Sew Your Own Nursery Rhyme: Wheels on the Bus

INTRODUCTION
Materials and tools

STITCHES

BUS

BEARS

PANDAS

BABY BEARS

BEARS’ ACCESSORIES

BUS DRIVER’S HAT

BAGS AND SCARVES

STREET ACCESSORIES

BUS STOP SIGN

BUSHES

ROAD SECTIONS

PATTERNS

About Sarah Simi

Sarah Simi is a knitter extraordinaire and the creator, director and producer of nudinits, the world’s first all-knitted animation. She learnt to knit from a young age, mainly Starsky cardigans, Clangers and even an outfit for her guinea pig that it sensibly refused to wear. After working as a stylist, writer and designer for many years, an idea formulated in Sarah's mind for a knitted village full of eccentric British characters. At first the village was more of a traditional affair but after reading an article about free hiking (hiking in the nude) Sarah's villagers lost their clothes and nudinits was born.

Sarah then collaborated with animator Ed Hartwell to make her first film, 'Tickled Pink', which went on to win a Best Comedy and a Best Animation award, and nudinits have never looked back. They've now become an online hit with further films, awards and lots of nudinit products to enjoy including knitting pattern books, calendars and cards.

Together, Sarah and Ed now run Woolly Vision, a stop-motion animation company in London which specializes in making animation with wool, fabric and felt. Their films are multi-award winning and have been shown at film festivals all around the world.

Sarah also loves making sceramic animal sculptures, collects panda Christmas ornaments and presents a podcast about the 1970s.

Sarah is an Essex girl by birth, Londoner at heart, and currently living in the US.

• For more nudinit fun go to: www.nudinits.com
• To see all that Sarah gets up to go to: www.woollyvision.com

@olivethisfelt

It's no surprise that I love all things felt. So of course I was tickled pink when Search Press sent me these adorable books to review!

The "Sew Your Own Nursery Rhyme" duo was written by Sarah Simi of Little Woolly Vision, the children's division of Woolly Vision, a stop-motion animation company specializing in fiber art. The books dive into a world of whimsy and play, with step-by-step instructions on stitching characters and sets that tie into Little Woolly Vision's popular YouTube videos "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Old MacDonald".

Each book features:

Concise, easy to follow instructions for beginners
Full sized and scalable patterns
A complete supply list
An illustrated stitch library
Full color images of steps and finished pieces

The creativity in both the patterns and the photography of the books are what really captured my attention. I love that each book is so immersive. "Old MacDonald" comes with templates to create a playmat, as well as a barn to hold all of the little animals. "The Wheels on the Bus" has instructions to stitch road segments, bushes and a little bus stop sign. But my absolute favorite part about each book is Sarah's attention to detail. "The Wheels on the Bus" is chalk full of little accessories like wiper blades, a bus horn, actual moving wheels, and tiny satchels for the riders. "Old MacDonald" includes a mud covered pig, hay bales, tiny mice and even...a pile of animal poo. Pure genius!

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Blodwen from Half Yard Sewing Club

A delightful book, there are template patterns for all animals and buses in the back of this book.

Information is given for all materials and tools needed to make everything.

There is also a page showing you the type of hand stitches needed to make the toy bus and passengers.

The finished items are great and the wheels on the bus do go around so it would be a lovely thing to make for a young child.

If you are into making felt toys, then at £9.99 this is an ideal book for you.

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Helen from Half Yard Sewing Club

Bring the Wheels on the Bus nursery rhyme to life with 3D sewn felt objects and characters.

Sarah Simi gives clear instructions with 100% patterns (unless stated) and allows you to make the bus, bears and pandas along with clothing for the driver, street accessories and sections of road.

It also has the words to the rhyme which you can sing while you sew!

The book clearly explains the materials and tools needed for the characters and items and although there appears to be a lot of instructions for sizes and cutting out the pieces, the makes are extremely detailed.

I think for young children I would use sewn on felt for the eyes or as the author states, french knots and ensure there are no loose or easily pulled off parts, even though she does use safety eyes.  Tracing the patterns will allow you to reuse them.

The characters could also be used for role play as a child gets older, encouraging them to create stories and by making more characters there could even be a teddy bear's picnic.

A fantastic book with clear pictures and instructions. If you are a novice sewer or one that hasn't made toys before, I would perhaps start with the bushes, so you get used to reading the instructions and sewing with felt.

A must for every child's toybox.

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Juliet from Half Yard Sewing Club

Sew Your Own Nursery Rhyme - Wheels on the Bus by Sarah Simi is a book of patterns and instructions on how to create the nursery rhyme The Wheels on the Bus.

The main tools and materials required are felt, scissors, needle and thread, pins, foam board, craft knife and hot glue gun all, and more, as listed in the Materials & Tools chapter and where Sarah states if youre a crafter you probably have these items to hand, if not they can be found at your local craft store. Sarah has other titles in this Sew Your Own Nursery Rhyme series and if you have one of these youll know exactly what youre in for.

If this is your first book in the series the chapter on Stitches give instructions on the simple stitches used throughout the book such as backstitch, blanket stitch, running stitch and whipstitch - all not difficult to master. The most involved construction of the patterns is the Bus and there are over 20 pages of detailed instruction.

Occupants of the bus are bears and pandas.  I made mummy bear using fabric scraps from my stash and found the instructions straightforward and easy to follow.  Along with the bears are accessories such as bags, backpacks, scarves and hats.  So one can follow Sarahs ideas or dress the occupants up as one pleases. To complete the rhyme the back of the book has patterns for road sections, a bus stop and bushes.

The book has a hardback cover and is about a 7½ inch square, so not large, but each page is filled edge to edge, and the pages are matt meaning no glare when working from it. Because of the books size pattern templates for the shell of the bus need enlarging but all other patterns are full-size.

Photos of how the project can look are dotted throughout the book along with one or two lines from the rhyme. For those not familiar or cant remember the rhyme the full song is listed at the back and a QR code is given for a link where you can watch an animation of the rhyme really useful and engaging for the little ones. A nice hand-sewing project, and something easy to make with children.

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Jax from Half Yard Sewing Club

This is the second book by Little Woolly Vision who make stop animated childrens films. The first book was Old Macdonalds Farm and I was lucky to see the completed farm made up at the Quilt festival and it was a wonderful toy. This book looks to be as good with the theme of The Wheels on the Bus. Using craft felt, foam board and toy stuffing you can create your child an interactive play bus with a family of bear passengers and a bus driver. The book gives clear step by step instructions for making the parts. Those that are really creative could vary the colours used. It can be machine or hand sewn and some parts are glued. The book lists the craft materials and tools required. Its a good value little book my only negative is its quite small print and there are not many illustrations of the various steps more pictures of the completed parts. I hope to be able to have a go at this for my future grandchildren when I have more time.

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Sandra from Half Yard Sewing Club

Complete with the lyrics to the rhyme, this little hardback book is full of cute handmakes to construct from felt. It also includes sections on making the bus, roads and street accessories. A selection of bear passengers with their own accessories completes the imaginative play. Endless hours of fun for your little person and easy makes for you to even keep in your handbag for when you get a spare minute to sew. The book is beautifully laid out on quality paper with vibrant colour printing. Carefully guiding you through the process of materials and stitches. Very clear and easy to reproduce templates are found at the back of the book. Lovely photos guide you through your productive journey, notated and illustrated. My Grandson Teddy would love to receive a teddy bus. A super book for any experience level.

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@family_comforts

Wheels on the Bus by Sarah Simi & Little Woolly Vision is an absolute joy! 
A beautiful felt sewing book that brings the classic nursery rhyme to life through soft toy magic, from adorable pandas to little bears hopping on a handmade bus! 

- Gorgeous photography
- Step-by-step projects
- Perfect for confident beginners
- Great for gifting, nursery décor, or storytelling play

Published by Search Press, this ones full of charm and totally stitchable fun! Pop this on your wishlist if you love working and making with felt!