Book Review: Simple Softies For The Whole Family (and our first handmade Christmas Gift for 2010!)
by PlanningQueen on July 9, 2010 in Books, Craft
This week we finally had time to make something from the very gorgeous book Simple Softies For The Whole Family. This is the third book in the series, first was Softies and then there was More Softies.
My aim for this project was to let my daughter make the softie herself from start to finish, with as little help from me as possible. I wanted to use materials we had at home, so we only purchased the polyfil to stuff the little bunny and improvised on the other materials.
For each project in the book you get a full page picture of the softie you are about to make. I think this is really important for kids to understand what the end result is going to look like. As my daughter is only six, I needed to help her read the instructions, which are well written and easy to understand.
As you can see from the image above, my daughter was able to work through each step. I only helped with direction on how to pin the pattern, starting off with an example of straight stitching and tying the thread off. Possum was incredibly proud of her efforts and I was thrilled to watch her patience, attention to detail and most importantly the joy she gained from making her own softie.
There are 15 softies included in the book that you can make, which vary in the degrees of difficulty and are recommended for children aged 6 – 12 years old. At the beginning of Simple Sofies there is a great section for newbie softie makers like myself with tips on things like tying off (which I really have never known how to do before!). Then at the end there is a glossary that takes you through the different types of stitches – a diagram and instructions on how to sew them, which is also very helpful.
Creating Softies with your kids is not only a great exercise for them to practice their fine motor skills as they learn the art of sewing, but the end result gives them a gorgeous toy to play with using their imagination and creativity. You can head to www.penguin.com.au/softies and download a free pattern and give it a go yourself. And if you make one, you can also upload a photo of your softie to share in the Softie Album. (If you scroll to the very end you will see Possum’s bunny.)
Simple Softies For The Whole Family – The Details
Format: Paperback , 112 pages
RRP: $24.95
ISBN-13: 9780670074167
Imprint: Viking
Publisher: Penguin Aus.
Origin: Australia
Category: Needlework & Fabric Crafts
Planning With Kids received Simple Softies For The Whole Family courtesy of Penguin Australia.
Christmas Planning in July
This post is also the beginning of my annual Christmas Planning In July. My daughter actually made the suggestion that she would like to make more of these bunnies, specifically that she could make them for her “girl” cousins. Possum does sometimes feel a little on her own in our boy dominated house, but she now has one girl cousin who is six months old and another girl cousin due to be born in October. So this is our first set of Christmas presents that we are hand making for 2010!
If you would like to see what gifts I have made for Christmas in previous years you can find them here:
7 comments...read them below or add one
How lovely! Most of the soft toys I’ve seen look far too daunting for me, let alone the big girl. She would love doing something like this, especially for presents. I don’t think she could handle putting them away for that long though
I love handmade presents and try to do some every year.
I was the same Deb, they always looked too hard for my very low sewing skills, but this was a great project for us.
They are just too cute! I once bought a soft toy that also doubled as a Tooth Fairy pillow – easy to do if Possum wanted to add a little pocket. Could be made with 2 squares and some velcro or a button maybe? Just a thought!
As she is yet to lose a tooth yet, this sounds like a great project. Thanks for the tip.
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