I am rather a fan of the many crafty kits and books from Klutz. Although they are usually marketed as for children, many are really ageless and great fun, even for an old ‘un like me.
I have had the Sew Mini Treats book and kit for quite a while now, and made many of the projects in it.
So what do you get for your money.. is it worth it… and who is it suitable for?
What You Get
The kit consists of a cardboard box of supplies and am 48 page, full colour book. The box is about 20 cms wide and 23 cms tall. The book is the same size.
The box says that it is suitable for “Ages 10 and up”. I am well over ten 🙂
The Kit
In the kit you get the following:
9 sheets of acrylic felt – this is pretty soft and pleasant to work with. It cuts neatly and is good for sewing
2 embroidery needles – these are probably the weakest part of the kit as they are pretty blunt. This is probably for safety reasons, to allow them to sell it to younger people. I used my own needle, but the included ones are usable at a pinch.
8 colours of floss – eight bright colours for sewing up your creations and adding embroidered details
patterns – these are on sturdy, coated card and you just pop them out to use them. I keep mine in a little sealable bag for safety. They are labelled so it is very easy to know which ones you need for a particular project.
Precut felt and eyes and cheeks – you get two pieces of felt that have diecut circles in them. These just pop out ready to be used as cheeks and eyes on your creations. Very handy!
1 ounce of stuffing – this would probably make 10 or so mini treats. It is a nice, very soft, fluffy polyester stuffing – very similar to the sort I usually buy for toy making.
The Book
The book is to Klutz’s usual high standards. IIt is very colourful and attractive.
The book starts by explaining what is in the kit and the few extra items you will need to complete the projects (scissors, pen and (optionally) ribbon, ruler and a thimble)
Next it goes through the various techniques you will need, whilst creating a doughnut as your first project – in my opinion the doughnut is the cutest project anyway!
Every stage is explained with clear instructions and close up photos. This is suitable for even a complete beginner with sewing.
You will learn how to trace the patterns on to the felt, how to cut them out and how to use the floss (including threading the needles and tying a knot).
It then goes on to show you how to add the face on the doughnut – with examples of alternative face styles. You could have course create your own variations too.
There is then details of how to suff and finish the project.
The Projects
As well as the doughnut, the book and kit include the following yummy projects:
- Toaster pastry – we all know they are thinking of a Pop-Tart
- Chocolate Chip Cookie – you could easily convert this to other types of cookie
- Egg – a flat, fried one
- Bacon – to go with the egg, of course
- Tiny Lime – super cute little charm, make it in yellow for a lemon
- Tiny Orange – could easily be converted to other round fruits
- Tiny Ice Cream Cone – lots of possibilities for making variations
- Tiny Pineapple – very summery looking
- Lemon – with info on how to create a fancier variation
- Apple – make them in red or green – Here is the red one that I made
- Pear – you could make a pair, of course
- Cupcake – another project that lends itself to lots of variations
- Toast – how can a slice of bread look so cute?
- Popsicle – here in the UK we would call this an “iced lolly”
- Watermelon – it looks very refreshing
- Pizza – you could add all sorts of different toppings…
- Carrot – I made a couple of these, with cat nip in them, as cat toys
- Strawberry – you can make a simple version, or embroider lots of seeds on
Summary
Yet another Klutz kit that really doesn’t disappoint. There is enough in the kit to make a good pile of the little treats and it is easy enough to get more felt etc to continue making more.
The finished “treats” are really cute and everyone who has seen mine has commented on them.
You can use them as plushies, mascots, add chains to make them into keyrings, use them as pincushions, fill them with lavender etc, make them out of different fabrics, use them as play food or as accessories for dolls and much more.
As the instructions are very good and the patterns simple, this would be a great kit for someone who is just getting into sewing.
It is recommended for ages 10 and up – you do need to be ok with using a sharp needle to sew up the treats.
I have had a lot of fun making little treats from this kit. I have also enjoyed creating my own variations – including different flavours of ice creams, a box of different doughnut designs and some funky animal themed cupcakes based on the pattern from this book.
And if you want more…
Klutz have now added two similar books to their range, which look to be just as much fun – links at the bottom!
One is to sew some cute mini animals – ooh, a fox, a sloth and a LLAMA!
The other is called Doughnut Animals and looks like a lot of fun to create 6 amusing animal themed doughnuts.
Links to Klutz Sew Mini Treats and Similar on Amazon
Here are links to the book/kit on Amazon.com (top) and Amazon.co.uk. If you buy from these links, I may receive a small commission from the shop for sending custom their way. This is at no cost to yourself. Thank you.
Links to Amazon.com
Sew Mini Treats from Klutz – the book and kit reviewed here
Sew Mini Cute Animals from Klutz
Sew Your Own Doughnut Animals from Klutz
Links to Amazon.co.uk
Sew Mini Treats from Klutz – the book and kit reviewed here
Sew Mini Cute Things from Klutz
Sew Your Own Icecream Animals from Klutz
Hi there, I purchased the book for my daughter from Ebay however it did not include the felt, or templates. Do you know where I can download the templates?
Hi, sorry, I have never seen a link to the templates. I assume they are only available as part of the whole kit. Perhaps if you contacted Klutz they might be able to help?
Hi, my templates got lost during shifting. Can you scan and share with me the templates? It would be very helpful.
Hi, I am sorry but they are copyright. If you write to the publishers, they may be able to help you.