fire and flowers

These are not your typical stuffed animals, and all kids love a snuggly friend to cuddle up with.

Materials: Scraps of fabric, felt, old clothes or anything soft. A sewing machine and some sort of stuffing, I use poly-fil that I purchase from Joann Fabrics, but you could also use wool filling, old scraps of fabric, old t-shirts cut into small pieces, rice, buckwheat . . .

Draw your design on a piece of paper the size that you want it to end up, now using your drawing as a guide add approx. 1/2″ around the entire perimeter for your seam allowance.  Cut out two patterns (a front and a back) and make sure that one of your pieces is backwards from the other. Now embellish your front however you’d like, you can add buttons scraps of fabric, embroidery for eyes or mouths or whatever else you like.  Sew your front and back together with the right sides facing in.  Sew along the edge leaving about a 2″ opening for stuffing.  Turn your creature inside out, stuff him, hand stitch the small opening and give him a name.

Check out these books for more ideas: Plush You!: Lovable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff by Kristen Rask, Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals by Therese Laskey, and Plush-o-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp.