Gingermelon's Embroidered Animals: Heirloom animal dolls to sew, embellish and treasure

Even if you don't make any of the designs, it doesn't matter because this book is delightful.

Thus has got to be the most beautiful book I have ever seen. It is full of tips, clear instructions, loads of full sized patterns, ideas and so many beautiful colourful pictures of animals to make. There is a lot more to this book than i expected. It is definitely worth every penny. Now I'm off to find 'Shelly Down's insta and follow her :)

Lovely directions and colourful book - pleased with purchase

Fantastic book really detailed instructions and easy to understand

This is a beautiful book. All the patterns are to scale, the instructions, images, layout, all beautiful. Very pleased.

Gorgeous little book that contains all you need to make all of the dolls. It includes the base pattern for the face and body (all dolls are made from the same body pattern), individual face embroidery patterns, individual ears and individual outfits. The outfits themselves are universal for all of the dolls so they can be mix and matched easily. This book is beginner friendly but I wouldn't say its for someone very new to sewing, it uses basic stitches and terms and fairly basic embroidery which also has pictograms at the back to show you how to do the stitches. I do also like how the book doesn't ask you to use specialist sewing tools that the ordinary Sunday sewing enthusiast wouldn't have, instead it suggests things like chopsticks for stuffing the bodies which I thought was well thought out. The only thing the book asked for that I didn't already have in my sewing kit was a doll needle but I honestly didn't find that an issue. I just chose my longest needle and off I went. The Book also gives handy tips like swapping the needle out for a more flexible one to attach the head which I did find made things easier. My biggest complaint with this book is that the patterns do not include seam allowance. I understand why the author did this because her intention is for you to trace the pattern directly to the fabric then add your own seam allowance but in practice this just doesn't work. The patterns call for you to cut most pieces on a fold which cant be traced though so you end up tracing through on unfolded fabric then having to fold it and then cut it whilst eyeballing the seam allowance. Inevitably this ended up in a wayward scissors chopping a much to small seam allowance in areas. I have taken to scanning and printing the pattern pieces then cutting them out and gluing them to another piece of paper to add in the seam allowance properly with a draft ruler and French curve which was extremely time consuming but I suppose I only need to do it once. Overall I really like the book, the seam allowance issue does let it down but this can be overcome with time and the patterns make for a really pretty and well proportioned doll. I will be altering the patterns so that the head and legs can be sewn into the seam rather than individually attached, this is out of personal preference rather than anything else.

The book is gorgeous! The patterns are clear and the instructions are concise and easy to follow. The projects themselves are absolutely adorable and the general production value of the book is very high. As an avid follower of Gingermelon on Insta, I was really glad that the book was of such lovely quality.

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I know this book has. been out for a while, and I know there are outstanding reviews. So it's hard to add anything to all that. But I had to jump in the pool of happy buyers because it truly is a little work of art! Not only are the characters adorable, but the clothing is SO cute! There are some sorta short-cuts to sewing that at least makes it easier. (VERY important!) I've seen the techniques in Japanese doll sewing books and always wondered why U.S. designers didn't try and make their pieces easier to sew. (At the least for small dolls, although the technique is the same for larger dolls clothes.) It might use up a tad more fabric, but it cuts so much time off the sewing process and keeps you from having your sewing machine eat your fabric. So this way of sewing if worth a ton! I don't know if I'll ever get good enough to embroider the adorable faces. But that's okay. I have to focus on the clothing because really, Shelly is a genius! There's a darling piece that is a raglan sleeve design. Most people string elastic through the collar area, but Shelly created a band instead so the fabric gathers most lovely into the band. It's really pretty and much more professional. Also, the overalls. Specifically the pant leg part. SO much faster and easier. (I won't give it away.) And then a cute top that is all one piece instead of having shoulder seams then trying to pull those thick pieces through. The possibilities for creativity are endless and the frosting on top of the cake is the fact that the pieces are correct as they are. So no increasing with a copier! My only disappointment is there is not a dog included. Lots of other animals like cat, deer, bear, mouse, elephant, fox, deer, lamb, unicorn and lion. But no dog. That's kinda a big deal for us dog lovers. So I'll have to put my creative cap on and come up with a face that looks like a dog. Other than that, the book is perfect and I'm kinda sorry it took me so long to buy it! Good going, Shelly! xx

Adorei. Os bichinhos são lindos e com muita explicação fácil de entender.Os moldes tem um tamanho bom. Pois vão ficar delicados . Ideal para decoração de quarto infantil.

Looks great, easy to read & understand, arrived very fast...can't wait to get started....

Es un muy lindo libro, trae muchos patrones interesantes.Lo único que a mí gusto hace que se vea menos profesional es que los patrones parecen dibujados a mano, pero eso no les resta funcionalidad, solo son preferencias personales.Las fotografías son muy lindas y el papel es de muy buena calidad.

Tolles Buch, super Anleitungen. Sehr gut umsetzbar. Näherfahrungen sind da vom Vorteil, dann versteht sich die Anleitung wie von selbst. Mit hilfreichen Tips auf jeder Seite.