Category Archives: Softies

Jan18

Sew-less Softie. Easy Craft Project.

Posted on January 18, 2014 by thestick81

This was one of those moments I love, when something just pops into your head and you think ‘yes, yes, yes I know what we’ll do!’ and it WORKS! Originally it was supposed to be an octopus (8 legs) but Mr3 is calling it a spider and I think it looks a bit like a jellyfish, so what ever floats ya boat I suppose!

Mr8 chose green fabric, but I really wish we had used something a bit more fun. The purple and white string livens it up a bit though. Just run over or click on each photo for the steps.

All you need; Large piece of fabric, stuffing, scissors, marker, rubber bands, cotton or wool, eyes (or you could draw them)

Trace out a large outside circle and a smaller inside circle. We used a hula hoop and large saucepan lid.

Cut out the large circle only

Using a ruller or similar, make 8 sets of 3 lines around the middle circle as shown.

If they cross over a little, just split the distance as seen in picture.

Cut out the triangles in between

then cut the strops, leaving you with 24 strips around the centre circle.

Place stuffing on the lined side and gather the fabric around

Work out where you want your eyes to go and mark,

Release the stuffing and insert eyes (you need to access the back of the fabric to fasten these type of eyes.

Stuff again and temporarily secure with a rubber band. Add any extra stuffing to achieve desired shape and feel.

Once you’re happy with the body, go over the rubber band with something more permanent.

Plait the legs, I secured with more rubber bands, but you could use matching string.

Then it is just a case of decorating to make it the creature you want. I threaded some large loops through the head.

Then cut them in half and tied to each other to secure.

I also hand stitched a mouth in, but if you are not handy with a needle and thread, you could just use a permanent market or glue a button etc on instead.

Octopus softie.

Jan18

Giraffe Softie – Or at least some kind of long necked creature.

Posted on January 18, 2013 by thestick81

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Giraffe Softie – Or at least some kind of long necked creature.

Here is another. Because I had worked out the way to do the leg insert from the elephant. I figured I’d give it a go free hand.

Cut out both sides and the leg insert. Plus a leaf shape for the head insert to create a 3rd dimension.

I started sewing from under the chin and worked my way around leaving the neck open to add the mane, ears and antlers and of course stuff the body. The mane needs to be put in before turning it inside out. It was a little fiddly, but I am happy with the results. I stuffed the antlers to make them stand up on their own. You can see below where I have sewn the head pieces together with the antler (in red) on the inside, so its positioned correctly when turned in the right way.

There ended up being a lot going on in the head area. This would have been easier had I made the head bigger. He would have also ended up with a more realistic length nose! We live and learn.

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Jan17

Elephant Softie – Rainy Day Activity

Posted on January 17, 2013 by thestick81

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I dont know if I have ever mentioned here before my love of elephants? Anyway, I think they are very awesome animals, and elephant toys are the cutest. I actually made this a while ago, but never got around to blogging about it. I have been soooo slack this school holidays, so this is my token effort for the week.

I just googled elephant softie pattern until I found something that looked simple enough. I copied the image, pasted into a word doc and blew up as big as I could. Printed it out and stuck it all together again!

The kids helped cut out all the pieces, pin them to the fabric and cut out the fabric. Then it was sewing time.

I really didn’t take enough photos through this process, but it was all very straight forward. The line across the middle is the piece you need to make for the inside of the legs. You can see this piece folded over in the image below.

Now here is a hint – make sure you put the eyes on BEFORE you finish sewing it. Because this little guy is now getting around the house blind, as I couldn’t put the backs on his eyes!

Anyway, we love the little blind guy. I want to make a whole herd!

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Oct28

Snake Softie – a rainy Sunday activity.

Posted on October 28, 2012 by thestick81

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So my scrap material collection is looking quite impressive at the moment, I thought I’d give another softie a whirl. I was ready to make an owl or elephant, but DS talked me into a snake. That sounded easy enough to make with no pattern. We discussed how big he would like it and he picked out the colours (to match the colours in his room).

I free hand drew a template for the top ‘scales’ panel of the snake.

Then, with a bit of fiddling around, joined them together, flat edge to flat edge to make the top part of the snake – less the head;

Sewing along the flat side between each section (I only picked the wrong side once, lol)

Make the last panel only a half panel, so the head will eventually be facing forward. Once sewn, iron flat. Then lay on chosen fabric for underside of snake. Trace around the edge to make it the same size. I drew the underside of the head in at this point too.

For the top part of the head, I cut out and extra diomand shape, cut a slit into the centre of the head, and sewed the diamond in, to create a 3rd dimension. Don’t forget to add the eyes BEFORE you start stuffing. Hand stitch along the back of the neck (you can use this opportunity to tuck in and create a bend in the neck too if you like.