{"id":17490,"date":"2018-02-01T08:51:52","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T08:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/?p=17490"},"modified":"2021-01-19T03:15:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T03:15:50","slug":"sewing-soft-toys-by-hand-or-by-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/sewing-soft-toys-by-hand-or-by-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Sewing soft toys by hand or by machine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two questions that I get asked a lot are <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Do you need a sewing machine to sew toys?<\/strong><\/em>” <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Is it better to sew toys<\/strong><\/em><\/span> by machine or by hand?<\/strong><\/em>”\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have sewn hundreds of toys with machine AND by hand so I can tell you what I think about both of these options so you can decide…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hand sewing or sewing machine ~
\nwhat’s best for YOU?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

MACHINE SEWING TOYS<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I like sewing toys with my sewing machine because it\u2019s QUICKER than sewing by hand! This can be important if you have a lot of toys to make if you’re sewing gifts for a bunch of friends\u00a0 – or a whole class of children<\/span><\/p>\n

Joan Corella sews a toy for all of the children
\nthat she babysits EVERY YEAR!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other thing that I like about sewing toys by machine is that m<\/span>achine-stitched seams are usually stronger and \u2018tighter\u2019. This makes the toys more durable because the toy can withstand the pressure of lots of \u2018love and squashing\u2019!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s face it – <\/span>a cute soft toy
\nis gonna get <\/span>a LOT of cuddles!<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

What needle and thread to use for machine sewing toys?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

I use a <\/span>Universal needle <\/b>for most toy-making projects. A <\/span>Ball point needle is better for knit fabrics<\/b> like fleece, and a <\/span>\u2018Jeans\u2019 needle<\/b> is better for very thick\/heavy fabric<\/b>, like denim. (Don\u2019t worry if you don’t have the other needles, a universal needle will be alright!)\u00a0<\/span><\/span>I use ‘normal’ polycotton sewing machine thread for sewing toys. Most of the time<\/span>\u00a0I use my sewing machine\u2019s <\/span>\u2018normal\u2019 stitch length<\/b>\u00a0 but I change to a slightly smaller stitch length for light-weight fabrics like cottons and use a slightly longer stitch length for thicker fabrics like fleece, which are quite bulky.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SEWING TOYS BY HAND:<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I like to sew by hand because it is very RELAXING but it is rather S-L-O-W! <\/span><\/span>I used to sew mohair teddy bears TOTALLY by hand but these days I find it hard to thread a needle – unless it\u2019s a huge doll\u2019s needle!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

What needle and thread to use for hand sewing toys?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Use a strong thread and a<\/span> back-stitch. <\/b>Try and be as neat as possible and keep your stitches small, tight and close together.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>When sewing by HAND I use Guterman top-stitching thread (or upholstery thread) so I can give my thread a strong tug between stitches to make sure they are very tight.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

I wonder what you will choose for sewing your Funky Friends (hand sewing or machine sewing) Maybe you already have a favourite way to sew soft toys?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Have you tried sewing soft toys? You can get started with a FREE PATTERN!*<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Click the link at the bottom of this page to sign up for the Funky Friends Factory newsletter<\/strong> and you’ll receive my Honey Teddy Bear pattern (for FREE) as a little thank you gift! I’ll also send you lots of toy-making tips & Tricks to sew the cutest soft toys ever! \ud83d\ude00<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me know – do you sew toys by hand or machine!<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pauline<\/span><\/p>\n

Talk soon,<\/span>
\nPauline<\/span>
\n<\/strong>xxx<\/strong> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two questions that I get asked a lot are “Do you need a sewing machine to sew toys?” and “Is it better to sew toys by machine or by hand?”\u00a0   I have sewn hundreds of toys with machine AND by hand so I can tell you what I think about both of these options […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-tips-tricks"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Sewing-machine.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17490"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18456,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17490\/revisions\/18456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}