Tag Archives: faux fur

How to de-fluff your machine

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When was the last time you cleaned your sewing machine? If it was after you were sewing with fluffy fabrics, then well done! But if you’ve been sewing with a lot of furry or fluffy fabrics and haven’t cleaned your machine out in a while (I admit I’m guilty of this!!), then maybe it’s about time you gave your sewing machine a little care and attention.

If your machine seems to be ‘growing’ fluff, then it’s definitely time you cleaned it!

My machine has a top-loading bobbin, and the instructions tell me to never add oil to the machine. Front-loading bobbin machines will have different ways of cleaning out the fluff that collects.

Before we get started, you’ll need:

  • The screwdriver that came with your machine (or a suitable short screwdriver)
  • The lint brush that came with your machine (or a similar suitable brush)
  • Two tissues (not essential, but I find them useful – a couple of small cloths would work equally well)
  • A lint-free cloth (again not essential, but it can come in handy)

Ready? Ok, first things first – we need to remove the bobbin cover. You can tell I’d not cleaned my machine for a while, by all the fluff on the right hand side.

Remove the bobbin (simple so far, eh?)

Now we need that screwdriver. Mine is more like a key than a screwdriver, but it’s small enough to fit into the awkward angle needed to undo that back left screw.

The screws are pretty small so I put the plate and screws on a tissue to the side of my sewing machine, to make sure they don’t get lost.

I knew my machine was in need of cleaning, but I hadn’t expected it to be quite this bad.

Using that small lint brush, carefully remove the fluff from the machine. I find the fluff sticks quite well to it, so I don’t need to brush it from side to side in order to collect up the fluff.

I use a tissue to wipe the fluff from the brush so I’m not just adding more to the inside of my machine.

Next, check how the bobbin holder is located (and if necessary, take a photo) – you need to align it correctly when you put it back in. If you get really stuck, your instruction manual will have a diagram showing how to line everything up, but realistically I know you’re not going to want to spend time looking for the instruction manual in the first place.

Lift out the bobbin holder.

And guess what? Yep there’s more fluff on the inside of there as well! This can be brushed, or wiped around with a dry cloth.

All that’s left now, is reassembly! Replace the bobbin holder, taking care to line it up correctly. Then wipe over the needle plate (I use the tissue I put the plate on earlier) and put it back in the slot, remembering to tighten the screws so the plate can’t wobble with the vibration as you’re sewing. Sometimes I find this small screwdriver fiddly to use, so you might find a small regular-shaped screwdriver works better for you.

Then simply replace the bobbin and bobbin cover.

Your machine will thank you, and should now be ready for hours more sewing!

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More bears?!

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I’m sure you’ve realised that I really enjoy sewing bears – especially ones from the Polar Bear pattern that was in Simply Sewing several years ago. I was offered the opportunity to make something using this faux fur, and it just had to be two brown bears!

These bears were made at 200% sizing, which was just the right height for this one to try helping to sew his brother!

I’d crocheted these mugs and cakes several years ago, and they seemed the perfect photo props to use for these two bears.

Not long after these photos were taken, these two bears went on a little adventure of their own, moving to live with an old school friend’s two sons.

Head over to the Minerva site to find out more about these really cuddly bears I made.

Pattern: Polar Bear from Simply Sewing issue 24
Fabric: Chestnut super soft cuddle faux fur from Minerva

Sympathy Bears

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Sympathy bears weren’t something I had originally set out to make. But after I made Caramel, I heard that a friend’s cat had died. That’s the kind of time when you would give that friend a sympathetic hug. However, said friend lives in a different country, which made it impossible to give a hug in person!

What better way could there be of sending a hug, than posting Caramel as a hug through the post?

You can probably tell that Caramel was the first bear I made from this pattern, as he’s not entirely accurate compared to my later makes. But despite his lack of visible nose (I didn’t have any suitable black fabric to hand when I made him), he gives a lovely hug, and that’s what matters.

I’d purchased the fabric online which doesn’t always make for a success with faux fur. But I was pleasantly surprised how tactile this fake fur is! There’s the usual shedding when you’re cutting and sewing, but once the bear is made there doesn’t seem to be any further shedding of fur.

Caramel and Rusty bears

I made Rusty from the same pattern, but using a tie-dye effect Cuddle Plush fabric (also known as Minky), which has a much shorter pile. So although both bears are made from the same pattern, Caramel’s facial features aren’t as defined – even with his body-coloured nose!

Caramel Bear

Fast forward to 2020 and even for friends living closer to home, it’s obviously not suitable to give them a hug when they need one. So when a local friend’s dog passed away, I knew just the thing to make.

Duster Bear (with clips holding his back seam as I was testing how much stuffing he’d need to enable him to sit upright)

Meet Duster, who was made from a long pile rainbow fake fur. This had a much thinner backing fabric and wouldn’t be something I was happy using for a child’s toy, but for a sympathy bear it worked really well.

My friend’s dog was long-haired, so I thought the long pile of this fake fur would work well to run her hands through in the absence of her faithful companion.

It’s the kind of project where you strongly hope you’ll have no need to make any more soon, but if you do then they aren’t too challenging to make!

The pattern is from Simply Sewing issue 24, but unfortunately it’s not available as a back issue. You can, however, download the pattern templates from their website – gathered.how. One important thing to note, is that templates downloaded from a magazine’s website do not include instructions, so if you don’t have issue 24 then you would need to have some toy making knowledge to know how everything should fit together!

I’ve also made some larger versions of these bears, but for sympathy bears I think this is the perfect size.

Pattern: Simply Sewing issue 24
Fabric: Premier Plush from FabricLand
Rainbow Faux Fur from MIBS
Tie-dye Cuddle Plush from Plush Addict

Unseasonal, but finally finished!

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When you think of polar bears, you probably think of snow, ice, and generally cold weather. But this particular polar bear wanted to enjoy a hot summer – or at least as hot as the weather gets here in England! So here is Martin the Polar Bear, who has taken a liking to watching cookery shows on tv.

Usually when sewing with faux fur, it’s recommended to trim the fur in the seam allowance. This makes the seams easier to sew as the fur isn’t sliding about all over the place, but also it means it’s easier to stop the fur getting caught in the seams.

I didn’t bother with trimming the fur, as I didn’t feel the pile on this faux fur was long enough to need that. I got on fine, apart from one point on Martin’s neck where I’d not actually caught the backing fabric in the seam. If I make another polar bear from this fabric, I think I would just trim down the fur in the seam allowance on both sides of the neck seam, and leave the other seams untrimmed.

As you can tell, Martin made himself at home quite quickly – I hadn’t realised he could reach the computer keyboard from the chair… think he was trying to find some recipes he could cook.

Pattern: Polar Bear from issue 24 of Simply Sewing magazine
Fabric: White Premier Faux Fur from Fabric Land
Brown Safety Eyes from Hobbycraft

A (not-quite-so) Seasonal Bear UFO

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I will admit I started making the Polar Bear last year, with the aim of him featuring on my blog before Christmas. Unfortunately ‘real life’ got in the way, as it has a tendency to do, and although I finished the bear, I never got as far as the blog post! So here we have the not-quite-so-seasonal Polar Bear UFO.

Having made Frank the Not Quite a Polar Bear, I couldn’t resist making a seasonal looking bear to go with him! I used the same applique idea for the Polar Bear’s paws, but picked out some silvery plush fabric instead of the brown. I also trimmed down the white faux fur underneath the applique sections just to try and get my zigzag stitches to lie a little neater. I could’ve brought the applique in a little more from the edges though, as once I finished sewing the Polar Bear there’s not a particularly noticeable gap between the paw pad and the side seam in places!

Rather than the blue eyes I used for Frank, I thought it was better to stick with a more traditional brown for the Polar Bear. I can’t say the bear looked overly pleased at having to wait for me to take his photo while he was still inside-out though! I get the idea he’d rather I hurried up so he could be stuffed!

Pattern: Polar Bear from issue 24 of Simply Sewing magazine
Fabric: White Premier Faux Fur from Fabric Land
Brown Safety Eyes from Hobbycraft

Frank the Not Quite a Polar Bear

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Ok, so I will admit that this pattern was for a Polar Bear…. and wasn’t actually quite so large either – but when has that ever stopped me?? I printed the pattern off at 200%, pieced the pages together and made myself a brown bear who is the perfect size to cuddle while watching tv.

I found the blue eyes at Hobbycraft and couldn’t resist making a blue-eyed bear for a change… hence the name Frank after Frank Sinatra (Ol’ Blue Eyes). This pattern is completely different in its style to the previous bears I’ve sewn, so this was an interesting challenge using quite sleek faux fur on a pattern I’d never tried before!

His nose is made from black plush (minky) fabric which made a nice change from needing to embroider a nose on a bear… although it was quite hard to get the stuffing to stay in his muzzle for some reason.

I deviated from the pattern to add in some paw pads made from some oddments of plush fabric I had lying around. I think this livens up his paws a little, and makes him look even cuter – what do you think?

Frank seems to have made himself at home already, and claimed the tv remote for his own!

Pattern: Polar Bear from issue 24 of Simply Sewing magazine
Fabric: Premier Faux Fur from Fabric Land
Blue Safety Eyes from Hobbycraft

Bella Bear

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Remember Bella Bear from earlier in the year? Well she’s been patiently waiting for me to show her finished look, so here she is!

I stitched her arms and legs into place rather than using toy joints, as I prefer the softer feel. I was aiming for more of a Gund style feel to Bella – understuffed and cuddly. I think I might have gone a little too far in the understuffed line though, as she does feel rather lightweight!

I fussy cut a couple of the purple stars for her paw pads. I was originally going to make them as ‘tickle toes’ hence the trimmed fur at the top, but I didn’t have the confidence in my hand sewing ability to make a decent job of them.

I think maybe I could’ve made her neck a little shorter. That’s one disadvantage of not jointing the head, as it does tend to lead to a very long looking neck. Maybe next time I will add a joint on the head even if I omit them for the limbs.

Ok, I admit it – she’s only 98% finished in this photo. I ran out of black thread for her nose, so she was waiting for me to finish…. then the stitches just started looking worse and worse, so in the end I cut a piece of black acrylic felt and stitched that in place as a nose instead.

Pattern: Belladonna Bear by Emma’s Bears
Fabric: Starry faux fur from Fabric Land

Spotty Atilla

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My original plan was to make a cuddly dog from this spotty faux fur fabric, but I didn’t have a suitable pattern, so I decided to make this a furry Atilla the Bun instead!

I tried to fussy cut the paw pads, as the spots looked more like hearts in places, and I thought it would be a neat idea to have a heart on each pad.

I wanted to practise making non-jointed toys, so Atilla’s arms and legs are stitched into place. I still haven’t quite got the hang of angling them correctly, as one leg faces down and the other is kicked out in front of him…. but he can still sit down properly.

Since I took these photos, I have added in a small piece of black felt for his nose – after all, you can’t have a bunny with no nose, can you?

Pattern: Atilla the Bun by Emma’s Bears
Fabric: Faux fur from Fabric Land

Bella Bear

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There’s always something odd about the look of a plush bear when it’s still in the UFO stage….

….especially when you’re modifying the pattern to make it an unjointed bear! I cut circles where the joints would normally go, then stitched the inner limb to the body right sides together. The limb then gets turned through the hole, and the other side of the limb is stitched to it as usual.

You then end up with the arms and legs attached and can stuff them through the gap in the back of the body. Also, this only gives that seam at the back of the body to hand sew at the end!

One inside-out bear just waiting for me to sew the head into place, before turning. They do look strange this way round! I thought the unusual blue would make a change from traditional teddy bear brown, and the purple stars stand out well too.

Pattern: Belladonna Bear by Emma’s Bears
Fabric: Starry faux fur from Fabric Land

Vernon Vulture

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I’ve made lots of teddy bears, but I’ve never made any kind of plush bird before. When I spotted the Pudgy Plumes pattern, I decided it was worth trying out for my first plush bird. The pattern includes instructions for a Flamingo, Vulture and Ostrich; I decided on the vulture simply because the shape looked easier to try out, given that I’d also never made any of that designer’s patterns before.

I didn’t want to have to purchase more fabric to make the vulture, so I used the same faux fur for every part. Although this doesn’t make him overly realistic in his colouring, it saved a lot of hassle in needing to try and find multiple shorter pile fabrics!

The pattern comes with a choice of small or large wings, so naturally I went with the large – Vernon needs decently sized wings to be able to fly! I did make a mistake in attaching the feet, accidentally skipping past part of the instructions, however I was able to resolve that by hand sewing the feet in place. Because Vernon wasn’t made with the view to giving him to a young child, I’m not worried about the strength of my hand sewing, but if I was making him for a child, I’d make sure to follow the instructions properly.

Some of the fur is still trapped in the seams, but I struggled to tease it out. I think that’s a combination of the pile length and the short stitches. A lot of patience and a decent comb (or even a long pin) would probably work, although I’m running short on the patience right now!

I enjoyed making Vernon so much, that I have already planned to make another bird to keep him company. The only question is, should it be an Ostrich, or a Flamingo? What do you think?

Pattern: Pudgy Plumes
Fabric: Faux Fur from Fabricland
Eyes: Hobbycraft