#sewing tutorial

I also got a youtube account with more videos and a Ko-Fi page for anybody who feels like leaving a tip.

Here ya go! Have fun! This is designed to fit on an A4 piece of paper but as long as you scale everything the same it can be smaller or bigger. Apologies there's no instructions but it's basically a traditional jointed teddy pattern- you can use cotter joints or safety joints to attach the limbs and the head, OR you can just stitch through it and use buttons or something on the outside. The head can be attached as the one in this tutorial: https://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/blog/see-how-to-sew-a-traditional-jointed-mohair-teddy-bear/ Or this tutoial might have a better illustration: https://teddybearart.com/how-to-make-a-teddy-bear-part-2-step-by-step-tutorial/ The limb joints can be done like this: https://teddybearart.com/how-to-make-a-jointed-teddy-bear-mastering-limbs-with-discs-and-cotter-pins/ Here's some more options on how to construct it (Buttons vs cotter joints): https://teddybearart.com/simple-teddy-bear-sewing-pattern-limb-attachment-thread-and-buttons-vs-cotter-pins/

The ears are stitched on afterwards by hand and the eyes can either be safety eyes or glass eyes.

Have fun and I would love to see it if anyone decides to make one! Here's my little thylacine made from this pattern! (I divided the parts up a bit to add more colours)

I have made a standard "hand Sewing for beginners" copy pasta - some of this you likely already know or have, but it might be of some value. 

Youtube Channels: 

Sewn Company - best tutorials on how to do a stitch hands down

Stitch With Rachel - many tutorials on hand work techniques in quilting

Vincent Briggs - creative historically inspired handmade items

Bernadette Banner - admittedly good information on hand sewing, I think she is a better seamstress than historian. 

Books on Handsewing: mostly for quilters. Also get on archive.org and look up old instructional books, they are mostly intended to educate young girls and can be quite well illustrated. 

Hand Stitched Quilts - Carolyn Forster

Quiltmaking by Hand - Jinny Beyer

Hand Quilting - Alex Anderson

The Handsewn Wardobe - Louisa Sonstroem

Hand Sewing - Becky Goldsmith

The Geometry of Hand Sewing - Natalie Chanin

Make Sew and Mend by Bernadette Banner

Links:

https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/piecing/how-to-hand-piece

https://blog.closetcorepatterns.com/hand-sewing-tips-techniques/

https://sewliberated.com/blog/why-and-how-to-learn-to-hand-sew-your-clothes

Tools you can't live without:

Tape Measure - be careful buying these from some suppliers on amazon or places like Aliexpress, sometimes the tape measures you get are in Chinese cun or the Chinese inch (and they are not the same as an imperial inch). Its a good idea to get a measuring tape that has both imperial and metric units. Another useful tool is a good ruler with a straight edge. I like the clear plastic ones at wawak.

Sharp Shears - I recommend LDH or Kai

Good needles - (quality matters!): for general purpose I like a bohin #9 crewel. https://www.wawak.com/sewing/sewing-needles/hand-sewing-needles/bohin-crewel-embroidery-hand-needles/#sku=nedbe9

Good thread - for poly thread (which is most of what I sew) I use gutterman Mara 100 https://www.wawak.com/thread/thread-by-use/all-purpose/gutermann-mara-100-poly-wrapped-poly-core-thread-tex-30/#sku=gtda800 for cotton I have been using this https://www.wawak.com/thread/thread-by-material/cotton/coture-50-wt-100-premium-cotton-thread-tex-20-1450-yds/#sku=ctd9100 for linen thread go to Burnley & Trowbridge. 

Needle threaders - I recommend getting a large package of wire needle threaders. I bought a 100 pack off amazon, they snap pretty easily.

Thimble - I prefer leather https://www.wawak.com/sewing/sewing-tools-and-sewing-accessories/sewing-thimbles/clover-natural-fit-leather-thimble/#sku=thb1003s - it is worn on the middle finger on your dominant hand and you use it to push the needle through. https://brooksann.com/how-to-choose-and-use-a-thimble/

Pins or clips - clips are heavier and can actually feel harder to use. I recommend stainless steel pins with glass heads so you can iron them without fear.

Thread conditioner - You can buy the fancy name brand stuff, but what I recommend is to get a box of silicone earplugs from the pharmacy and smoosh it between a couple big buttons to hold it. This is exactly the same as thread magic but a fraction of the price. I personally do not like beeswax as a thread conditioner unless I'm using it on linen thread and using the heat of a low iron to melt the wax into the thread.

An iron - you can do a lot in hand sewing by finger pressing but an iron will be your friend for life in sewing.

If you have questions please ask ❤️

Hobbit vest is finished! I wanted to wait to post the reveal until I had the pattern finished (which of course took way longer than I was originally expecting) and then I edited the video and then I had to switch hosting providers on my website so I've been very busy the last few weeks but it's all finally finished and everything is live!

I love how this vest turned out honestly, it's exactly what I was going for when I started designing it. That being said though I'm just as excited to finally move onto something new. The hobbit skirt is still on my to do list too so I should be starting on that soon!

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I wanted to make a tutorial for this teeny Keroro plush I made a few weeks ago! I'm hoping it will be pretty straight-forward, but it will probably make more sense to people who have a little bit of sewing experience lol.

You’ll need:

fabric in green, yellow, and white

thread in light green (highlight), white (satin outline of eyes and mouth), orange (satin outline of hat), black (eyes), yellow (tummy star), red and pink (mouth and head star) (if you are hand sewing this project, I would recommend embroidery floss rather than typical thread)

sewing machine OR sewing Needles (ideally you would use a machine with an embroidery feature, but it is by no means required. (You can definitely complete this project by hand it will just take a little longer lol) I have a Brother SE600 with a 4”x4” embroidery plate.

stuffing

fabric scissors

water-erasable fabric marking pen (These are awesome for transferring your pattern to the fabric, and having a rough sketch for hand embroidery. Not required but always nice)

In terms of which fabric to use, it’s really up to you and your personal preference. I used a nice thick polar fleece for this project, because I love the texture, (and how forgiving it is) but minky or felt would also work very nicely as well.

-STITCHES USED-

Running stitch (for the bulk of the securing, if you are working by hand I might use a back stitch instead)

Fill stitch (only applicable if you are working with an embroidery machine, if you are working by hand use a satin stitch for these parts. Alternatively, you could also cut out little pieces of felt for his mouth and pupils but that's up to you!)

Satin stitch (tightly packed zig-zag we'll use to give Keroro a more "finished" look, especially around his facial features)

Ladder stitch (invisible finishing stitch used at the very end)

First thing you’ll need to do is appliqué Keroro’s face. I’ve used the ink stitch add on of a vector program called Inkscape (it’s free!) to make my embroidery files, but you can use whatever program you have access to. (I won’t go in depth on ink stitch here, but there are a series of very helpful tutorials on the add-on’s official website)

Make sure you create a running stitch for the eyes and white mouth part, as well as a running stitch for the start of his hat. CAREFULLY cut the excess fabric away from the green, I like to leave a little bit of extra fabric on the top and bottom so I know for sure it will reach the top and bottom of his head when I cut out that pattern piece.

Next, fill in the pupils, mouth and shine with color. Feel free to give Keroro any expression you want! I went with funny angry closed eyes for mine lol. Once all of those areas are filled in, finish the face with a satin stitch over the areas that were previously secured with a running stitch.

follow the same process for his body.

Here are my embroidery files in ink stitch, as well as the params for the satin stitching (the fill settings I kept as the default). I worked on a 4”x4” square but I think any size square would result in the same sizing on the actual machine. If you’re doing your embroidery by hand, you can achieve a similarly clean look with a little patience and care. Don’t forget if you sew something and aren’t satisfied, you can always cut your stitches out and try again. I believe in you twin.

Time to cut out all of your pieces. I will admit, my process with machine embroidery is largely self taught and also a LOT of trial and error, which is why we are actually cutting all the pieces out this late into the process. I like to print out a few sizes of the Keroro pattern, cut one eye out of the head piece and measure it against the finished embroidery. When it fits I know that the rest of the pattern will be the correct size. If you are hand sewing the project however you can cut your pieces much earlier.

My Keroro is not accurate in the back. I’d say that it makes him less complicated to turn inside out at the end (and technically it does) but truthfully I got a little lazy and I didn’t want to worry about any more appliqué.

FINALLY! WE CAN SEW! Most of this is standard fair, running stitch around the hat flaps and legs while leaving a hole in the obvious spots to turn. Stuff them and stick the legs longways into the body so they stick out when flipped inside out. Also make sure the beautiful embroidery you did is on the INSIDE when you sew (as it will be turned inside out).

TIME TO SEW UP THE HEAD- with the body AND hat flaps inside. This part is pretty dicey ngl, just go slow and double check that you have aligned everything correctly (pretty embroidered face should be facing inward). Also don't forget to embroider the little star on his hat, this part you kind of have to do by hand no matter what because it is THAT SMALL. Good luck my goat.

Moment of truth, let's see that frog!! Cut a slit in the yellow head piece, but be REALLY careful to not cut anything inside! You worked hard on that stuff! Stuff the head and ladder stitch up the opening.

YAY!!!! YAY!!! HE'S BORN!!!! WAHOO!!!

tada!!! doot doot!!! a new free sewing project from me has just dropped!!!

🎪 with a couple of socks, a scrunchie, and some yarn, you could make a little clown guy like this for yourself! 🎪