How to Make a Stuffy that stands up!!

January 05, 2016

How to Make a Stuffy that stands up!!

I promised

Now I deliver!!

Are they pretty cute?

I think so, gonna get started.

Making character stuffy/ pillows/plushies is really fun and simple to do. And if the fabric is as cute as this “Little Red” by Cori Dantini for Blend Fabrics, then these pillows will steal your heart!!

As a designer I hope to be able to show you a few tips that will enhance your maker/sewist skills!

To get started, here is a list of materials that you will need.

Materials needed:

-One Blend fabric panel of Little Red Characters

-Matching fabrics to complement the character, 1/3 Yard per Character

-Muslin. 1/3 Yard for 1-3 characters

-Fiber Fill, I recommend Silky Soft Ultra Plush Fiber Fill

-White Thread

Here is little Red, as you can see I included the fun blue flowers!

I first traced, and then cut out Little Red with a ½” seam allowance. And I included the beautiful blue flowers in the scene with Red which I loved. After I cut out Red, then I laid her onto her backing fabric on the wrong side to cut out the same shape.

Then I cut a muslin to match the front and the back of the stuffy. the muslin acts like a stabilizer, and the stuffy feels super soft & strong at the same time!

Measure the bottom edge of the puppet, multiply that number by 2, and that is the amount the diameter of the bottom needs to equal. In the next step I will show you how to do that.

Find a object with a round bottom, I used this wooden spool that is about 2.5” wide. I used the spool to draw a half circle. I measure the perimeter of the half circle, and double that. Going back to step Three, I have the measurement of the bottom; it needs to equal the perimeter of the bottom piece.

If the stuffy bottom equals 10”, and 2 x the half circle= 6”, then 4” must be added to get the correct bottom piece size. Now trace the half circle. From the center top and bottom of the half circle draw 2 straight lines 2” long (2 x 2 = 4), and then draw the other side of the half circle to complete the bottom piece which will be cut out of the backing fabric along with a muslin backing. I used this spool to make all the bottom pieces for each stuffy. It was perfect because when I had all the stuffy characters finished, they could all stand on their own!!

With all the pieces layered (character & back, right sides together, then sandwiched with the muslin on both sides so that there is 4 layers) pin around the sides and the tops!

Then starting at the bottom of a side, sew around the edge up to the top and back down the other side, but leave an opening so that the stuffy can be stuffed. If you look at this picture closely you can see where the opening will be on the left side Do not sew across the bottom because we need to add the bottom and need it to be open. Next trim the edges down to 1/8-1/4”, clip to the corners, and around the round edges!!

On the bottom piece the sides are pinned to keep them from shifting.

In this picture you can see the opening on the left side. Now pin the bottom to the bottom edges, start with matching the centers of the front & the back to the centers of the straight sides of the bottom piece. Then match the side seams to the center of the curved sides.

Make sure to pin from the bottom. Pinning in this manner will allow the sewing machine to sew on top of the front & bottom edges easily as done in the picture below.

And this is what is meant by sewing on the top of the front & the back. As seen in the picture, by pinning up through the bottom, the top can be sewn, otherwise the pins would be in the way if it was pinned from the top. If there are little tucks & pleats caught when sewing a circular item to 2 sides, it is okay because it will help the stuffy to stand up.

Time to Stuff!!

This is the fiber I love to use for stuffing. It is so soft and really makes a difference in how the stuffy feels!! Make sure to stuff the little corners and points first, before filling it to the brim…we want all parts of the stuffy to be full and not at all flat!

I like to leave one side flat, and then fold only one edge in. This is another tip on easy pinning. Hands sew the opening closed….and this character stuffy is done!!