Ready for another Japanese craft book? I know you are. Especially because this one is so good, and really, quite different from most that you see. Nuigurumi, which Google translates as Easy Stuffed Two-Ply, is filled with animals made from recycled fabrics and the whole thing has a very stylized look. Not so much "cute", but simple and fun.
The ISBN for this title is 9784277563154, and you can find it's Google Books record here. It's available through Amazon Japan, but when I tried ordering some other books, I found that the shipping was far more than the books themselves (so sad...).
Now, let's dig in!
Bears! Just look at those faces...and how fun that they are made in papa, mama and baby sizes!
I've always been a fan of penguins, and oh my...how adorable is that little monkey's backside?! The layout of the pages also gets to me on this. Layers of cut and paste pieces? Yes, please!
As you go through the main image pages, a few things, including the animal names are in English, which is nice for some of the slightly ambiguous creatures. But don't be deceived...everything else in here is in Japanese!
The pattern are pretty easy with this book, since you're putting the animals together in a more 2D sort of way.
But are you ready for my favorite?
Eeeep! What a cute OTTER!!! I want to snuggle him up!
Full size, he's supposed to be about 6 inches tall, but the book shows some ideas for other ways to make these animals at different sizes. For example, big on a tote bag, or small as a brooch. Can you just imagine? Okay, that's it. I've just talked myself into making one of these this week.
Mollie,
ReplyDeleteI love how they show using old clothing to make these. I have started collecting clothing at the Goodwill that I know I can use in crafts instead of buying new fabric. A great place is children's pants. Many of these are not worn out, just out grown and the colors and materials are great. I have several pairs of pants in corduroy and of different colors. It is amazing how many shades of brown and tan there are. The tag tells you the fabric fiber content and type. Inexpensive fabric and less going to a landfill. Win/Win situation!
Maureen
What a good idea about the kids clothes. I love recycling my goodwill finds.
DeleteVintagehoneybee.blogspot.com
Thanks!
DeleteThese are making me wish my husband wore tweed suits--so I could cut one up and make an animal or two ;) hmmm...maybe a trip to the goodwill is in order for the weekend??
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see which one you make. This book is my favorite so far!
ReplyDeleteOh my, the otter! Hopefully the book is available in Germany because I wanna make the otter so badly!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and your blog is lovely!
Did you know that there's a Daily Otter site? Neither did I until yesterday, but now I'm subscribed.
ReplyDeletehttp://dailyotter.org/
Oh, such a great book!! That otter is pretty darn cute!! xo Heather
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great book! I love Japanese craft books, and I bought a bunch of them when I lived there. And as a Japanese speaker, I am super wary of google translate, but it actually did a pretty good job here. I'd just like to let you know one thing, which might help you if you buy more craft books like this in the future. Nuigurumi is a generic word for stuffed animals. I just don't want you to buy more nuigurumi books and be surprised when you get some different type of stuffed animal.
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