Sewing Stuffed Animals

During this time at home I've been able to do some sewing projects that have been in the back of my mind for ages. I have a small selection of fleece fabrics and thought it would be cute to make some little stuffed animals. I say little because some of the fabric is in quite small pieces and I wanted to use up what I already have.

The first one I made was this dolphin. I used this pattern by Choly Knight. She has a lot of free patterns and when I just went on her site to get the link I found even more things I want to make!
I reduced the size of the dolphin pattern a lot as my white fleece is in very small pieces, so this dolphin comfortably fits in the palm of my hand. As it was so small I hand sewed it together which worked fine.

Next I made this crab using a pattern from While She Naps. As this one is a little bigger I was able to machine stitch the main body section together. Things got a little crowded under the sewing machine so a few bits shifted, resulting in the pincers and claws not being completely symmetrical on both sides, but it's cute nonetheless.

And finally, as I've made a start on Christmas stock, I made this little Rudolph by adapting this pattern found on Handsome and Pretty. It was a bit fiddly and the antlers are a bit wonky, but I like it, and am very pleased that I got it to stand up. I'm wondering whether to add some string or ribbon to make it into a hanging ornament.

Are there any projects that you've finally got round to during lockdown?

Owl Doorstop

This is my my latest craft project; an owl doorstop!

The idea for this project has a little story behind it. When I moved in with my boyfriend I brought a few pieces of furniture with me as his place needed some extra storage. One piece was a pink ottoman that'd be great for storing my shoes in. The only problem was that it wouldn't fit in in his monochrome bedroom. So I set about finding a grey blanket that I could use to cover it so it would be accepted. This was harder than I thought it would be, but eventually I settled on this fleece one from IKEA (which I bought via Ebay because IKEA's postage prices for cheap items is ridiculous).

My Mum helped me cover the ottoman and there was still quite a lot of blanket left over, as well as the scalloped edges which I immediatly looked at and thought 'owl!'

To make the owl I cut the front and back pieces from left over blanket and some spare white fabric, using a hand drawn paper pattern.

Before sewing the scallops I dabbed a little PVA glue to hold them in place. Then I could machine straight across a whole line of them.

 Just as I'd imagined it when I first saw the blanket!

I found some matching patterned fabric in my stash, which is actually from an old dress of my sister's, and used it to make the eyes along with some white felt.

When raiding my button box I found a wooden toggle which would be perfect for the owl's beak. I drilled a hole in the middle so I could sew through it.

I used zig-zag stitch to attach the eyes - something I'd never done before, especially on a curve - and added buttons for the pupils.

The main characteristic of a doorstop is that it's got to be weighty so I bought a 1kg bag of Tesco value rice to fill the bottom of the owl. I sewed a fabric pouch for the rice by sewing around the edge of a fabric circle and then pulling the thread like a drawstring bag.

The wings are blanket material on one side and patterned on the other with a layer of wadding inside. I hand sewed the top of the wings to the body of the owl.

The base of the owl was the most difficult. Once I'd figured out what shape it would be I cut the piece of patterned fabric and machine sewed half of it to the body, then I put polyester stuffing and the rice pouch inside, and a hand sewed the rest of the base.

I'm so please with how this turned out and because it's made from a fleece blanket it's so soft! Not that I've cuddled with it....

Pin in!

Rudolph Decoration

Do you like this cute new Christmas decoration I made?

I found that great tan fleece at the scrap store and it was prefect for this little Rudolph. I made a paper pattern and was quite surprised when it all fit together, though the head is only made of 3 pieces.

There's wire going through the head, connecting the antlers to make sure they stayed upright. 

Like the Christmas banners I made, this little Rudolph got sold the next day after I'd finished it. In fact it was the first thing I sold at last week's Christmas Fair.