My Studio Girl Mini Pillows - Dog

This is a really cute concept, but the execution is a bit lacking. I bought this for a 7 year old, which I admit is a bit younger than the manufacturer intended, but we planned to complete it together.Some issues:- pre cut holes in the felt don’t always match up on both sides of the felt you are trying to sew together - so what do you do? Leave a hole without sewing it at all?- the holes are really close to the edge in some places so no matter how carefully you stitch when it comes to stuffing the pillow you seriously risk ripping the felt open completely. This also severely limits what you can do with the finished product, it needs to be treated very gently.- it’s not really a “pillow” - it’s pretty small! And fragile (see above) so you can’t rest your head on it (for example) and it definitely shouldn’t be played with. It’s only a decorative item- the stitching around the whole outside takes a lot of time and patience to get it looking neat and nice. Would think maybe older kids would be better at this part. They would definitely need to be committed to the task!But my kid had fun doing it with me, so there’s value in that. The completed dog just got shoved on top of a whole pile of stuffed animals, so I don’t think she particularly cares for the finished product as much as she enjoyed making it with me.

My kids have done several of these (owl, cat, dog) and they are adorable. Very easy to make after we used YouTube to see some of the stitches we weren't familiar with demonstrated. There are videos on the company's website also, but we felt some others were a little more helpful. They have also held up well after being completed. Would definitely buy more of these kits.

My 8-year-old LOVED doing this and was so proud of himself. He needed minimal supervision. It's very cute and easy to do.