• Crafts & Activities
    • DIY Toys
    • Holiday Crafts
    • General Crafts
    • Art ideas
    • Gift ideas
    • Learning and science
    • Play
    • Recipes
    • Nature
  • Printables
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy / Disclosure
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / General Crafts / Lucky spiders in Sewing Simple Softies

Lucky spiders in Sewing Simple Softies

July 2, 2021 By Kate 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.

FacebookPin

Meet Peppermint and Candyfloss, two very lucky spiders. These guys are one of 17 easy sewing projects featured in the book Sewing Simple Softies by Trixi Symonds (of Sew A Softie fame) and Deborah Fisher (from Fish Museum + Circus).

You can order a copy of the book here.

Sewing simple softies book with lucky spiders

Do you know what I love most of all about being a craft blogger? The friendly blogging community. To make it clear, these guys are my competition; we all vie for the same traffic, keywords, and followers. But, without their help and support, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. 

It’s a collaborative kind of community, and this book, Sewing Simple Softies, is a wonderful example of that.

I was pleased to be one of 17 designers asked to contribute a project, and came up with this pair of lucky spiders. The stick-up-the-butt thing in this photo was purely for the purpose of turning them into puppets for my video — you can leave those out if you wish!

Lucky spiders

Why are our spiders lucky?

It’s true that lots of people would consider themselves unlucky to come across a spider. Very unlucky, even. Especially spiders as big as these two, haha.

However, in many cultures throughout history, the sighting of a spider has been associated with luck and money. In ancient China, a spider dropping down from above was taken as a sign that one would be blessed with gifts from heaven. In ancient Rome, people would carry amulets bearing images of spiders to help ward off poverty. Folklore claims that dreaming of a spider is a good omen unless it bites you (you’ll lose wealth), or you kill it, which foretells — you guessed it — bad fortune!

So if you can’t stand the sight of an actual spider, make a cute softie version instead. Who knows? It might just bring you good luck.

But our lucky spiders aren’t the only project in the book …

Sewing Simple Softies — a project book for kids

The book features an eclectic range of simple sewing crafts. There are animals, food, flowers, shells, mermaids, and more to make at home.

softie crafts for kid featured in the Sewing Simple Softies book

Credits for image above (from top left):

  • Messenger Love Bird by Shannon from Oh Creative Day
  • Blossom Bee by Tina from Miss Daisy Patterns
  • Valentina Ballerina by Lauren from Molly and Mama
  • Seashells by Bonnie from Make It Your Own
  • Pocket Panda by Stephanie from Swoodson Says
  • Yummy Sandwich by Mollie from Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small
  • Cockatoo by Elisa from Make Film Play
  • Painted Flowers by Amanda from Barley and Birch
  • Mermaid by Shelly from Creating Creatives
  • Toucan by Alicia from Felt With Love Designs
  • Tooth Tiger by Julie from Sum of Their Stories
  • Pip Squeak brown bear by Maggy from Red Ted Art 

All projects have full instructions, a pattern, and a little bit about the designer who created the craft. There is also a section on sewing basic stitches and a guide to sewing with kids.

Sewing Simple Softies would make a great gift idea along with a few basic craft materials like soft felt, sewing needles, and thread.

The only question is, which one would you make first?


 

More sewing crafts kids will love:

  • Make a pair of felt dinosaurs with this printable pattern
  • Sew a jellyfish — the template comes in different sizes and there is also a deadly box jellyfish you can make
  • Bookmarks never go astray! These sweetheart bookmarks make a lovely handmade gift idea
  • Sew a spooky ghost stick puppet for Halloween

Softies sewing crafts for kids

FacebookPin
DIY Solar Oven from a repurposed cardboard box
Outdoor activities and crafts for kids

Comments

  1. 1

    trixi symonds says

    July 3, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    What a lovely post Kate! And I love your lucky spiders. Thanks for being a part f the book and the Sew a Softie community!!

    Reply
    • 2

      Kate says

      July 4, 2021 at 8:22 am

      You’re welcome Trixi, thank you for including me!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Spring animal bundle

Spring animal paper crafts for kids

Dinosaur crafts ebook

12 paper plate dinosaur crafts for kids

Australian animal crafts

Australian paper plate animals – easy craft templates for kids
  • Kate GronoKate GronoCrazy Craft Fanatic

    I’m basically a big kid who never grew up and still loves to muck around with paint, glitter, glue and toilet rolls. With the crafts shared here on this website I’m hoping to give other parents and carers inspiration to get crafty with their kids at home – make our projects, or use them as a source of inspiration to spark ideas of your own. When it comes to crafting no rules apply!

NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION

Copyright © 2023 · Pretty Creative On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in