Melly & Me: Supercute Sewing: 20 easy sewing patterns for soft toys and accessories

By Melly & Me

• A bind-up edition of three previous Melly & Me pamphlets, bringing 20 step-by-step toy patterns together into a single volume. 


• Melly & Me is a hugely popular pattern brand, with over 30,000 online followers.


• Exceptional value for 176 pages, with full size patterns and in-depth step-by-step techniques.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: David & Charles
• Release date: Mar 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781446380987

Melly & Me

Melly & Me is a design label founded in 2006 by sisters Melanie Hurlston and Rosalie Quinlan. Specialising in bags and soft toys, the Melly & Me look is all about mix-and-match fabrics and modern colours. Rosalie recently launched her first range with well-known fabric company Lecien and both sisters attend all the major fabric design shows, including Quilt Market. Melly & Me is based in Australia.

Book preview

PETAL THE PONY

When I was a little girl, my favourite part of any visit to the fair was always the pony rides. In my imaginary world, I had my very own pony. We were the best of friends and rode together all day long, with the wind in our hair! These memories inspired me to create this little carousel horse with her candy-coloured mane and tail for your children to enjoy.

YOU WILL NEED

Note: Buttons should be omitted if making this toy for a very small child. Use 100% cotton patchwork fabric with a width of 106cm–114cm (42in–44in).

25cm (10in) x full fabric width of main fabric (body, legs)

15cm (6in) x full fabric width of contrasting fabric (hooves, ears)

5cm x 10cm (2in x 4in) lightweight fusible fleece

Two skeins of perle 5 rainbow or variegated thread (mane and tail)

Four 2.5cm (1in) buttons for button jointing

Six-strand embroidery thread (floss): colour to match button-jointing buttons

Two small black buttons for eyes (or circles of felt), and matching thread

Dollmaker’s needle: 12.5cm (5in) or longer

Good-quality polyester thread (if cotton thread is used, your seams could break during stuffing)

Good-quality polyester toy filling

FINISHED SIZE: 25cm (10in) tall x 23cm (9in) long

CUTTING YOUR FABRICS

Note: Trace the Petal the Pony templates (see Templates) onto tracing paper or template plastic, transferring all of the markings, and cut them out around the traced lines. When using these templates to trace the pattern pieces onto your fabric, do ensure that the marked grain line on the template matches the fabric grain line (the direction of the fabric parallel with the selvedge).

FROM YOUR MAIN FABRIC:

Cut one piece 25cm x 46cm (10in x 18in) for the legs.

Fold remaining fabric in half with right sides together. Trace the body template once onto the wrong side of the folded fabric, transferring all markings. Do not cut out.

FROM YOUR CONTRASTING FABRIC:

Cut two strips 7cm (2¾in) high x 46cm (18in) wide for the hooves.

Cut one piece 10cm x 10cm (4in x 4in) for the ears.

Trace the hoof template four times onto the remaining fabric and cut out along the traced lines.

PREPARING TO SEW

1 Interface one half of the 10cm (4in) contrasting fabric square with the fusible fleece.

2 Tail and mane: Take the perle 5 thread and cut into 30 lengths, each measuring approx. 1m (40in) long, placing them together in a neat, even bundle. Measuring 12.5cm (5in) from the end, wrap a very small piece of adhesive tape around the bundle to enclose the threads. Measure another 12.5cm (5in) along the length and, again, tape the threads together. Continue in this way to the end of the thread bundle to divide it into eight equal sections, ending each one with a piece of tape. Cut through the threads after each piece of tape to give you eight thread bundles – one for the tail and seven for the mane (see Fig. 1 ).

3 Set your sewing machine to a small stitch length of approx. 1.5 for stitching the toy and use a good-quality polyester thread for strong seams.

MAKING THE PONY

Note: A 6mm (1/4in) seam allowance is included in all pattern pieces unless advised otherwise. Read through all instructions before beginning to avoid any surprises.

1 Take the main fabric piece with the pony body traced onto it, and machine stitch around the traced line leaving three gaps open as indicated by the broken lines on the template.

2 Cut out the pony body 6mm (¼in) outside the sewn/traced lines. Do not turn right side out.

3 Take one of the thread bundles and guide the taped end through the tummy gap in the pony body, to push it up through the tail gap so that the taped end is poking out;. Now stitch along the tail gap to secure the tail thread bundle in place ( Fig. 2 ), and cut off the taped end.

4 Take your remaining seven thread bundles, ready to sew these into position along the gap on the top of the head to make the mane. Starting at the front (fringe region), position the thread bundles evenly along the gap so that the taped sections are poking out and the loose threads are sitting neatly inside the body. Clip or tack (baste) the thread bundles in place, then sew the gap closed along the traced line to secure the mane evenly in your stitching ( Fig. 3 ). Cut off the taped ends.

5 Turn the body right side out through the turning gap in the tummy, and stuff firmly with toy filling. Ladder stitch the opening closed (see Stitching Techniques ), adding a little more filling as you go to avoid a dimple.

Handy Tip

It may be easier to clip the hair bundles in place rather than pinning or tacking (basting) them. If you don’t have any sewing clips, simple metal hair clips will work, too.

6 Take the remaining main fabric (leg) piece and the two strips of contrasting (hoof) fabric each measuring 46cm (18in) long. Sew one of the contrasting (hoof) strips to each 46cm (18in) edge of the main fabric ( Fig. 4 ). Press the seams well to the hoof fabric side.

7 Fold the joined panel in half, right sides together, so that the two hoof fabric strips sit neatly and evenly on top of each other. Take the leg template and trace around it four times onto the panel, making sure to align the straight (broken line) edge with the raw edge of the hoof fabric, leaving a 1.3cm (½in) space between each traced leg to allow for cutting out after stitching (see step 8 ).

8 Machine stitch the legs together along the traced lines, leaving the straight (broken line) edge unstitched. Cut out each leg approx. 6mm (¼in) outside the sewn lines. Do not turn right side out.

9 Take one of the hoof base pieces and ease this into place, right sides facing, along the bottom raw edge of one of the legs. Tack (baste) well, then machine stitch in place. To ensure there is no puckering, it will help after each small section is sewn to stop stitching with the needle down, and to rotate and smooth the leg fabric underneath before continuing. Complete all four legs.

10 To turn the legs right side out, cut the small turning slit as marked on the template on one side only of each leg (single fabric thickness). Stuff each leg firmly with toy filling, then ladder stitch the opening closed (see Stitching Techniques: Attaching Parts ). Because the turning gaps will be hidden against the body of the pony, there is no need to worry about perfect stitching.

11 Now button joint the front legs to the front of the pony’s body, referring to Fig. 5 . Thread the dollmaker’s needle with a long length of six-strand embroidery thread (floss). Tie a double knot in the end of your length of thread and trim close to the knot. Start by threading the needle through one side of the pony’s body at the desired leg location (refer to photograph as a positioning guide), taking it right through the body and out the other side at exactly the same level. Thread the needle through one of the legs, then through one of the buttons, then go back through all of the layers again (button, leg, body) to come back out close to your start point. Here, thread the needle carefully through the remaining leg and button (shown in Fig. 5 ) and return again through the body to the other side. Continue in the same way, taking the needle through all the layers a few times, pulling the threads taut after each pass through. Tie off your thread and sink the knot into the leg (see Stitching Techniques ).

12 Repeat the button joining process to attach the back legs to the back of the body. Attach the back legs slightly higher than the front legs.

13 Take your ear fabric square and fold it in half with right sides together, so that one side is interfaced and one side is not. Trace around the ear template twice onto the interfaced side. Machine stitch along the traced lines, leaving the turning gap open as indicated by the broken line on the template. Snip the corners, turn through to the right side and press.

14 Using a strong polyester thread, ladder stitch the base of the ears onto the pony’s head working first along the front edge, then along the back edge for added strength.

15 Using black thread, sew the button eyes into place on the pony’s face, referring to the finished photograph for positioning. Sew into place following the same method as for button jointing the legs (see step 11 ), pulling the thread to indent the eyes ever so slightly if desired.

16 To finish, trim the mane as you prefer: I cut the front section a little shorter to make a fringe, then trimmed the remainder until I was pleased with the overall effect.

Handy Tip

If you are making this toy for a small child, join the legs as in step 11 but without the buttons. For the eyes, use small circles of black wool-felt or create with satin stitch (see stitching techniques).

ELEPHANT FAMILY

One grey elephant balancing, Step by step on a piece of string, He thought it was such a wonderful stunt, That he called for another elephant.

I fondly remember my children singing this tune when they were little and I will admit that I found myself singing it constantly as I created this cute elephant family for you to make for yours.

YOU WILL NEED

Note: Buttons should be omitted if making this toy for a very small child. Use 100% cotton patchwork fabric with a width of 106cm–114cm (42in–44in).

(FOR ONE ELEPHANT)

21cm (8in) x full fabric width of main body fabric (body, inner legs)

20cm x 25cm (8in x 10in) contrasting fabric (ears)

20cm x 12.5cm (8in x 5in) lightweight fusible fleece

10cm (4in) matching cord for tail

100% wool-felt: white 5cm x 7.5cm (2in x 3in) and blue 2.5cm x 5cm (1in x 2in) for eyes

7.5cm x 7.5cm (3in x 3in) fusible web

Two small black buttons for pupils, and matching thread

Good-quality polyester thread (if cotton thread is used,