Nonfiction - sewing/crafting (NOT recommended for beginners)

Patterns are imprecise and require modification (the book suggests adding 1/2" seam allowances to all sides, but an experienced sewist will also need to finagle pattern pieces so that they actually fit together); instructions are relatively spare, and most do not say how big the finished product is (only how much fabric is needed). However, there is quite a variety of cute toys in here for those who are looking for inspiration and some basic ideas on how the pattern pieces would be shaped.

It appears that the seam lengths within the patterns often don't match each other, as though the largest pattern pieces needed to be scaled down to fit on the page, but the smaller pattern pieces were left at the original size (resulting in a head that is too big to fit in the neck opening of the body, for example). Many of these toy designs also require stuffing ears, tails, etc. separately and then tacking them on to the finished body, which would result in a toy that comes apart fairly easily (as in during play, or during a round in the washing machine); redesigning the patterns to avoid this would be preferable to the flimsy tacking on.

Willie the Terry Cloth Pooch (p. 153) - I scaled the pattern up ~50% (by eye) to make a dog that is roughly 18" -- had to adjust the neck seams to get the head on, and the result is a dog with a freakishly large head, and the absence of hind legs is glaringly obvious (the original pattern was designed to look as though he's sitting on them, but in my disproportional dog it looks like they are just missing completely). I managed to salvage it with some additional tweaking but would NOT recommend the pattern.

Butch the bulldog (p. 150) - similar problem with head pattern pieces being on a larger scale than the body pattern pieces, resulting in a head that is too large to connect at the neck seam. I didn't make this pattern but did take a look at the pieces for possible modification, since unlike "Willie" this pattern *does* include hind legs. ( )

nothing interesting enough to keep

Inc. patterns