Beginner's guide to plushie making

Hello !

People have been asking me little tips on how to make plush toys. So I decided to make a beginner's guide. I'm going to keep this updated regularly if I think of new stuff. Please remember I'm French, my English might be a little weird but I'll do my best to make this clear and practical.

A lot of guides have already been made on DA so I'm not going to make a new one, this will just be a collection of stuff that helped me learn and progress and tips that I may find useful for you.

First of all, if you want to start making plushies, you have to read this :
from he made a very good guide ! Definitely start with this.
:thumb356886291: from is interesting too.

Then, here a a few links that might interest you :
- List of free patterns
- Tutorials
- Mlp pony patterns
- And of course, the one and only who has loads of patterns to share and free tutorials. You have to WATCH this deviant. 

Some youtube videos/channels : 
- Here is a great channel to do simple plushies in felt, great for personalized gifts ! [TammyHallam]
- Of course I have to share the Thread Banger channel if you don't already know it, here you will find great DIY ideas from home decorations to Bunny Hoods ! [Thread Banger]
- A small channel with a cute Bulldog felt plush tutorial [Glitterandplush]
- Nothing to do with sewing but super cute videos to make your own Polymer Clay animals and stuff : [aCupOfCaveTV]

Tips that I can give to you (in a random order):
- Start simple ! If you do something too complicated, you might get discouraged and stop.
- Watch youtube stitching videos if you don't know how to do a ladder stitch for example, watching it is much more understandable.
- Do things slowly. Don't be in a hurry ! If you're not used to stitching (machine or even hand), going slowly will make you do less mistakes. And with time, you'll be able to sew faster.
- Pin everything ! Pins are your best friends, pin, pin and pin !!
- Check out DA profiles of people who do super great plushies : analyse where the seams are and how they did it.
- To make your own pattern easiest thing is to like buy a plush toy that looks like the one you want to make for the shape (like in a garage sale or something like that) and cut it to make the pattern appear.
- Modifying a pattern : don't hesitate to take an existing pattern and modify it to make it look like you want, this is much simpler than creating a pattern from scratch.
- When you sew two pieces together, never forget to check the other side to see if they are well sewn together. 
- Don't forget to always leave a seam allowance. This might seem stupid but the number of time I cut my fabric when I was beginning and I forgot this...
- Practice makes betters ! There's no secret to it, practice, practice, and practice... !
- Persevere : never give up ! 

And remember : Google is your best friend ! Ask him anything, free patterns, guides, tutorials, anything ! You'll always find something useful for what you're doing

Thanks to all for the interest you have be showing in my work and thanks for reading this

Have fun sewing and making your own stuff !