If you are a regular visitor to Sum of their Stories you’ll know I am a big fan of the Sew a Softie Movement.

Sew a Softie is the brainchild of Trixi Symonds, a super talented lady who has a passion for teaching children to sew. What started as a Sew a Softie day back in 2015 has grown into numerous books, a Sew a Softie month - which I have been SO proud to participate in - and the Global Kids’ Sewing Party. There is a facebook group where you can ask for advice and share your sewing, and you can use #sewasoftie on Instagram for ideas and to share your makes.

Today I’m reviewing a new book, collated by Trixi from Sew a Softie and Deborah Fisher from Fish Museum and Circus called Sewing Simple Softies. It features 17 easy to sew toys or “softies” from 17 designers, one of which is yours truly! I really am so honoured to have one of my patterns included, being described on the tag line as an “amazing designer” is doing my self esteem no end of good!

Sewing Simple Softies is designed primarily to be a source of ideas for getting children interested in sewing, but the projects in it are pretty diverse and are suitable for beginner sewers of all ages really. The emphasis is on hand sewing, by making cute soft toys children (of all ages) will learn a whole myriad techniques which will stand them in good stead for life, whilst also developing fine motor skills.

As well as the 17 diverse projects there are sections on the tools and materials you need to start sewing and the stitches and techniques you’ll need. Trixi also has some great videos on her YouTube channel for learning the basic techniques of hand sewing.

The projects included in the book are pretty diverse. There are lots of sweet animal friends; a koala, a toucan, 2 very unscary spiders, the sweetest mini panda , a bird with a pocket for passing notes, a tooth tiger designed to help the tooth fairy, a very cute brown bear, a bee, a cockatoo and a ballet dancing mouse. There are a few food based ideas; a sandwich with fabulous play value, a giant tomato which would make a great cushion and a taco. Then there is a mermaid, seashells, flowers and a circus pincushion.

All the templates you need are at the back ready for photocopying or tracing off. Most can be sized up or down on a photocopier too if you want to make bigger or smaller softies.

My tooth tiger had a trip all the way to the US for his photoshoot for the book, he’s safely back home now after his adventures. Honestly, I just wish I’d thought to make him years ago when the tooth fairy was visiting our house often and would have to risk getting squashed under the pillow when retrieving teeth in the middle of the night! Tooth tiger would have made the whole thing much easier I’m sure!

He really seemed to enjoy seeing himself in print!

You can buy Sewing Simple Softies in all good bookshops and on Amazon now, it’s published by Schiffer Publishing.

If learning to hand sew, or teaching children to sew is something you are interested in you might also like to check out my contributions to Sew a Softie Months over the years:

There are also collections of past Sew a Softie ideas on the Sew a Softies blog.

Trixi has another book that’s just been launched The Zenki Way, which explains her Zenki method of making softies. It’s a concept that makes designing and then making your own toys really straightforward.

Whether you like learning and teaching from books, You Tube or blog tutorials full of step by step photos and downloadable patterns, the Sew a Softie movement has you covered!

Julie