#toymaking

im at it again.

“It’s not just another retelling of the Grinch’s story or A Christmas Carol or Rudolph. It’s nothing to do with elves or Santa Claus.”

“But it is ✨magical✨ and even though the science isn’t 100% accurate, the movie makes you postulate a world where it COULD be.”

“A world where anything is possible.”

“AND I’m just a sucker when it comes to a Steampunk aesthetic. I’ll admit that.”

I finished sewing the fleece bunny 😌

In this series I take an A.I generated crochet image and I see if I can bring this image into the 3D real world.  

Stuffing is responsible for 70% of how good the final toy looks, make sure you’re using it to accentuate the shapes in the doll you want. 

When you’re stuffing the face, start on the perimeter and move in. Starting from the center tends to make the face bulge out unnaturally against the rest of the face

Make sure the ratios on the toy are correct, for lack of better words? Adding stuffing is a 3D game- while you’re adding to fill out the toy vertically, if you don’t position it correctly it also adds width to the toy, which might not be something you want- especially in thin fins/wings. It’s rather akin to sculpting. 

THIS IS A BIG ONE. IF YOU’RE USING POLYFILL, FLUFF UP AND TEAR OFF CHUNKS OF THE FILL AND LAYER THAT IN. YOU WILL THANK ME I PROMISE IT MAKES THE TOY SO MUCH SOFTER FEELING WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE WEIGHT + IT MEANS THE STUFFING COALESCES LESS TOO AS A BONUS AND IS EASIER TO SHAPE OVERALL.

Keep the amount of stuffing relatively even, or at least consistent in broad shapes, ESPECIALLY in extremeties like noses/fingers and paws/tails. If it isn’t even, the stuffing tends to clump together and leave strange pockets of air + hard feeling balls in the toy. 

Again, you really want to layer the stuffing and be gentle with it, it takes very little pressure when pushing  Another reason not to be rough with stuffing: it can stretch the fabric and force stuffing through the holes, which is really tedious to clean up

Less can be more with stuffing: overstuffing your toys can give them a totally different feel, sometimes to the detriment of the toy. Imo you want toys to be squishable but not limp/floppy, it can help to put a little more overall in as stuffing tends to lose volume over time, but never so much that the toy becomes stiff or hard. 

dear god tight seams are so important, nothing can help sink a project than having stuffing poking out of the seams. Be really careful of this with sewing as well as you can accidentally trap polyfill in your stitches so it permanently pokes out

Black stuffing is really good for darker toys, my local Michaels sells it so I assume it’s at least purchasable at Michaels?? It’s so good though you don’t realize how weird white polyfill being barely visible under the stitches makes the toy look until after it’s gone