This post continues the series of book reviews with Cute Dolls by Aranzi Aronzo. At the end of this entry you’ll find a slide show of a selection of softies exchanged during the course of last month’s softie swap.

This book provides instructions for 21 different cute dolls. The instructions are very simple and entertaining with comments such as

Bear is a slacker.
He’s always looking spaced out.
But it’s strange how relaxing his spaced-out, slacker look is.
It’s also strange how someone like him is actually an Aranzi Aronzo store manager.

Most of the patterns need to be enlarged by 125% to 150% for ultimate sizing. I scanned the pattern and enlarged it with Photoshop. You could also take the book to your local copy shop and enlarge the patterns there.

Each doll is made out of felt scraps and jersey fabric. “Jersey? Ugh, I don’t want to buy more fabric,” was my initial reaction. But then my glance fell on my Goodwill bag filled to the brim with ultra soft t-shirts from last year. So, if you have a special shirt you’d like to recycle, like Elizabeth’s Cape Cod t-shirt on the cat doll, take some shears to your clothing and create a softie. Speaking of softies, check out the softies made by the participants in our softie swap:

You can also read about them at the Flickr Crafty Daisies Softie Swap Group

Just a quick reminder, if you are participating in the softie swap, your creations need to be mailed by May 21.

As of 4/25/08 1:42 p.m. EST all swap slots have been taken. But don’t despair, we’ll have another one soon.

FYI, as of this morning there are three more slots left for the softie swap.

Some more tutorials:

Gecko Girl’s Cherry Amigurumi

Jhoanna’s very cute Ruby Doll

Darncat’s Pandy Bear

Announcing another Crafty Daisies Swap. After our successful Summer, Tea Towel, and Bookmark swaps, we continue with our tradition and introduce the Softie Swap. For this swap you are invited to fashion a softie. This can be an animal, a doll, or an item; you can knit it, sew it, crochet it, or felt it, in short it’s up to you.

Sign Up

To enter, email your full name, web or blog address (if you have one), shipping information, and whether you would ship internationally to craftydaisies@gmail.com.

Dates

The sign up closes on Wednesday, April 30th and is limited to the first 20 emails we receive. On May 1st we will notify you of your swap partner. Your softie has to be mailed by May 21st.

Important

If you sign up you must complete the swap or you will not be eligible for participation in future swaps. If you are unable to send your softie by May 21st, for whatever reason, you must contact your swap partner and the swap admin (Simone) as soon as possible. Please be mindful that this needs to be reciprocal – if you sign up, please follow through. Please note however, we at Crafty Daisies will not be responsible for items not shipped.

Inspiration

For ideas of what you might want to make, check out these sites:

• Softies Central, a blog devoted to softies
• Softies, of course there has to be a Flickr group for this sort of stuff

For tutorials follow these links:

• A scotty dog
• A teapot
• A Super Sock Pig
• A Sea Nettle

The Softie Flickr group also has a tutorial discussion thread.

Let the Swap Begin!

I just remembered that I didn’t post an update on the gift show we went to this weekend. Truth be told, there’s nothing to post. Vendors didn’t care about free press and links and why we were there – they were worried about people stealing their ideas, so as soon as they saw the camera (and neglected to see the press badge), they began giving us the third degree. We couldn’t even look without questions and disapproving glances being thrown our way. So unfortunately, nothing to show. Which is their loss, b/c there was some cuuuuuuute stuff we would’ve loved to show and thrown some business their way. Moving on…

I picked up more craft porn this weekend and got a copy of Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. This book was originally written in Japanese, but what I love most about it is the ease at which the projects seem. Not only are the directions simple, but the pictures are as well. You’re not bombarded with a lot of type – just cute pictures that tell a story. And best of all, you don’t need any fancy crafting supplies – just needle, thread, scissors, stuffing and old socks and gloves.

The last time I ventured into this arena, I didn’t fare so well. But after seeing the adorable elephant on pg. 27, I decided to give it a go, and so without further ado, I give you Nigella

I made her with a certain little girl in mind, but truth be told I hate to part with her. Lucky for me, I have an extra set of socks identical to the ones I used, so I shall fashion another one for myself. While the project wasn’t super quick (three hours from start to finish), it was easy and was done while enjoying some evening down-time. Now, I have a pair of striped socks that are longing to become a zebra.