How Did You Do That?There are lots of good tutorials out there for how to make stuffed animals, felt and otherwise, but if you were wondering how I made mine, I'll post some answers here.
Owl, Rabbit, Cat, and Frog:Those four are special to me, they were one of a kind gifts for a special friend, so the patterns are not available. But the general idea of them is this:
The important first step was drawing out my shapes first. Then I cut them out. While there was still a good amount of open space at the bottom, I stuffed them with fiberfill stuff and plastic pony beads to give them weight and make them stand. Then I finished stitching them closed.
The stitching is just a whip stitch (like a spiral). It was a good choice because the felt won't unravel, so I could stitch onto the outside and not have to worry about turning them inside out. I chose similar but slightly contrasting thread colors, because if the stitching was going to show, I wanted it to look deliberate. That meant I had to be very careful to be neat about the stitching!
If you want to do felt animals from these "directions", you'll have to experiment a little bit yourself with how the unique pieces will go together, like I did. Draw out your ideas, and try things on scrap felt. Don't be afraid to add extra stitches to make things stand the way you want (I had to sew part of Cat's tail to the body to make it stand up like I wanted instead of flopping to the ground). And don't forget to make a paper pattern, because (even if you somehow cut it directly out of felt and get it right) if you have no pattern, then you have no way to duplicate it when you like the way it came out.
Magical Rainbow Birthday Panda:If you use my pattern, give me credit! Obviously. And it would be nice if you sent me a picture, too.
Disclaimer: it isn't really magical. Well, yours won't be, unless you do some weird stuff to it. It also doesn't have to be for a birthday, obviously.
The pattern:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/eightmagpies/Panda-1.jpgClose ups of some seams: (bottom view of Panda):
0. Materials:
a. Fabric:
I made this out of felt. It's easy and it's cheap, and it doesn't look too bad for small things, but it is not the greatest fabric for wear and tear. We're using it here because the edges don't fray at all. If you want to use a different fabric, note that it probably shouldn't be too stretchy, and unless it doesn't fray at all, you'll have to work out something more complicated with the edges: folding them maybe, or gluing them to keep the fabric from unraveling. Make sure you have plenty of the colors you need.
b. Fabric Colors:
You could easily do this with any colors (even black and white, though if you use that much white felt, it may look cheap--try using double thickness for white or a very light color). For a nice, simple, two color panda, I recommend a dark color for the feet, eyes, ears, and tail, and a lighter or brighter color for the body and head. Black and Red look nice, for instance. It doesn't even really have to be a Panda, it could just be a bear.
c. Thread:
Use embroidery floss, because it looks cool. I recommend contrasting colors. The Rainbow Panda has stitching that's on the opposite side of the color wheel from the felt on each part. If it's a two color panda, just use the opposite color for the thread on each part (white stitching on black ears, black stitching on white body); it looks nice that way. But you can use whatever colors you want to. Just make sure you have plenty of thread ahead of time, in the colors you chose (I ran out of a color I needed 3/4 of the way through a project once, had to go to three stores to find something similar).
d. Stuffing:
I use polyester fiberfill. You can buy a big bag of it at a sewing supply store which will last you a long time and is not expensive. Only if your project is very very small do you want to use scrap felt, then cut it into tiny pieces first. If you're curious, ask the nice people at the fabric store, they could probably give you way more info about stuffing materials than me.
1. The Pattern
a. Print it!
Print 4 copies (because of the way I drew the pattern, the pieces you need to cut out overlap, so you'll need 2 or 3 for the pattern and one for a reference.)
You'll also need, though I didn't draw this part, a teardrop shape for the tail, like a circle the size of one of the ears, then with a triangle on top. (see the back photo of rainbow panda).
You'll also need strips for the body, head, and paws, but you don't need a pattern for that.
Optional: If you want a bigger or smaller panda, you can print it bigger or smaller. The panda I made is about 6 inches high. If you make it smaller, you can skip the step where you add the strips to give it depth. I made a 3 inch one that looked fine this way. If you make it much bigger, it won't fit all on one page, so you'll have to split up the print. I'm sure you can figure a way to do that. Also, much larger than this, and the felt may look cheap.
Optional: If you want to alter the pattern (like make the eyes the same size, or make the feet bigger than the hands, or add other felt details), do it here, to the paper pattern, then note where in the instructions you'll need to do things differently to accommodate your changes, then begin the rest.
b. Cut it out of the paper.
You only really need one of each shape here: one head, one body, one paw, one ear, one tail, and one of each eye. You should have one page left without anything cut out of it, for reference (or you can just look back at the computer).
c. Cut it out of felt.
Make sure you've decided before you start cutting, what will be what color. You can either use a fabric chalk to trace the patterns onto the felt, then cut them out (I don't recommend using pen, it will show on the edges on the completed stuffed animal, because it bleeds), or you can use a light adhesive, or a folded piece of tape, to hold the paper pattern to the felt, while you cut it out (this is what I did). Cut out two of each shape on the reference pattern (except the eyes). You should end up with: 2 body shapes, 2 head shapes, 2 tail shapes, 4 ear circles, 8 paw circles, one left eye, and one right eye.
You'll also need strips of fabric, in the corresponding color, to give depth to the head, body, and paws. The strip of fabric should be longer than the circumference (because it's much easier to cut off excess at the end than not have enough, and things don't always line up the way you expect when sewing felt). I made the width about 1 inch for the body, 7/8ths (a little smaller than the body) for the head, and maybe 1/2 inch for the paws. You don't need a ruler necessarily, just make sure the strip is the same width the whole length (important!). If you don't have long enough strips for the body or head, you can sew two strips together (just make sure they overlap a bit and sew them so the seam lays flat, and be mindful of where your seams will be placed).
2. Stitching and Stuffing
(Note: when I say "thread" I mean "embroidery floss," but I'm too lazy to type that out every time, so you know what I mean.)
Stitching:
I use what I think is called a "whip stitch," but never mind the name. What I want you to do is sew in a spiral: up through both layers of fabric, over the edge, up again through both layers of fabric a little further down the edge, repeat. This is what makes the thread on rainbow panda look the way it does. It's not quite a blanket stitch, though you could do that instead if you wanted. Sew the eyes on the same way, to keep it looking consistent. In general, you want to tie the end of the thread off neatly then tuck the end away if possible.
a. The Face:
Choose a thread (I chose thread the same color as the eyes, but that's up to you) which stands out at least somewhat against the face color. Taking the front of the head, stitch the eyes on, using the reference pattern to guide your placement. Then stitch on whatever face you want (I made a Y shape, two threads wide, for the mouth and nose). I recommend drawing the face out first, to make sure you like it.
b. The Ears:
Put 2 circles together and sew 3/4 of the way around, then stuff them snugly, but not so full that they're approaching spherical. Tie it off, but don't worry about tying the ends off neatly because they'll be covered up by the head when the ears get attached. Repeat for the other ear.
c. The Paws
You should have 8 circles, 2 each for 4 paws, and 4 strips of felt a little longer than the circumference of the circle.
Take one circle for each paw, and sew it directly onto the front of the panda, using the reference pattern as a guide for placement. Don't sew the edges down, just sew in a round shape in the middle of the circle, leaving a little space around the edge to attach the rest of the paw to. This stitching doesn't have to be neat, because it will be covered up.
Now, for each paw, sew the strip around the edge of the circle, same method as the ears. They'll meet at a 90 degree angle when you're finished. (It's hard to explain how to do this neatly, so you might want to try making a test paw with some extra felt. Keep in mind what my Rainbow Panda's paws look like while you're sewing.) Leaving a little overlap, stitch the strip closed, so the seam lays flat.
Now, for each paw, sew the second circle onto the strip. Be careful to keep an eye on how things are lining up, or you may have bunching at the end. Before you've sewed all the way around, stuff the paw (full but not rock hard) and finish sewing it closed.
d.
... Either wait for me to finish this later, or figure the rest out yourself. Not really very complicated.
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