Book Review: Stuffed Animals by Abigail Patner Glassenberg

Abby Glassenberg is a stuffed animal pattern designer, and I have been a fan of her blog, While She Naps, for several years now. I first started following her blog intently when she started writing her series Elements of Soft Toy design. That series eventually became this book!

Another thing that drew me to Abby's blog initially was the discovery that she too collects vintage craft books, particularly books on doll and soft toy making. Those books are pretty obscure and only available on the odd eBay auction or lucky finds at thrift stores. One book might talk about button joints. Another might talk about shaping a gusset. I feel like Abby's book has resurrected and gathered all of those old, nearly lost concepts, into a single fresh, beautiful resource with this book.

The most extraordinary thing to me about this book, other than it's invaluable store of knowledge, is the fact that it works on so many levels, for so many different types of makers.

The book consists of 16 different patterns for 16 beautiful stuffed animal projects. That in and of itself makes the book well worth buying. But the brilliant thing is that tucked inside these 16 projects are 52 lessons on designing stuffed animals yourself. Abby gives you the tools to expand on the ideas set forth in the book and empowers its readers to attempt designs of one's own. This book can take you from novice to expert in the span of 16 projects! What an extraordinary gift to the craft world.

And that, to me, is one of the most admirable things about Abby. She is always open with her knowledge and strives to share it with her community. Too often in the craft world, we find ourselves protective of our hard-earned knowledge. But Abby's sense of community and sharing is truly inspiring and, I'm sure, what has lead to her success. That spirit of sharing is the most overwhelming in this book. I highly recommend both her book and her blog. You'll soon catch the sharing bug, too. And you'll be all the smarter for it!