Christmas in July with Beary Soft

Another day, another amazing piece of soft and cuddly fabric from Michael Miller. This is Beary Soft and I have to say that I was a bit afraid to imagine sewing with it! After all, I've been exclusively working with 100% quilter's cottons for 29 years. How do I handle lots of fluffy stuff?

Minky Beary Soft

These 3 pieces (Red, Turquoise and Kelly Green) had plans for me! They wanted to play with the little Gnomes from the other day that I shared here.

I discovered that cutting into Beary Soft was even more challenging than the Minky. But I was ready! I got out my vacuum cleaner attachment!

Lots of fluff!

Using my ruler to keep the fabric from being sucked into the attachment

Edges are clean and no fuzz all over my sewing room.

I made two pillows with book pockets. Here is the first (since given to my 5 year old grandson Javier on his birthday a few weeks ago). The single layer pocket is of the Minky and I used some Gingham Play to bind the raw edges at the top. I made this to fit a pillow form I had.

Here are a few other process shots. I made the picket about half the height of the pillow front. I stitched it down as you can see.

I considered using a zipper to close things up and so ran a test to see how that would work. Didn't like it! Thought it's certainly possible.

So, I just sewed the 3 sides, slipped the pillow form inside and hand stitched it closed.

I made another pillow which was sent to Michael Miller's offices to be photographed. I promised the pillow he would be safe and would be very welcomed when he got there!

Beary Soft Pillow. 15" x 15"

And then I took my leftover pieces of the Gnome to Fa La Minky and made some play blankets for my grandkids' dolls. I just cut two pieces the same size and sewed them together. Turned right side out and machine stitched it closed (you can see that at the bottom).

Red Beary Soft and Turquoise Gnome Minky. 12" x 12"

And a larger blanket (17" x 25"). Not sure which grandchild will get this!

So, as you can see, working with these fluffy fabrics are not what folks fear. Just follow a few simple rules (as I shared last week) and keep your vacuum cleaner nearby! Check out my earlier post for more details and helps for working with Minky. The end results are fabulous, I'm sure you'll agree!