valentines day (yep, start hinting). In February I’ll be launching a brand new pattern which I’m so, so excited about. More on that later.
I’m thrilled that Craft Schmaft patterns and are now available at Kelani Fabric, Koskela and Little Pinwheel and hope to have news of more retailers soon.
There’ll also be markets and shows… first up is the Stitches and Craft show in Sydney (Feb 10-14), and I plan to have a stand at the Melbourne show in May. Hooray!
Last but definitely not least, I’m going to be starting classes in 2010. Lots of people have asked about classes and they’re something I’ve always wanted to do. So stay tuned for date and venue details. And I’ve got a few ideas for free tutorials, giveaways and vintage goodness to go up on this blog of mine too.
So there you go. I’m declaring that 2010 is going to be amazing.
Hello. My name is Claire. I have a sock toy addiction. It began two years ago when I was pregnant and nesting. At first I dismissed it. I hadn't sewn in years. "Craft Schmaft" I said. Well it seems this crafty thing is here to stay. This blog brings you the delights of making sock softies, fabric finds and crafty inspiration from round the interweb.
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