Felt--it's pretty much the best crafting material there is. It's cheap, versatile, glueable, sewable, soft and sturdy, all at the same time! It doesn't fray or unravel, but you can manipulate it in a zillion different ways. Today we'll be learning how to make lovable little felt creatures, with ideas and instructions courtesy of Therese Laskey's how-to book Softies, available at amazon.com for a great price!
Therese's book has more than 25 different plushie friends you can make either by hand or with some simple machine stitching, but I'll show you how to make my favorite of the hand-stitched pals, Dorian the Dog. I tend to get my inspiration from other crafters and then take it in my own direction, so the instructions below are with a few of my own variations.
Dorian the Dog
Materials:
felt: 1 sheet of white for the body; scraps of blue, pink, yellow, green and brown for the eyes, flowers, leaves, tail, and ears
embroidery thread: white, brown, tan, and moss green, and 6-9 others of your choice. Therese gets specific, but hey--this is your Tiny Dog, make him whatever colors you want!
other: fabric glue (I recommend Mod Podge), sewing needle, 1 cotton ball
optional: four inches of 1/2 wide pretty ribbon (if you want to make him into an ornament)
Softies contains some very handy patterns for all their plush little guys, which I don't have permission to reproduce here, but there's nothing stopping you from tracing a pleasing little outline of a dog about 3 1/2 inches high, and 3 inches across, onto some scratch paper, and using that as a template to cut out your felt dog pieces.
Step one: embroider the eyes and flowers
a. Using the dog template you created, cut 2 shapes from the white felt.
b. Cut freehand from blue felt scraps 2 eye circles, 3/8 in. in diameter.
c. Lightly glue an eye on the face of each half of the body.
d. Using a single strand of colored thread, embroider a blanket stitch (here's a tutorial in case you need a how-to) around each eye. Then, using six strands of thread of a complementary color, make a french knot in the center of the eye. (Basically, just make a loop, and push it carefully down until it's tight and secure against the fabric, and do that about three or four times!)
e. Using the pink or yellow felt scraps, cut out two (or one of each) tulip shapes, and lightly glue them to the dog outlines near the rump. Cut out four almond-shaped leaves to place beneath the flower, and lightly glue them in place.
f. Working with two strands of the moss green thread, embroider a stem for the tulip using a a straight stitch.
g. Using a single strand of accenting thread, embroider a blanket stitch around the tulip
h. Use a single strand of the moss green thread to sew a straight stitch around the leaves
Step 2: Making the tail
a. Using the brown felt scraps, cut out two cute little upturned tail pieces that will fit nicely above the rump of your dog outline.
b. Align and stitch both pieces of the tail together, and using a single strand of tan floss, blanket stitch around the perimeter of the tail. Leave the bottom of the flat end unstitched, which will get inserted into the body of the dog.
c. Insert the base of the tail in between the two body pieces placed wrong sides together, meaning your decorations are on the outside. Securely stitch the tail to the inside of one side of the dog's body.
Step 3: Make the Body
a. Align and stitch the two parts of the body together with a single strand of while floss, using a blanket stitch, beginning at the top of the rump, and ending at the top of the neck, leaving a small space right at the shoulders so you can insert your cotton ball stuffing, and a ribbon if you chose.
b. Taking your cotton ball, gently pull the fibers apart until its loose and fluffy. Gently poke the cotton fibers into your mostly-stitched dog with your finger at the opening you left at the shoulders. Work the fibers up into the head, and down into the rump section until he is uniformly filled. If one cotton ball is not sufficient, go ahead and use fibers from another one, but don't fill him up too much--unless you want a very fat dog!
c. If adding a ribbon, make a loop and secure both ends together to one side of the dog outline centered along the back, within the opening you've left. Once completed, blanket stitch the remaining outline of the dog.
Step 4: Add the ears
a. Using your brown felt scraps, cut out two small oval shapes for the ears. Lightly glue an ear to each side of the body. Ass a single strand stitch or two of tan floss at the top of each ear to securely attach to the body.
Step 5: embroider a nose
a. Using six strands of brown thread, embroider a nose using a satin stitch. Basically, that's just looping over the edge of the dog outline, with gradually larger, then smaller stitches, to get the shape you want. Here's a tutorial here.
Hmm, I made my little dog a couple of years ago, but I'm realizing that step by step pictures would probably be very handy for future craft lessons. Well, live and learn, right! Until tomorrow....
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