Tree Plushie Tutorial

Here's another repurpose project that was made on Earth day last week. If you're still scratching your head thinking what to craft on weekend, well go ahead and try out this easy tree plushie tutorial. If you have some unwanted old shirts and too stingy to use your precious felts :D, then this project is perfect for you. T-shirt is a stretchable material that won't fray, so it is suitable for making plush toys. No measurement is needed so you can make your tree to the size that you wish.

What you need:
- old t-shirt (green & brown colour)
- poly-fill
- embroidery floss (any colour of your choice)
- black felt
- needle & thread 

Here's how to make one:

1. Draw the foliage using a washable marker on green t-shirt. Pin the shirt layers together and cut along the drawn lines. Place the 'foliage' on top of brown shirt. Draw the shape of a trunk. Pin and cut the brown trunk.

2.  Mark the curvy line of the foliage that overlaps the bark. Cut off the extra material above the curvy line. Add 'texture' to the bark by drawing some lines or semicircles as shown. Embroider the lines with your favourite colour thread & stitches of your choice.

3. Mark the points where the top edge of the bark meets the foliage. Mark both layers of foliage. Put aside one layer of foliage & bark. Draw the eyes & mouth on the other foliage with a pencil. Cut black felt into two small circle for the eyes and stitch in place. Embroider the 'smile' with a black embroidery floss.

4. On the wrong side of the materials, hold together the center point where the foliage meets the bark. Pin together both materials. Hand stitch the layers together. (1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance). The right side will look as the above picture. Repeat the step for the other layers of foliage & bark.

5. Sandwich the two layers together with right sides facing. Pin the layers together. Sew along the tree perimeter, leaving a few inches opening at the bottom of the bark for turning. Turn the tree right side out and stuff it with poly-fill. Sew shut the opening with a slip stitch and you're done!

Enjoy your weekend :)

Robot Plushie

What happens when a robot that is hard as steel turned into a softie?

I made this lumpy robot more than a week ago using stretch polyester pants. The owner is my little nephew. I just randomly cut the material to make the body parts - two simple squares and limbs which to me is the robot's special feature. The hands was inspired from crab's claw & legs. The mouth has a small pocket to hide things ;). Even though I was eyeballing the measurements and pattern, I'm glad that robot turned out looking cute.

Finished size: 23.5" (height: from head to toe) X 9" (body width) X 3.5" (depth)

If you're wondering how I made robot give a 'peek a boo' pose, for sure nothing mechanical involved.....it's purely head pins pinned in between the hands and face. I made the animated gif  at Makeagif.

Here are more robot's cute poses:

 

"Say aaaaaaaa.........."

My lumpy back.

I've crafted something on earth day & I'll be posting a 'earth day inspired' tutorial soon. So keep on checking my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!

Bunny Plush Doll

Here's a bunny plushie I made recently using my own pattern. Just a simple sketch based on what's in my head and my fingers would start eyeballing the cutouts for the body parts. I use muslin and cotton fabrics to make the doll. Bunny is totally hand sewn.

The bunny parts.

Head, legs & hands are sewn separately and stuffed with poly-fill. It took me some time to think on how to shape the body as I wanted to add a butt for bunny. A simple rectangle body would be much easier to  make. For this bunny I made 2 curvy cutouts for the rear end & 1 rectangle for body front. 

 

I sew the legs to the body first and filled the empty stomach with cotton candy poly-fill. I attached the head to body and sew them together. Body part opening is bigger than the neck, so I cinched the fabric closed.

Then I sew the hands to body part & sew together the buttons to tighten it. I embroidered the face with a brown thread. Somehow, I found this easier than painting the face.

Say cheeseeeeeee.......... Something's missing?

Bunny was rushed to the ER for the second time for another plastic surgery. Whiskers was added. Eyelashes permanently sewn so bunny would safe some time from applying fake eyelashes. Even though hers are not as long as Big Bird's eyelashes, bunny is content with her new look. The end.

Posing time.

Bunny's mugshot :)

You can get the mugshot background for free at Photos8.com .

Happy Rabbit New Year to all!