Tips on sewing ammigurumi

Hi! So I noticed that in my amigudumi a lot of the things I’ve sewn in are really bad and like the heads are floppy, and on the smaller things if I pull them they want to come out. I really want it to be better but I really hate sewing and I want people to buy ,y stuff at an upcoming market but if it looks bad they won’t want to. Does anyone have tips?

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Pull pretty tightly when sewing, use acrylic instead of plush, and just sew securely with lots of stitches

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Maybe this will help?

For floppy heads, I’d recommend firmly stuffing the neck of the piece. You could also put something like a cotton bud in the center if you need extra reinforcement. This website has some more tips:

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First tip … crichet tension tight enough to make a dense enough fabric.

Then you can stuff it nice and tight. Too squishy a body will give the whole thing floppy limbs / head and your stuffing v will come through the stitches.



Then:

I always make sure i pin my ami properly first and then remove them one by one as i stitch.

I use the tail end of the piece wherever possible but if i have to start ‘fresh’ i come in through my ami from the other sude of the work leaving a tail sticking out that side. Then pull up my needle next to piece sewing on and always do 2 st to start to secure it so you have something to pull against .

Then matress stitch 2 pieces together as shown in the link shared by @SapphireLilyCreations above. Or small whip stitches (which go around the edge of the piece and into the base you’re attaching to.

I always sew around the whole piece eg along the top and underneath if a leg if its got a flat edge and do 2 st on the stress points , eg the corner or far edge of something where it wpuld get most ‘play wear’ . Then fasten off with a couple of stitches.

Then pass the needle back through the whole piece and out the other side. Pull tail ends taut and cut… then the tail disappears inside the ami.

Attached a couple of pics to illustrate.

Also tip about using a matching acrylic on plush yarn amis is good but as long as you’ve secured the plush yarn trails so it won’t unravel if cut . Or just sew with plush yarns but take your time, use small stitches and extra st to secure at each stress point.

How this helps xx Deb @hookanory

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If you’re using plush yarn, definitely try to sew using an acrylic yarn in the same/similar color to blend in, since plush yarns tend to snap when you pull too tight or shed etc. Acrylic yarn helps keep all that nice and secure.

Like someone else had already mentioned, make sure you’re keeping a tighter tension for plushes so they hold structure well on their own and stuff well for parts you don’t want floppy.

One thing I’ve begun doing myself since sometimes you just can’t get the head stable enough even with adequate stuffing, is to use thin pieces of foam! You can get craft foam squares/sheets at dollar stores and it’s thin enough to be glued to pieces or rolled up in a neck let’s say. So it provides some extra structure but since it’s also thin foam, it still gives the piece flexibility and doesn’t just feel like a rock hard piece in a plush y’know? I attached a photo of the foam sheets I’m talking about.

I’ve used small foam circles recently to get a stiffer “ball” shape on the end of a baby rattle and to make it a firmer piece to grab without being extremely stiff.

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Im the same, i hate sewing. If i have to sew the head onto a pattern its a pass from me. Your best bet is either lots of practice or better yet, no sew or no sew patterns! When im designing sometimes the crochet gets slightly more complex to avoid the dreaded sewing :rofl:

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