Sew Good!: Archive

hi! just wanted to say that you've inspired me to try and craft/sew... do you have any tips for newbies?

aww i love to hear that! :D
here is this question that i answered before: http://sewgoods.tumblr.com/tagged/tips%20for%20beginners

and i would add that the best book i’ve found for people who want to start designing their own plush, wether they know how to sew or are complete beginners is this one . it’s by the same person who owns the blog with the tutorials i link to in that other answer, and it’s basically all those tutorials in book form, plus a LOT of extra useful lessons and things and a bunch of how to sew stuff, and a lot more pictures ^^ i highly recommend it!

Jun 18, 20135 notes

Jun 18, 201315 notes

#pants are hard to drsign #plush #cruddy photo

espressocaffe:

sewgoods:

okkk just sent out sketches to everyone who’s commissioning me who wanted them, whoever replies first will be whose plush i work on first

because i don’t have anything else i can work on haha

I can’t see mine cause my iPhone wont let me copy the link. I haven’t ha my laptop for like a week. :( I won’t have it until like tomorrow. I’ve been in the hospital lol

oh no! i hope you’re doing ok! i’ll stick the picture here so you can see it:

Jun 18, 20136 notes

#not plush #sorry i'm #conducting business on my blog haha #i'll delete all this stuf tomorrow or s/t

Jun 18, 201326 notes

#wip

okkk just sent out sketches to everyone who’s commissioning me who wanted them, whoever replies first will be whose plush i work on first

because i don’t have anything else i can work on haha

Jun 18, 20136 notes

#text #not plush #delete later

Jun 17, 201338 notes

#plush #not pokemon

Jun 17, 201312 notes

#or i'll work on commissions #that's a thing i gotta do #not plush #drawings

hi! i was wondering how much your tin of 3 mini cats sold for and if you think you might have any in your shop again. they're absolutely adorable and i have a friend who i'd love to buy them for! :) all of your plushes are really fantastic--i'm especially impressed by the likeness and detail you put into your pokemon ones.

yes! i want to do that!

i do have some cats now that i could buy tins for and then stick in my shop, but it’s such a weird assortment of pink cats and blue cats and experiment cats and watermelon cats that a tin of “ramdom” cats i think would be a little too random haha

so yeah i want to work on new cat designs and maybe making them work on my embroidery machine so i can make them faster, but i want to at least make a bigger dent in my commissions before i work on stuff for my etsy shop ;)

oh, and i think i’m going to list them for $14 when they’re back up.

and thank you! i really appreciate that :>

Jun 16, 20132 notes

infrequentlyinlove replied to your photoset: also real quick, here’s some of my miniatures…

Oh god I have that exact same set of little Siamese cats!

they’re THE BEST

I can’t remember if these are the ones from my childhood or if these are the replacements for the ones i broke in my childhood, but they were literally my favorite thing ever, because they were siamese cats and they were teensy. i used to have one that was standing up with it’s paw out like it was getting a piece of string, but every single part of it that was remotely sticking out ended up breaking off because of how much i played with it haha

Jun 15, 20131 note

#miniatures: the best thing #i would definitely play with those little cats in my polly pocket houses or whatever those are called #and the miniature pound puppies playsets #those were the days #not plush #replies

Jun 15, 201320 notes

#my collection #not plush #not made by me

Jun 15, 2013159 notes

#etsy #shiba inu #shiba #plush #shibe in scarf #not pokemon

Jun 15, 201350 notes

Where did you download SEU? I downloaded somewhere but it doesn't seem to be working... :O

i think i got it from the website?? (edit: and by the website i mean the official stitch era universal website that i think has something about sierra in the name. you’d have to google it) my brother did it for me because i couldn’t get it to work.

one thing is it’s only for windows, so if you have a mac you’ll have to get some kind of crossover or virtual box or other emulator to make it work. i use virtual box.

but my brother set all this up for me so i can’t give you any details >.>

Jun 15, 2013

QUICK POLL

ok so i need to build up my etsy shop, because it would be helpful to be actually making sales over there haha

so. what things would you like to see in there? here’s all the things that i’ve had in there before with the price they’d be at in my shop

mini cats ($5 ea)
altoids tin of three cats ($15 ea.)
mini sloths ($30) (there’s two in there now but maybe if you want different colors)
fox spirit dude and variations on that design ($39)
brown finger-hugging bats ($30)
those shibas i’ve been making ($40) ( i’ve got a red panda that will go in the shop, and i’m planning on foxes and badgerswhat other animals would you like to see me make?)
(i think you can find most of these tagged as etsy on my blog, if you can’t find any of them, look for sloth, bat, shiba, cat, fox spirit etc. because all of these have been tagged as something on my blog haha)

so basically: which of these would you totally buy if i put them back in the shop, if it’s the kind of thing that you would buy this if… what things should i change? (prices aren’t changing sorry) and are there other things that you wish i sold that you would love to buy if i did? (mini teddy bear style animals, mini minky animals with embroidered details, kechains, zippered bags of some kind, etc)

Jun 13, 201313 notes

#thanks for your help #really do need to beef up my etsy shop #not plush #etsy

its because you are amazing and a highly talented plush artist!

;A; thank you!

Jun 10, 20132 notes

WOW! i’ve been watching my followers ever since i got up to 900, but then the one week that i don’t keep an eye on it it goes past 1000 without me even noticing!

thank you all so much! i am just always amazed at all the nice things everyone has to say about what i make! i wish i was better at being chatty on the internet, and replying to stuff, but unfortunately i fall short in that category. so just know that i appreciate everything that you say to me, and i read every comment i get on my stuff, and even though i don’t reply to most things, i really, really appreciate all of them. (´ ▽｀).。ｏ♡

THANK YOU for being the best followers a gal could ask for ^^

Jun 10, 20135 notes

Jun 9, 201333 notes

#plush #they still need mouths ans scarves or something

also my mom said she would be happy to knit little sweaters for those little shibas/other animal plush i’m making for my shop.

real hand knit sweaters on little shibas what’s cuter than that ouo

Jun 8, 201321 notes

#i hope she's actually able to get around to that #because wow what a super combo that would be #not plush #text

Jun 8, 2013102 notes

#commissions #greatest hits photoset #crafts #not sure what to tag this as to signal boost it #artists on tumblr #art #soft sculpture

commissions are open for june! (ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

the slots are on my livejournal

examples of the plush i make here

if you don’t have an account you can always send me a message here (send me a fanmail they’re easier to respond to) but please at least go to the link to check if there are any slots left. (the slots are in the form of comments left by me that are taken if someone’s replied to them.) the mini slots go particularly fast.

and if i don’t hear from you within a day of sending me a message asking for a slot and my replying to it i might end up giving it to someone else.

Jun 7, 20136 notes

#not plush #commissions #all that jazz

littlewarriormissile answered your question: ok so i’m making a bunch of these shibas for my…

Would it be possible to make removable tags? So people could know who they got it from but take them off to cuddle or something

these would just be the little ribbon tush tags, so i don’t think they would get in the way too much, but they’re not too hard to cut out ;)

Jun 7, 2013

#replies #not plush #littlewarriormissile

ok so i’m making a bunch of these shibas for my shop, and timing myself so i gan figure out how much to charge for them (not sure on the price yet)

do you guys think i should stick tags in them, or do you think they’re better without them? as they are right now i’m not doing the tags, but can definitely go back and put them in. do tags even matter?

Jun 7, 20137 notes

#not plush #question time

niinnoh said: QUESTION, judging by the way the red panda looks, are you on TegakiE, perhaps? If not, then I have just mistaken, but you know, making sure. : D

i’m actually not. vuv

that looks like a way fun site tho i’ll have to check it out :>

Jun 7, 2013

#replies #niinnoh

Jun 6, 201338 notes

#red panda #plush #not pokemon #crafts

Wow you got the hang of vectors so fast?! I have a embroidery machine, and I'm having a really tough time with them! D: Would you mind linking to tutorials you used, or explaining how to create an embroidered design?? Thank you so so much :) (That shiba is a cutie btw, I think little guys like him would definitely be popular in your shop!)

i’m kind of using poor-man’s tools until i get the software i want (photoshop and illustrator) but here’s what i did.

first i drew the thing i wanted, and then i vectorized them using this tutorial (in inkscape, which is freeware) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ7PbPcfxus

i have no clue how to import the vector into SEU tho so i save it as a rastor image (basically you could to the same thing in photoshop, i’m just using vectors b/c i don’t have photoshop or anything comparable that i like)

then i used these two videos (in this order) for how i digitize/embroiderize designs, whatever you call that ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SG-b3r-vnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=mO65gCSLLq8

i really don’t know how to do anything fancy, i basically let the program automatically make my things into vectors, and then let it automatically digitize the embroidery design. (i’m totally not using the right vernacular i bet)

but yeah, that’s why i’ve been doing single color, non-overlapping designs so far, because i’m afraid i’ll screw up anything more complicated XD it’s been working so far tho so that’s good.

and thanks! i hope they go over well in my shop because i love making them :>

Jun 5, 20134 notes

Jun 5, 2013331 notes

#plush #shiba #shiba inu #shibe in sweater #sorry the pictures were kinda rushed #my camera was about to die ^^;

Jun 5, 201335 notes

#not plush #sewing tip tuesday #tutorial #wire armature #diy

wow update this ducttape thing is the best idea wowie wow

i’ve been taking pictures so i’ll show you what i did when i’m done

Jun 5, 20131 note

#not plush #sewing tip tuesday

quick sewing tip that i picked up from a… teddy bear forum? i think? anyways if you want to try out wire armature, but you’re afraid that the wire you’re using is going to snap if it’s bent back and forth too many times, and you have no clue where to get that fancy ~armature wire~ that everyone talks about (like me, no clue where u get it :B)

then take your wire, and depending on how thick it is twist a few wires together to give it some beef, and then wrap the whole thing with duct tape. that way it’s still bendy, but it’s not going to bend in one particular place too hard. (theoretically.)

i’ve never tried it, but i bought the duct tape and wire today and i’m going to give it a shot. i’ll let you all know how it goes. ;)

Jun 5, 20139 notes

#sewing tip tuesda #not plush #armature wire stuff

The Shiba Inu plushie that you made with the strung limbs which was sort of pose-able - would you ever consider making more? I'd definitely be interested in buying one if you did. uvu

i’m working on a pattern that has a pretty fast turnaround so i’d be able to have them in my etsy shop, hopefully with different clothes and stuff to go with it if i can get good at that kind of thing. i’ve got a second shiba half-made right now, but it’s not string jointed. it’s more of a floppy plush.

if people really like jointed plush though i’ll consider making more to put in my shop as well! mostly i’m just going away from that with this particular design because they’re harder to clothe. which is why that guy only had a scarf ;)

(the floppy guys are posable too, just not a structured posable like the joints)

Jun 5, 20131 note

Jun 4, 20138 notes

#not plush #not yet that is

shibe is no longer for sale, sorry!

Jun 4, 2013

Jun 4, 20139 notes

#not plush

thehauntedneedle said: Congratulations! Welcome to the world of joy and misery that is machine embroidery~ Looking forward to seeing you put it to work. :D

Thanks!! :D i’m looking forward to seeing me put it to work too ^^;

Jun 4, 2013

#gotta figure out this dang embroidery software hahahaha #replies

Jun 4, 20133 notes

#not plush

Jun 4, 201318 notes

#i'm weeping #not really but still #not plush

Jun 4, 2013635 notes

#shiba inu #shiba #plush #shiba plush #not pokemon #crafts

themymblesdaughter answered your question: question for SEU users (or other embroidery programs)

I’ve made designs in Illustrator and then imported them. Inkscape is a free vector art program that would probably work as well.

keh heh i actually just downloaded this today!

and i had a pretty sweet vector going that i was going to transfer and then the PROGRAM FROZE and i never saved it, cries a lot.

once i make another one though i’m gonna try it out and hope i can get it to translate well because i like doing vectors now :’)

Jun 3, 20131 note

#maybe now that i understand vectors #i can get them to work in SEU #shrugs #not plush #replies

Jun 2, 2013

#replies #not plush

question for SEU users (or other embroidery programs)

hey ok i have been wondering this for a while- those of you who use stitch era universal (the free version) for your embroidery, how do you draft your designs? do you use the pen tool provided in the program, or do you import images and vectorize them? OR do you use another program like illustrator to make the vectors and then import them into SEU?

i just ask because the first two tools seem to be not very accurate. i can’t get a nice round shape with that curved pen tool, because it always gets a little wacky as i go around. i wish there was a freehand drawing tool that you could draw out the vectors or something (OR IS THERE and i’m just missing it? i probably sound totally stupid to people who use this program haha)

thanks!

Jun 2, 20133 notes

#not plush

Your plushes are just "sew" good!

(sarcasm aside thank you! glad you think so :>)

Jun 1, 20133 notes

Jun 1, 2013100 notes

#crafts #etsy #plush #miniature plush #sloth #baby sloth #finger sloth #tiny sloth #miniature #miniature sloth

Jun 1, 201322 notes

#arceus #miniature #miniature plush #plush #crafts

Jun 1, 201320 notes

#gryphon #from a game #not sure which one haha #miniature plush #plush #miniature #not pokemon

Jun 1, 201390 notes

#fox spirit #plush #miniature plush #miniature #not pokemon

Jun 1, 201310 notes

#samurott #pokemon #pokemon plush #crafts #plush

Jun 1, 2013129 notes

#pokemon #plush #pokemon plush #combusken #torchick #big plush #crafts

May 30, 201321 notes

#not plush #not my art #other's art #PERFECT BABIES #armadillo fox #julian #daisy

tumblr’s not letting me answer this question :|

so anon says:

Ahhhh Channing can you please help me!? I was making a pattern for a little goblin type creature, and it was all going really well until I tried to attach the head to the body. The head is a spherical head, but the body turned out not to have much of a neck, the hole is much too big for the head. I sewed it on but it made him look like a neckless hunchback, so I took it off again. Do you have any possible solutions to fix this??

hhmmm… i would have to see a picture to be sure, but i would sew the sides of the hole up so it’s smaller, and then maybe cut a rectangle of fabric that you can wrap around either the neck hole or under the head to form a bit of a neck so the head rests higher, and then sew it back on with the neck.

i hope this makes more sense:

so like… cut the strip as tall/wide as the space you want between the head and shoulders. and then it’s just a lot of guessing and pinning and hand-sewing to make it look how you want ^^

oh, and then shove some extra stuffing before you’ve sewn it all the way on so it’s not floppy.

May 27, 20132 notes

#anon #sewing tip tuesday

I currently work with fleece when making plushies, and one of the most frustrating thing is how bulky it gets when sewing small things. Is it just the fabric, or is there something else I can do to make it more manageable. I'm always amazed how you can make tiny plushies with fabric. :o

unfortunately i think it’s just the fabric. if your problem is that the seams are bulky when you turn it right side out, you need to trim all the seam allowances before you turn it right side out. that’s coincidentally called “reducing bulk”, and here’s a pdf explaining all the ways you do that: http://www.ca.uky.edu/hes/fcs/factshts/CT-MMB-031.pdf

if it’s just that the plush you’re making is small, and the seams are too bulky to work with, i would suggest hand sewing, that way you can get right up to the edge of the fabric with your stitches, and then there’s no seam allowance there to be bulky!

but generally i think minky is easier to work with as far as miniatures go, because it’s thinner, and it hides stitches better, so you can be doing a horrible job hand sewing your guy together, but since it’s fluffy you’ll see the stitches less when you turn it right side out ;)

oh, and tweezers and needle nose pliers are a huge help when you need to turn something right side out and your fingers aren’t cutting it. i would die without my tweezers!

May 26, 20134 notes

#not plush #sewing tip tuesday

Sew Good!

June 2013

47 posts

May 2013

79 posts