Sewing Tiny Toys

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Summary: Tiny Toys: In a Class by Themselves!
Review: I have recently bought this book and have made two animals from it so far--and I plan to make them all! My children love them, and other adults who see them all marvel at the expressiveness of these truly tiny animals. All or most of them can be made by hand, and I have found these small hand-sewing projects to be very relaxing. I also own Ms. Hall's "A to Z of Soft Animals" (out of print, published in the 80's), and have made several toys from it. This book features patterns for larger toys. Both books have a large number of clear patterns and instructions (though sometimes the "Tiny Toys" book assumes the reader will be able to figure out some small details on his/her own; I'm not so sure everyone will be able to do this). I love making toys, and consider these two books bibles of the craft. I've read a lot of other books on the subject, but Ms. Hall really takes toys to a totally different level from any other book I've seen--the patterns are very detailed, and carefully designed so that the animals are startlingly realistic and also expressive, as I wrote above. I think any toymaker who looks at these books will see what I mean--they are, you might say, operating on a higher plane than other toy pattern books! My thanks to Ms. Hall for writing these books. To my mind, she's a toy genius.

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Summary: A mini menaguerie
Review: 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.

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Summary: Great Book!
Review: These tiny toys take just minutes to sew - although you may take longer than that deciding which one to make first! I especially liked that they can all be sewn by hand, making them great take-along projects. I made the teddy bear and bunny at Easter time, and they are small enough to fit inside a plastic egg - which was a big hit with the recipients. It is also nice to see such a wide variety of animals in addition to the classics - there is a camel, a mole, a ladybug, and many others. To top it all off, every pattern is illustrated with a close, clear, color photo so you can really see what your toy will look like. This book will be in frequent use on your pattern shelf!

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Summary: Great Book!
Review: 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!

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Summary: A Great Book For Anybody Who Sews...or Anyone Who Doesn't
Review: 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.

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Summary: Fun and Easy Tiny Toys
Review: 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.