Something cuddly...

[beetiger]

Anyone have some good instructions/patterns/tips for making small, simple, handsewn stuffed animals? (ie not with a sewing machine, just needle and thread)? I've got this idea in my head that I want to try to do that, but I'm not sure where to start.

Comments

[fushichou.livejournal.com]

What is it that you want to do? I've done some handsewing, as has my mother, and I might be able to help out a bit. For the basics all I can think of is to cut a simple front and back pattern, and use a blanket stitch to seal them together. Leave a small space for stuffing, stuff it, then blanket stitch the rest.

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

That much I can do. I'm looking more for advice on how to build a more 3-D pattern and attach arms or legs to something in a sensible way. Something that looks more like a stuffed animal and less like a pillow.

Though I guess I could use a reminder of what you mean by a "blanket stitch".

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

http://prettyimpressivestuff.com/stitches/
and if you don't mind the potential of them coming off, buttons on the body and buttonholes on the limbs works for attachments.

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

Thirty years ago the Katonah library had a book of patterns for stuffed animals in the children's section. They ranged from extraordinarily simple - a mouse made of three simple shapes - to just at the limit of what a clever twelve-year-old (me) could make - a three dimensional stuffed hippo. The book is probably long gone; crafts books in the children's section do not last thirty years, but they may have something similar.

I could sketch the pattern for the mouse from memory. We made dozens of them and then did all sorts of highly inventive things to them, often involving our cat.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

I had a book called "Make Your Own Beanie Friends." Ask me to show you the one that I made with no previous stuffed-animal experience. The only difference between a beanie and a plush is what you fill it with.