3 comments about Whimsical Teddy Bears: 15 Patterns & Design Techniques (Creative Crafters).

1. The bears designed by the author as stated in the book's title are indeed very whimsical and could be summed up in one word UNIQUE! Neysa shares secrets of bear-making from herself and other artists. These alone prove very helpful. However, the listing that shows suppliers for EVERYTHING you could possibly need concerning bear-making is an incredible "tool" and timesaver. It is SO frustrating when you're in the middle of putting a bear together, realize you're out of a certain size, etc. and now with this new listing, you can IMMEDIATELY find your supplier to place a quick re-order in moments. So much of the hard work to find suppliers has been done for you.

   Neysa's patterns "turn into" bears with LOTS of personality! The instructions are easy-to-follow. You'll also enjoy getting to know the artist through "meeting" her creations/designs. Bear-making can be very rewarding. Making one of Neysa's creations will definitely bring a smile to your face! Enjoy!




2. Wow what a wonderful bunch of characters.. The designs are great a nice variety of sizes easy to follow directions.. The patterns are ready to copy and begin sewing no running to the copy place to have patterns enlarged..Thanks Neysa for a great book.....



3. I purchased this book for new ideas in the stuffed animal area. It seems to be a repeat of tried and true bear making. I was looking for something more original. It is a good book for the first time or beginner bear maker. Most of the patterns were easy to replicate and sew, but you definitely need sewing experience to take advantage of what this book has to offer. Good value.

4 comments about The Teddy Bear Making Book: Step by Step Instuctions for Lots of Terrific Teds.

1. I bought this book because I have another by the same authors that is excellent. However, this one is not nearly as good. Nine of the patterns are for very basic, non-jointed bears, with only two patterns for jointed bears.
   
   This might be a good book for a complete beginner, but if you have much experience or want to make jointed bears, I would pass on this one.



2. This is a fantastic book for making teddy bears that will probably bring back memories of the teddies you grew up with!
   
   I love the variety of bears offered from the easiest to the more difficult jointed bodies.
   
   There is even a teddy that can be completed in an hour or so. Do you have lots of young ones on your gift list? Then, this is the teddy for you!
   
   The last pages of the book are patterns for all the teddies that you can xerox or trace to form your own thin cardboard templates. I agree with the suggestion to use the carton of cereal boxes to make your template patterns. It is easy to hold down in place while outlining on material and flexible enough not to crease easily.
   
   The suggested materials to make teddies are available in fabric stores or from the list of suppliers in the index.
   
   I also agree with the suggestion for hand sewers to use strong thread, such as button hole thread. I do the same in hand sewing doll bodies.
   
   There is a very useful section at the front of the book called "Guide to Techniques" that shows with text and photos just how to cut out and sew, assemble your teddy, and make the finishing touches such as eyes and nose.
   
   I have to admit from the point of uniqueness I like the Grizzly Bear the best. It is just adorable and one of the easier teddy bears to make.
   
   I think once you begin making these teddy bears in you will be forever hooked on making teddies for all the little girls and boys in your life.
   
   My highest recommendation!



3. I loved the pictures. Found one bear I would like to try making.



4. This book is very inspirational. It's well written and has a great selection to choose from. Very clear instructions.

5 comments about Sewing Tiny Toys.

1. I LOVE THIS BOOK! It has patterns to make just about every little critter there is. Kitties, giraffes, ponies, scotty dogs, duchunds, monkeys lambs, kangaroos, skunks, moose, bats, armadillos, ducks,otters, tigers, bunnies, owls, penguins,sea creatures, people. The list goes on and on. Sizes from 3" up to 8" beanies. What child wouldn't delight in holding one of these little "loveys" in their hands or as a little "pocket pal" to take to school? The instructions are fairly clear.There are a few points I wasn't quite sure on (ear insertion),folding the head dart, but, figured it out. The materials used are quite inexpensive. Felt bodies(some are in mini fur fabric) and seed beads for the eyes. I prefer mini fur fabrics over the felt, but the felt is inexpensive. Also,for the 3- 4" mini's ,I prefer to use the 2 to 2 1/2mm black onyx beads from bead/jewelry suppliers or imitation black plastic round beads you can find in craft stores for the eyes. They are round and give more of an "innocent eye" look to the animals face rather then the uneven shaped seed beads the author uses, which I feel tend to make some of the animals eyes look a tad sneaky. Place the bead where the eye should be and pull the thread tight into the head so the bead is sitting in a little dent. This sinks the eye in a bit so that they look less "beady" and "popeyed" that way. All in all, it's a wonderful book with wonderful illustrations and patterns and I'm sure having one of these little creatures, or several, would delight any child. Adults too.



2. This is a really great book for anybody. You don't have to be experienced to understand how to do it because it explains everything from stitching to what kind of fabric to use. There are tiny animals to sew from all around the world. There is an elephant, a giraffe, a polar bear, a cat, a dog, a lion, a tiger, people, an otter, a parrot, and even a mushroom! There are 52 full size patterns. This book even gives tips on designing your own little creatures. The directions are very clear and easy to understand. The book also gives ideas of how to use them like making them into Christmas tree ornaments or using them as party favors. It even shows how to make joints out of buttons and how to paint the creature so it looks more realistic. This is a great book that is easy to understand and pretty simple. I know I've had fun with it and I hope you do to.



3. This book is sooooo easy to use. It is also great to carry around with you. I am twelve and was worried that I wouldn't be able to make these little animals, but it turns out that they are much easier then they look. This book is a must have!



4. This is a very cute book and it has been a lot of fun making all the tiny toys it has to offer. The great thing about it is there are many toys to make, all of them are fairly easy and cute, and none of them take too much time to finish. All you need to make anything in this book is a little bit of spare fabric and a small amount of sewing knowledge. Most of the projects I have made from this book took me less then two hours total to finish, most of time even less than that. All in all, this book has been great fun!
   
   My only complaint with it would be the weird way the author was trying to copy Beanie Babies. While none of her designs look anything like the famous Beanie Babies, all of animals have names like Beanie Babies (example: one of hers is called "Cassie, the Cow", which is the same naming method Beanie Babies use...the animal's name, comma, type of animal) and all of her animals have little rhyming poems (just like all Beanie Babies have on their tags) accompanying them on their introduction section. I'm sure the author was trying to be cute, but I found it annoying and unoriginal. If you can ignore this part, as I did, this is a fun book despite that.



5. I checked out this book from the library to make a stuffed penguin, and enjoyed the book so much that I told my family to get it for me as a birthday gift! I am not a seamstress, but I did find the penguin pattern easy to use, and I look forward to making some of the other items in the book!

5 comments about Knit a Square/Make a Toy (Home Library Craftbooks).

1. I learned to knit 3 weeks ago and only learned to knit straight things. (blankets, scarfs, pot holders). This book has been so much fun because I can easily start to make adorable gifts for my nephew, friends, and family with just these basic skills. The instructions are easy to follow, and the pictures are wonderful and very colorful. The patterns are also flexible- you can double the dimensions to make larger animals or halve them to make tinier ones. You can also stuff the animals with whatever you want- some ideas I have include potpurri to make sachet animals or catnip to make cat toys. I've only just begun working with this book but can't wait to make a whole knitting menagerie! I really enjoy this book because it is very easy to follow and other craft books I have seen can be complicated.



2. I just got a knitting machine a couple of weeks ago and this book is wonderful.I don't have to be an expert to understand the directions and there are no abbreviations like most knitting patterns. The toys are so cute and they look as though you really know what you are doing when they are done. I think I am a accomplishing something great when I make the toys. The toys are very quick(on a machine or by hand) to make because they are all made from squares or rectangles. The toys would be great made with left over yarns , and you can get creative by adding your own touches and using different colors. They toys are safe for kids since they don't have buttons or anything that could choke a child and if they do, you can leave them off the toy. The toys are a good size at 12 inches or bigger. My favorite is the mermaid and the sitting dog.



3. This is an excellent book. I use it when I teach children to knit. They are so excited because they can make these adorable toys just by knitting squares in garter stitch. The patterns and instructions are VERY clear. They show you pictorally the color and size of each square and how many you need of each one. Gauge doesn't even matter because you're just knitting squares and rectangles. You are only limited by your imagination with this treasure trove of ideas! Sewing up the toys is very easy as well, and there are step by step instructions. The front 2 pages of the book have a color photo index of each toy so you can see all of them at once while you try to decide which to make first!! I can't say enough good things about this book....



4. I made the snake in lime green with maroon rings between the pieces as requested by my six year old grandson. It was about seven feet long. It turned out very good. I put small beads between two plastic spoons (the cup part) taped together in the tail to make it rattle. He loved it.
   
   I found the instructions were very good. I didn't worry about needle size or gauge. It's a toy snake. It doesn't matter.
   
   I purchased the yarn to make the monkey and now have lost my book. I haven't been able to find another. I'm still looking but don't think I want to pay $39.94 for it. Maybe it will turn up somewhere.



5. I was excited to find this book because I needed something quick and easy to work on while holding cats and watching DVDs in the evening. The knitting part is perfect for this and I enjoyed knitting away on my squares and rectangles. (I did reduce the size by 1/2, as I know enough about dolls to know I don't like big ones. I also figured that the larger sizes would look more "loving hands at home" than smaller versions.)
   
   However, I'm still bogged down with stuffing and assembling. I knitted up pieces for 3 animals - the camel, the horse, and the bird. I tried putting the bird together first, but realized I needed to do a couple of simpler assemblies first, it's more complicated. I'm still working on the camel and it isn't all together yet!
   
   I make cloth art dolls and I'm not a complete novice, but I must say that shaping the squares and rectangles into curves is not nearly as simple as you might think. I'm determined to finish my animals, but probably won't make new ones. Oh, and do add a neck to the poor horse! It really looks pathetic without one!
   
   It might have been easier if I'd made the squares and rectangles full size, but to my mind the finished animals were just too unwieldy at the larger size. However, I will admit that it's very soothing to knit the individual pieces. I could probably keep on doing that for months!

2 comments about Cats, Rats & Other Creatures: 15 Patterns & Design Techniques.

1. This is an awesome book. I am an artist and the stuffed animals in this book are original, fun and very charming. The book shows you many ideas to alter the original pattern to individualize your animal. Great pictures, easy instructions and very very entertaining. Great value, one of the best book on the market, treat yourself right with this book!



2. This is a fantastic book. The patterns are whimsical, funny, creative and beautiful. I have been making stuffed critters for ages and just love the designs in this book. I really can't say enough about it. Instructions and patterns are very well written. The pictures are eye-candy inspiration. I love it.

5 comments about Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys.

1. Even if you are a beginner, you will love knitting these cute animals and the kids who play with them will have a great time. Great pictures of each animal. The explanations can be difficult but are pretty straightforward.

   I highly recommend this book to all parents who are tired of Barbie Dolls! And my mother-in-law loves being able to knit for her grand kids something other than sweaters.




2. Jungle, Safari, Outback, North Pole... there is a whole zoo of animals to knit here, and cute little people to match, in various costumes. My only regret is that I only have so much spare time in which to make these, and I want to start everything at once! Patterns are rated for difficulty, and great pictures/diagrams.



3. Finally, a book of toy knitting patterns for the advanced beginner!

   If you know how to cast on and bind off, and increase and decrease using any old method, you can make everything in this book.

   Unlike Debbie Bliss' books, the patterns do NOT require: 1) knitting in the round so no circular needles needed, 2) knitting on double-pointed needles, 3) knowledge of intarsia, 4) knowledge of short row shaping, 5) yarn overs, provisional cast-on, button-hole or lace making, or any other intermediate techniques.

   All you need is two needles, yarn, and a needle for sewing up the pieces.

   Thankfully, there aren't a zillion pieces in each pattern, weird gussets or anything requiring charts. The toys knit up fast in 1 or 2 evenings, so there is almost instant gratification.




4. This book contains adorable patterns that are easy to follow. It is very well written and has greta pictures. The fish pattern is the cutest, but there also are numerous outback animals and undersea animals included. If you can do the basics of knitting, you will love it!



5. i think the book is great and have made toys from the book world of knitted toys they are great toys to knit

4 comments about The ABC's of Making Teddy Bears.

1. I have just compleated my first bear from a mcalls pattern and this book is so far the easyist to understand that I have found matter a fact I am probably going to buy it today so I can find new ways of making my bears



2. This is a well put together book on how to make bears, for a novice as well as a person who has made a few bears. The patterns have a skill rating and I especially liked the artist tips that accompany each pattern. Just what the teddy bear fans need, more patterns to play with.



3. This book is a "must-have" for the beginner and more experienced teddy bear makers' library. There is a large selection of adorable patterns, easy instructions and good quality color photographs. I highly recommend this book if you are serious about making professional looking teddy bears. Everything you need to know in one comprehensive book, plus artist tips and even a bit of Teddy trivia to keep things interesting.



4. I have made lots of teddy bears and I wish I had found this book years ago when I first started making bears. It not only tells you how to do something but also shows you in detail. I have always wanted to use flex joints and now thanks to this book I now know how to do it. It is written by someone who knows what they are talking about and I am buying another book just in case I ever loose the one, I just bought. I can't praise this book enough and I would tell any one to buy it. Starting from a person who wants to learn to make their first teddy bear to someone like myself who has made quite a few bears. It will help me to make even better quality bears and improve on the techniques I use now, to purchase this book, it is well worth the price. I have been looking for a book like this since I first started making bears. Thank You

5 comments about Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter.

1. The premise is deceptively simple: sock monkeys aren't just sitting idly on shelves waiting for human beings to notice and interact with them. They are in fact leading rich, sometimes complex inner lives.
   
   Reading SOCK MONKEY DREAMS is much like peering through window after window of a doll's house (in this case, a turreted red Victorian two-story dubbed the Red Heel Monkey Shelter) to witness the scenes inside actually in motion, the characters fully fleshed and engaged in matters of interest and concern to them, whether we are observing them or not.
   
   The reader is prepared for this shift in perspective by the opening chapters, in which, respectively, sock monkeys Folio and Benny Hathaway provide the history of the origin and development of their simian kind (including a fascinating series of photos illustrating the physical evolution of the species), and explain the impetus behind Benny's decision to gather stories of the Shelter's citizens.
   
   Benny clarifies early: "Before we go any further, I think that we should get one thing straight. The way the monkeys at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter look at life is not necessarily the way all sock monkeys look at the world around them... Not all sock monkeys are self-centered, crazy, infused with magical powers, or convinced they are royalty or ex-movie stars. Not all monkeys have their own TV shows, join rock bands, or run little secondhand shops. As far as I know. But some of the monkeys here do these things." (SMD, p. 16)
   
   The majority of the book provides glimpses into the lives of these monkeys, through snippets of interviews and articles from The Monkey Ape Vine, as well as sidebars that explain Cool Girls slang or the rules of games like Slug Bug and Slickety Wicket.
   
   But the clever, often funny and sometimes poignant writing is only half of the delight of SOCK MONKEY DREAMS. Numerous gorgeous, full-page photographs of sock monkeys in action, using satisfyingly detailed sets, provide the reader with a visual feast. They also provoke not a few 'how did they DO that?'s. The Minibabies garden, GAGA OSME circus scene, and Zippy's surreal birthday party are particular favorites.
   
   The vignette style of SOCK MONKEY DREAMS makes it possible to read the book beginning at any point (dreams, after all, being non-linear). It succeeds in operating on multiple story-telling levels to appeal to a range of ages and temperaments. It is both simple and sophisticated, clever and straightforward. It is by turns sweet and sardonic, laugh provoking and insightful. The characters into whose lives we glimpse are shown clearly to be as prone to foibles and follies, to hold hopes (or delusions) as strongly, to love and disdain and provoke and ignore each other as completely as any human beings.
   
   SOCK MONKEY DREAMS is the sort of book that will stimulate all but the dullest or most jaded imaginations, and I recommend it most highly.



2. This is a great book if you like to laugh. What a hoot!



3. Whitney Shroyer and Letitia Walker, Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter (Viking, 2006)
   
   All the sudden there's a sock monkey revolution out there. I'm not entirely sure why, but the odd-looking, slightly ominous little dolls are all the rage again. Viking are the latest company to capitalize on the trend with Shroyer and Walker's Sock Monkey Dreams, an odd little photography book that purports to be about the lives of some sentient sock monkeys.
   
   Okay, once the trauma of that image is out of your head, away we'll go with the review.
   
   The basic idea behind the book was this: construct a scene, add some sock moneys, take a picture, write some text to go with the picture. Not out of the ordinary for a book of photography. This is a lot more than just captions, though. Shroyer and Walker have created an entire sock monkey civilization, replete with politics, a pecking order, the bad side of the tracks, you name it. The stories intertwine to give a complete (as far as we know) picture of life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter. It's exceptionally clever, and well carried-out. The pictures are taken with an eye to composition, though that shouldn't be surprising given their artificial nature.
   
   It's quite the flight of fancy, and if sock monkeys don't terrify you, you'll probably love it. *** ½



4. Got the product -- a book -- on time and it was in excellent condition. Would purchase another product from this seller.



5. It was not even worth the effort to ask for my money back.And I was generous when I gave it one star.I only bought it because they hooked me with the old buy this with that....

No comments about Bean Bag Buddies.

5 comments about Sock Doll Workshop: 30 Delightful Dolls to Create and Cherish.

1. When I was a kid, I made sock dolls. They were simple and I didn't have to do too much sewing before I could start playing. This book took me back to those happy days and also gave me some new ideas. There are "character" dolls (including a ballerina, a family, and Santa Claus) that children would probably enjoy. There are also lots of cute baby and child dolls. Many of the socks used for the dolls pictured in the book are "unusual" socks (patterned or textured) and the dolls are designed to be made of "new" socks (unlike my childhood toys that I made of the odd socks who had lost their mates). The dolls in this book are quick and relatively easy to make - a good way to satisfy a child quickly with a "new toy". Also, older children who know how to sew could make many of these with a little help from an adult friend or family member.



2. This is a great book, full of different and delightful dolls, babies, women, men and animals. I can't stop looking at it! Get yourself a soft sculpture needle and be glad the dryer eats one of every pair of your socks.



3. Yes, there are 30 dolls in this, but the primary variation is how you finish the face and the color or pattern of socks you use.
   Also note these are dolls ONLY, there is not any animals or other creatures. The slight exception is two of the sock dolls are in costume, one is a lion.
   There are good directions so if you are looking for only dolls then you may find some fresh ideas.
   I expected more variety and some unique creations.



4. I debated about whether or not to buy this book for quite a while. One day, I happened to see it on sale for a great price so I snatched it up. I couldn't be happier! I must say, before I bought this book, I didn't know much about hand-sewing at all. This book teaches basic hand stitches with easy drawings and diagrams. Even though the projects are incredibly simple, it's helped me tremendously in other advanced sewing projects. Also, the dolls are ADORABLE. Who would've thought you could make precious little dolls from socks? LOL I've already made a couple of them and I'm so pleased at how they look. I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you're already a seasoned seamstress, you'll still have fun making these precious little dolls in your spare time.



5. I found this book incredibly well written. The instructions are very clear. All the stitches you need are explained in the book. The dolls start very simple and get a little more complicated but there's nothing a determined beginner or child couldn't master quickly. There are lots of patterns ranging from babies, santa claus, a teddy bear, a clown, and even a beautiful ballerina.