How To Sew Little Felt Animals - by Sue Quinn

SUMMARY

• 5 animal patterns (Rabbit, Squirrel, Bear, Mole, Mouse) 
• 2-3 clothes pattern for each animal 
• Animals made using wool felt
• Intermediate difficulty
• Took me 8-9 hours to make the rabbit and a dress
• Rabbit turned out super cute. Especially with the moving joints.

You can buy the book here. 

BOOK 
The author Sue Quinn is a pro.  You can tell she's been making teddies all her life (plus it says so on the book jacket...) because the patterns are really cleverly constructed. It does use cotter pins to make movable joints, which looked daunting at first as I've never used them before, but I'm soooo glad I tried because it actually makes doll construction easier.

PROJECTS
There are 5 animal patterns (Rabbit, Squirrel, Bear, Mole, Mouse) and 7 clothes patterns that can fit all the animals in the book.  Which means you can make a whole wardrobe for each of these animals which was one of the main reasons why I love it.  There is NOTHING cuter than little animals in clothes. Especially these classic looking outfits.

THE ONE I MADE 
My finished rabbit was 7 inches/ 18 cm tall and fits beautifully in the palm of my hands :)
I used 100% wool felt because it gives the best results.  I used to think using felt to make anything is a waste of time because it'll just rip or tear or fluff up at the surface.  And I was right - if you use cheap quality felt.  Good quality wool felt or wool blend felt is a gorgeous material and easy to work with.  However I must stress, because there's quite a bit of pulling and stuffing with these animals, if you use anything less than 30% wool blend felt the seams might tear and rip.  If you're lucky and are in the US, try the National Non-Wovens wool blend. They're very good.

THE PATTERN PIECES
I do prefer books with patterns that are already at 100% because that means less phaffing getting it to the right size.  I didn't mind these patterns though because the book did the math for me and told me to magnify at 133%. I get super annoyed with patterns that make you do the math and just tells you how much they've shrunk. Not at all helpful.

THE BUNNY BODY
If like me you've only ever made felt animals that have arms and legs sewn to the body (like the equally cute and beautifully dressed Maggie Rabbit Softie by Alicia Paulson - which happens to be free right now so go grab it!) the sight of cotter joint pins might scare you but it's actually easier than you think.  Plus there are plenty of pictures to show you how to do it. 

You'll need cotter pins (or split pins) in the right size.  I didn't. So had to get the husband to bend some strong wire into shape.

Husband-made cotter pin and cardboard disc

HOW COTTER PINS WORK
The pin head and discs are put into the rabbit head before sewing the rabbit neck closed, with the pin ends poking out.
They're then poked into the rabbit body between the shoulders.   
From the inside of the rabbit body, discs are put onto the pin ends before the pin ends are curled, to keep the discs in place.
The finished head will stay on nicely and will be able to turn.

The arms and legs are first sewn shut then a slit is cut into the inside to insert stuffing and the cotter pin.  This is genius because it means no turning (the only parts that need turning are the rabbits ears) meaning the felt is kept nice and unwrinkled. 
I found this method much easier than turning, stuffing and hand sewing closed.  Thanks Sue Quinn for the best tip ever.

FELTING THE TAIL
Another pro tip from Sue Quinn for the rabbit is to needle felt on a tail.  This is not necessary and I'm guessing unless you have, through craft obsession, hoarded a craft shop in your bedroom, you wouldn't want to get a felting kit just for the tail.  A wool yarn pom pom may have done as well.  Plus side with needle felting the tail means you don't have to sew the tail on and can stab it directly to the rabbit butt.  The result is also quite cool.  Super fluffy. 

WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE BOOK 
The animals are really cute, the patterns are well designed to give pro results without pro skills. 
AND THE CLOTHES are fab so you can dress them in little Victorian outfits. 

BEAR IN MIND THOUGH...
This book is for BRAVE BEGINNERS only.  Also requires a bit of kit if you're not already a teddy bear addict.  Some of the less common tools you'll need:
- Awl
- Cotter pins
- Felting needle
- Wool roving
- Glass eyes (I ended up embroidering mine)
-Tiny buttons

VERDICT
Fab. Buy it. And some cotter pins.