Hello ladies and gentlemen - if you are here for the Sew Cute To Cuddle blog hop, welcome! Today I'll be reviewing Sew Cute To Cuddle by Mariska Vos-Bolman, and it is a pleasure to do so! The nice people at Stitch Craft Create sent us a PDF copy of the book to review and they will also be sending 1 copy of this book to one lucky Feeling Stitchy reader!
Let's be clear that I am crafty but not of the sewing variety, so what I am offering is my inexperienced-at-sewing perspective. :) Well, if you can follow directions, you'll do just fine with this book. There are nice, clear diagrams and marks on the patterns that make it all very easy to follow along.
As proof, here is my finished hippo, freshly stuffed this morning:
The book is well-laid out and inspiring, and I love the way the author mixes and matches her fabrics in such a creative way. It definitely inspires me to pair things in ways I wouldn't ordinarily have done. The patterns are friendly to hand-sewing, so if you're afraid of a sewing machine (like yours truly), you can still sew your way through all of them. My hippo occupied about 2 full nights of sewing. Also, be sure to buy LOTS of stuffing - this little hippo ate up a 12 oz bag and a half of another, so about 18 oz, total!
This little owl was crafted by our patterns blogger, Jo:
Here's what Jo, a more experienced seamstress, had to say about the book:
I've had so much fun sewing from Sew Cute to Cuddle. It looks a lovely book and I will definitely be sewing from it again, I think the tiger will be up next, in time for my daughter's birthday (or maybe Christmas) as she loves tigers. I have just one criticism of the book though - no seam allowance, although it was fantastic that you don't have to enlarge the patterns. I did change the pattern slightly by hand embroidering on the appliqué pieces instead of machine sewing them on.
Be sure to stop by Emma Lamb's very thorough review, which includes wonderful details about the book and author, and which I will not try to reproduce here. Instead, I am keeping it brief with my final take on this book which is - totally worth it! If you like to sew stuffed creatures, or you are a relative sewing newbie, like myself, you will find the book a delightful addition to your craft library!
Here's a quick peek at all 12 toy patterns included in the book:
To enter our book giveaway, answer the following question: Which of these patterns would you make, or which is your favorite? I will close the comments on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 9 PM US CST, and we'll announce one random winner of the book soon after that.
