snowman how to:

Well folks I'm glad you like my snowman. I bought enough fabric to make lots, like 6 snowmen with leftover probably. All the fabric cost $50. I think you could do it cheaper if you just use other scrap stuff for the scarf and hat which you don't need big pieces for. I did use a pattern from some company. But I can probably summarize it enough for you now with a little trial and error.

The pattern:
Basically the arms and legs look like stocking shapes, you can either do it on a fold or cut 2 and sew them together. Basically you do make a stocking and then turn it inside out. Get it? The legs are much more stocking shape, the arms are more straight.

The head is a big oval. Think twice as big as the head you want.

The body is the trickiest pattern to describe. You could simplify it by cutting 4 skirt shapes (or the shape of Saskatchewan...) - rectangle that's skinnier on top than the bottom. You also need a round base. If you estimate this then you can have all different size and shape of snowmen which would be cute, fat ones, skinny ones, tall ones etc. So you sew the 4 body pieces together, so it ends up a loop (long sides together). This could also be attempted by just making it with a "front" and a "back" skirt shape. A little simpler, probably look good still. anyway make a tube.

Seriously don't be scared of just trying this. Don't use expensive fabric. Try another kind of fabric and it could be a teddy bear or something.

Anyways, the above sewing is all I used a machine for. but it could be hand sewn as well. And I have no idea on how to make fancy hand sewing stitches so I just make it up. Anyway.

The body:

once you've got like a tube (the body with no bottom or top right) you need to hand stitch around the top and bottom. This is going to be to cinch it in. So when you pull on the threads from each side it will gather it all up. I think it's called a gather or something. anyway, the secret is to use double thread and long stiches (just up and down ones). The body is sorta tricky because you have to gather it only as much as your snowman's butt is gonna be. not all the way closed. So gather it up a bit and sew your snowman butt on (remember this is all done inside out so the stitches are all on the inside. So now you should have a little bag basically. Turn it the right way and stuff it full. Then do the gather on the top and tie closed. The rest is easy.

turn the arms and legs the proper way, stuff and gather closed (just like the top of body). Do the same thing for the head. You might want to make the head first so you can see how big to make everything else.

All the body parts are just glue gunned together. The nose is basically the same made out of orange felt. The eyes are buttons. The mouth and eyebrows are just done with crochet thread.

The scarf is just a strip of fabric with a wire sewn into the top and bottom so it can be adjustable. But you could probably use wired ribbon. The hat was sorta tricky too. Well not tricky, but tricky to describe because of the lining. I'd check out baby hats or something or just make something up that looks nice. This really isn't a durable or practical thing. It's supposed to sit on a shelf or something and look good. Heck, the back can even look like crap as it's not for playing with.

I realize that unless you are terribly crafty already this might be way confusing. And if you are terribly crafty, what do you need me telling how to make crafts for. Hmm...