Making a Plushie - A Tutorial

Before we had a busy weekend, I finished this stuffed animal, and I wanted to show you how to make one of your own design. Tips for design, things to avoid, and shortcuts.

Here's my strange bird - not sure what to name him, but he has a lot of character.

I worked on this a little last week, and I really like how goofy he turned out.  He definitely fits in around here.  Have you made a simple plushie before?  I wrote up a tutorial of sorts on how to make a simple 2D plushie.  It's a great way to get excited about sewing, and it uses many techniques.  Plus, they make for one of a kind gifts, and they're a great way to use scraps.

Pick your supplies:

• Fabric:
• For my stuffed animal, I used an old wool blend blanket for the body, some felt scraps for the beak and feet, cotton scraps for the eyes, and some old Ikea curtain scraps for the belly and ears.  You can't see the ears here, because I decided I didn't like him as an owl, and I sewed the ears in.

• Stuffing:
• I used polyfill for the main stuffing, and plastic beads to weight the bottom so he'd stand up. you'll just use a small portion of a bag of each of them.

Cut out your shape, front and back

• I drew my pattern out first on Swedish Tracing Paper.  I love this stuff. You can see through it, it bends like fabric, and you can even sew it together first to test a pattern.  It's a sturdy way to make a pattern and test it.

• I cut out a large cat-like shape for the body, one for the back and one for the front.

• If you use a thick fabric, like I did, make sure you draw your pattern to allow the curves to be wide enough to stuff the creature. The neck was the main constriction for the stuffing in mine.
• If you want a pocket on the back of your animal, cut a piece the height you want the pocket, using the pattern as your guide.

Cut out your accessories and add-ons:

• Then I eyeballed a large egg shape for the belly, and cut ears out of the shapes from the curtain panel.  The eyes are large ovals made of a textured cotton, and the pupils are plain black cotton. I eyeballed the feet and bill, and cut them out of felt.

Attach the small pieces:

• Then I pulled out my new favorite -  the Heat 'n Bond stuff I used for the applique tutorial.  I made all the pieces into appliques.  
• I placed them all where I wanted them on the front of the body, and ironed them into place.  
• I was concerned that it would be hard to iron them after I stuffed the body, but it would be easier to pick the final placement of the pieces if you did it that way.  You see how his feet ended up under him a bit in the finished product?

Sew the pieces together:

• I used about a 3/8" seam allowance all around.  Keep in mind that thick fabric can drastically change the shape of your creature.
• Sew right sides together - the appliques should be on the inside, facing the right side of the back piece.
• If you are adding the pocket, it should be sandwiched between the outside pieces, and the sides lined up.
• Don't sew the top together - leave a gap for turning the animal right side out, and for filling it.

Turn the project right side out:

• Reach in and grab the furthest piece you can reach, and start working it out the hole you left in the top.
• If you made added a pocket on the back, turn the project right side out by pulling the piece with the appliques on it, to get the pocket in the right spot.

Stuff it!

• Pour in enough plastic beads to keep the animal standing up. I used quite a bit because mine was so tall.
• Fill the rest with Polyfill.

Finish it!

• Hand sew the top closed. You can use a hidden ladder stitch if you want, but it might be fun to do a blanket stitch and crochet some hair for it. In any case, a needle and thread, 5 minutes or so, and it's ready to go.  Focus on Finishing had the best tutorial on ladder stitching that I could find, with clear pictures and lots of text.  Most embroidery books will have good directions too.

Accessorize:

• Mine needs a top hat. I don't know why.  I might stitch some wings on too. Right now he's going the flightless bird route.

 He's like my own personal mascot when I'm sewing now. See how he has this air of hopeful cheeriness?  Yeah, I planned that.  :)  I need all the egging on I can get.

PS - next time I'll try to get some sewing photos in these tutorials - its hard to get good light when I make things late at night!  If anyone is confused about the sewing or turning, email me or comment, and I'll get some pictures up.