Make a Stuffed Animal

Stuffed animals are perfect toys for children, but even your adult friends might appreciate a soft cuddle buddy. Store bought stuffed animals can be expensive and frequently lack that personal touch that makes a gift special. But you can solve both these problems by making your own! A homemade stuffed animal can be as simple or complex as you like, but whoever you make your stuffed animal for is sure to appreciate it.

Steps

Making a Stuffed Frog

1. Outline your frog design. You might choose a cartoonish image, or maybe you want to make something more true to form. In either case, take your washable fabric marker and draw the outline your animal onto the side opposite your fabric pattern for two separate pieces your fabric.
   • If you are less than confident in your drawing skills, you might look into how to draw a frog first, or you can get some inspiration by searching for the images of cute cartoon frogs online!
   • To make sewing easier, draw an outline of your desired doll size, measuring a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} seam allowance around your outline.
   • One of your outlines will be used for the front, the other for the back.
2. Cut out the outlines of your stuffed frog. Use your scissors to follow the outer line you have drawn to outline your stuffed animal. The inner line will be your seam guideline. This marks where you will sew the two pieces of your frog together.
   • It may be easiest to cut two identical front/back pieces by folding your fabric in half, drawing your design in washable fabric marker, and then cutting both halves at the same time.
   • You can make cleaner and more distinct eyes by cutting each out separately from extra fabric you have. This way you can sew each onto the head at the seam allowance.
   • If you want to add a snout to the front, cut a small circle of fabric. Later, you can sew it in place and fill it with stuffing.
3. Decorate the front and back sides as you please. You might want to design your frog off of a vibrantly colored tropical variety. You can do this by adding bright spots across its body with a washer safe fabric marker. Draw a cute face or some contour lines for the eyes and have fun with giving your stuffed frog character.
   • Use yarn or string to put a mouth, eyes and nose on. Buttons also work well as eyes, and are fairly easy to sew.
   • You may want to sew on plastic eyes or felt if you want more dimension.
4. Pin and sew together your two body outlines together. You'll want the guidelines you've drawn on your fabric facing each other. These will form the inside of your stuffed toy. The extra line you drew as a seam allowance should be visible on both sides after you pin. Use this as your sewing guide. Hand-stitch or use a machine to sew your outlines together, leaving a 2 to 3 inch (5 - 7.6 cm) gap in your stitching.
   • The gap will be where you put the stuffing into your frog. The outer parts of your outline, like the flat section of a leg, are ideal places to leave a gap.
   • Sew your eyes along the top head part of the seam allowance, folding each down inside the animal while sewing to prevent interference with your seam stitch. When you turn your animal right-side-out so the pattern is returned to the outside, your eyes will look great!
5. Remove your pins and add accents. First you'll need to turn your frog right side out. Take the end opposite your stitching gap and feed it through the gap until the right sides are facing outwards. Now you can sew accents, such as your frog's snout if you've made one, to your fabric.
   • Simply sew your snout and/or other accents into place. You should leave a small gap in your stitching for stuffing.
   • Added on parts, like the snout, will be stuffed separately from the main body. It may be easiest for you to fill these with stuffing right away and sew the gap closed, though this can be done later as well.
6. Stuff your toy frog. Take your stuffing and feed it through the gap you've left in your stitching. You'll want to pack it in until the doll holds its shape well, but you can adjust fullness to your liking until the animal is as firm as you want.
7. Tuck fabric inside the gap to reinforce the seam. Take one side of the fabric and push it through the gap in your stitching. Then sew the gap shut, being sure you stitch the tucked as well to make a strong seam.
   • When sewing the gap shut, you may want to Ladder Stitch to make the seam look smoother.
8. Add finishing touches. If you have extra fabric, you might use a thin strip to give your frog a scarf. With enough fabric, you could even sew a shirt or dress for your frog. Don't forget features like ear and nose holes! These can be made with dots of your washer safe fabric marker.

Making a Stuffed Cat

Creating the Stuffed Cat's Head

1. Draw the outlines for the head. Your cat head will certainly need pointy ears off to the sides. Also, a larger head shape might suit your purposes best. This way, you'll have more space to accommodate other features, like whiskers, a kitty-cat nose, and perhaps a w-shaped mouth. Draw two outlines with your washable fabric marker on the side opposite the pattern on separate pieces of fabric. One of these will be the front of your doll, the other for the back.
   • You might want to make your kitty-cat head adorably large. A 5 inch (12.7 cm) wide, 3 inch (7.62 cm) tall oval would be perfect for this!
   • To make sewing easier, draw an outline of your desired doll size, measuring a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} seam allowance around your outline.
   • You can may want to draw ears on spare fabric and attach each separately. Each ear should have two pieces of fabric.
2. Cut out your cat-shaped fabric outlines. Use your scissors to free the outlines from your length of fabric. Do so by following the outermost line, as the inner line is intended to be a guide for sewing your seam. Try to make your cuts around the ears especially clean - you probably don't want your kitty's ears to look ragged!
   • At this point, you should also cut out any additional accents you've drawn on spare fabric. Each accent should be made of two pieces of fabric.
   • It may be easiest to cut two identical front/back pieces by folding your fabric in half, drawing your design in washable fabric marker, and then cutting both halves at the same time.
3. Pin and sew the two fabric outlines together. Use pins to hold your outline together so that the seam lines face outward on the front and back pieces of fabric. This will make sewing easier for you, as you can follow your seam guideline. Once both halves of the body outline are in place, you should sew along your seam guideline to stitch both halves together, leaving a 2 to 3 inch (5 - 7.6 cm) gap for stuffing.
   • Pin your accents together in a similar fashion and sew both halves together. Leave a small gap in your stitching, stuff the accents piece (like ears) with filling, and finish the seam so no filling can escape.
4. Remove your pins and turn your cat head right-side out. Carefully remove your pins from the fabric and place them in a safe receptacle, like a pincushion. Then feed your fabric through the gap you've left in the stitching so your guidelines and seam are on the inside of your doll.
5. Attach your accent features, if applicable. Simple accents include black button eyes, yarn whiskers, or embroidered eyelashes. You can even sew cute pink circles on the cheeks to give your kitty-cat a blush! If you've decided to make cat ears from a spare piece of fabric:
   • Mark ear placement lines with a washable fabric marker (optional).
   • Sew the base of your cat ears to the top of your cat head.
6. Stuff your toy cat head. Gently push your filling through the gap in the fabric until the shape begins to fill out. You can stuff it to the gills to give the finished doll a plusher appeal, or you might consider going light on stuffing so the doll isn't so stiff and can move during playtime.
7. Seal your stuffing gap and add finishing touches. Stitch the final gap of your stuffed cat head closed. You can reinforce the stitch by tucking one side of the fabric in along the seam, including it in your stitch.
   • Also, if you notice any features you've forgotten, you can make additions with a washer safe fabric marker. Dots on the cheeks are a quick fix for forgotten whiskers.

Fashioning the Kitty-cat Body

1. Outline the limbs and body with your washable marker. You can take artistic liberties and make the design your own, but an effective stuffed cat doll can be made with a square or rectangular body. A 5-inch by 8-inch (12.7 by 20.3 cm) rectangle would work well for the body, and simple, rounded arms can be drawn whichever size you please.
   • Each part of the body should be drawn onto your fabric twice. Your body and limbs will need backs for each front - the two sides will require two pieces of same-sized fabric.
   • It may be easiest to cut two identical front/back pieces by folding your fabric in half, drawing your design in washable fabric marker, and then cutting both halves at the same time.
   • To make sewing easier, draw an outline of your desired doll size, measuring a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} seam allowance around your outline.
2. Cut out your fabric outlines. Take your scissors and clip free the body and limbs of your stuffed kitty-cat from the fabric. Follow your outer guideline the entire way around to free your outline from the fabric completely. By rounding the limbs of your kitty-cat, not only will it appear cute, but these regular shapes will be easier to sew.
3. Pin and sew your fabric outlines together. When sewing these pieces together, you'll want the seam guideline to be facing out on both front and back. Then you can pin these front and back pieces into place to make them more manageable. From there you should sew along your seam guideline and stitch both pieces together.
   • Be sure you leave a sufficient gap, 2 to 3 inch (5 - 7.6 cm) should work well, for stuffing.
4. Take out the pins and turn the fabric right-side out. Use care when taking your pins from the fabric so that you don't prick yourself, and be sure you put your pins in a safe container to prevent spills. The seam guidelines and the seam itself should be on the outside, you'll need to feed the fabric through the gap you left in the stitching.
5. Stuff your limbs and torso. Push your filling gently through the gap in your stitching until each part is acceptably full to your preferences. Looser limbs can give your finished animal more flexibility, while a gill-stuffed doll will be more soft and plush.
6. Seal the stuffing gaps. The final stitch is the one most likely to come undone, so you may want to close seams off by tucking one side of the fabric inward and sewing it along with your stitching.
   • A Ladder Stitch can give a polished, professional look to the ending seam of your stuffed animal.
7. Attach limbs to the torso, and the torso to the head. You may want to mark the position of your limbs with your washable fabric marker before you get stitching. Then sew the body end of each limb to the body. Once the body is complete, sew the body and head together.
8. Accent the body. Buttons on homemade stuffed toys are a cute embellishment. Your doll might look good with some flower buttons on the torso below the head. A cute and cheap skirt can be made by sewing a band of lace in a circle around your cat's "hips."
9. Give your homemade gift to a worthy recipient. Before you do, though, you may want to clip any loose threads or imprecise edges with your scissors. You can make clothes for your stuffed cat, draw a snazzy outfit on it with a washer safe marker, or even pin a ribbon atop its cute kitten head.

Printable Pattern

Doc:Stuffed Animal Pattern

Tips

• Not all stuffed animals are just two bits of cloth sewn together; more advanced animals will need more experience and skill.
• Stay positive - seams can always be ripped out and redone!
• You could use cotton balls for stuffing in a pinch, or less common materials, like straw or beads.
• If you want to use soft, squishable stuffing for your stuffed animal and you are out of cotton stuffing and just don't want to use cotton balls, using old clothes and cutting them into small pieces works.

Warnings

• Be aware that small parts, like buttons, may fall off and become a choking hazard.
• Always handle sharp points and edges, like those of your needles and scissors, with care.

Things You'll Need

Making a Stuffed Frog

• Fabric
• Scissors
• Pins
• Fabric marker (or permanent marker)
• Thread
• Yarn (optional)
• Sewing machine or hand needle
• Filling
• Accents (optional)
• Washable fabric marker

Making a Stuffed Cat

• Felt
• Fabric
• Paper for template
• Pencil/marker for template
• Scissors
• Pins
• Buttons
• Stuffing (quilt batting, cotton, etc.)
• Needle and thread
• Lace

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Hate Relief Doll
• Make a Sock Doll
• Make Rag Dolls
• Make a Ragdoll Wig
• Make a Teddy Bear
• Sew a Cloth Baseball
• Make a Sock Monkey
• Refurbish a Teddy Bear
• Make a Doll
• Make a 3D Stuffed Giraffe

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