Ahoy! A Stuffed Whale

I have been meaning to get into making stuffed animals for a while, and since I had the fiberfill out for the last project I decided why not. I got the pattern from the book Softies, but this project is so simple you don't really need a pattern. You could probably just free hand draw your own pattern and go from there! This would be step 1, either get or make a pattern.

Already Looking Very Whaley

The next step is to trace your pattern onto a piece of fabric and cut out your first side. For this whale I used grey felt, but pretty much any fabric would do. Hell, make a patent leather whale if you like. I recommend tracing and cutting out the first side using the pattern, but trace/cut out the second side using your first piece as a guide. This guarantees your sides are perfectly even.

Harpooned!

After both sides are cut out, you now need to decorate the whale's face if you want to use any sewing. This is so your messy knots and work are concealed inside the whale. (Pinocchio-style). I used needlepoint like the Softies book recommends. This book also gives direction for basic needlepoint. Needlepoint is a whole topic unto itself, so I won't really get into it here. If you don't want to learn/hate needlepoint feel free to create the whale's face using whatever you would like.

Sorta looks like a Vampire Whale

After this, it is much like sewing up a pillow. Remember to stitch your whale up inside out! Stitch all around the edges using either a machine or by hand. Leave a gap to allow for stuffing. Also, be sure to make your whale's tail large enough that you can get the tail fin through. For tight spots you can use a pen or other small point object to help push the tail through.

Now that your whale is mostly sewn up and right side out, stuff that baby! Be sure to read my stuffing tips if you need help. You can also use that pen to help stuff filling into tight spots like the tail.

Please don't call those Sea Shepherd people

The final step is to hand sew up the hole and add an eyeball. I used an eye of the google variety and employed the use of hot glue. Now your whale is complete!

Riding on a Hand (Like all Whales do)

Pass the Krill

This project is so easy and so cute you should expect to see a pod of these little guys soon!

Some of My Best Friends are Stuffed Animals

Saturday was another family crafting afternoon with my sister Molly and mom. My mom and sister spent most of the afternoon trying to make Molly some Oompa Loompa pants for Halloween. Although they got a good start, next year I think Molly should go as a ghost.

I set my sights on more adorable projects. I was super excited to finally start using all my new books, and after a supply run on Friday I was ready to go. Let the fun begin!

 The first project to share is my stuffed "Sprite" from The Cute Book.

He is pretty adorable and was really easy to make. He is made of felt, some embroidery floss, thread and poly-fill. He was also very cheap. He does not contain any actually Sprite or other lemon-lime flavored soda.

I was able to do all of the stitching by hand, although next time I will be more careful so he doesn't look so much like Frankenstein. 

Molly made a rather adorable bunny. I am sure she will post him/her over at her blog.

My second project was my first shot at wool felting! It was really easy to catch on, and it turned out better than I expected. The book Little Felted Animals that I blogged about last time was a pretty good guide. It was rather time consuming and those barbed felting needles are a little dangerous, but it was well worth it. One word of caution, I was not able to find the right kind of eyes at the craft store, so my little friend is eyeless. With no further ado, here is my FIRST wool felt creation....

Bunny!!!!!!

And because an eyeless bunny is disturbing, I drew some pupils on some pins for a temporary fix...

Bunny with Eyes!!!!!

Admire the Quality.

Well it is 'tock-tober

I will definitely be making more stuffed animals, and I have already started my next felting project (although my pup Hannah helped undue some of that project earlier this morning).  

Until next time...