Want To Make A Plushie?

Skipping 5 Fandom Friday this week to bring you a tutorial! This year I have learned how to make felt plushes, and I’ve become a bit obsessed. They are super cute, and in my opinion, pretty darn easy. Especially with some of the mods I’ll tell you about further down in this post – seriously, even if you can’t sew, keep reading! I put in a no-sew mod. 🙂 So, for those who are interested, here’s how I make a plush from scratch!
*Full disclosure: I am NOT a seamstress by any stretch. This is just how I personally do things.*

Step 1: Find a reference pic, and make a sketch. If this is your first plush, I highly recommend buying a pattern, and making it, just to get the hang of things. I purchased 10th Doctor and 11th Doctor plush patterns from Deadly Sweet, and they were immensely helpful to me in learning how to put together a pattern on my own. For this tutorial, I’m using the kitty plush I made. I used the below image as a ref to go off, and sketched it out to the size I wanted the plush to be.

Step 2: Make your pattern, and cut it out. To do this, I use a lightbox. I lay a new piece of paper on top of my sketch, and trace out each individual piece I will need. In the case of the kitty, I traced a body piece, each stripe for both body and tail, and then the heart pieces. The little girl I made this for loves rainbows, so I made six pieces for the heart, one for each color of the rainbow.

If you don’t have a lightbox (my dad was getting rid of his and I snagged it!) you can just use a window and some sunlight. Tape your sketch to the window, and then trace with a piece over it. Once all your pieces are traced, I find it super helpful to go over the edges with a thick marker, to give yourself a really bold outline when cutting. Also, make sure to write info for the piece inside each section. For example, on the body piece I wrote x2 (front and back), lt. purple (color of felt I’m using), and for the little piece I also write ‘kitty’ so I know which plush it belongs to in case they get mixed up with another pattern.

I cut around the outside edge, to give myself a little wiggle room.

Step 3: Cut out your felt. Pin your paper pattern pieces directly the felt, and start cutting! I use a LOT of pins so there is no chance for wiggling, and the paper holds up fine. So go nuts.

Step 4: Being assembling! Now that all your pieces are cut out, you can start putting things together. You’ll need to assemble each side separately before you put your two body halves together. I started with attaching the tail.

When pinning pieces like this that stick out, make sure it’s not right on the edge – leave a little overlap on the back side, like above. Then just stitch it on!

Time for the no-sew mod. I have never made a plush that can’t also be assembled with hot glue. I personally like the stitched look, but if you’re pressed for time or just can’t sew, hot glue is a perfectly acceptable option. In terms of durability, the only thing I would question is how well they would wash as I haven’t attempted a hot glued one in the machine before. Also, when pinning things, you’ll need to put your pins farther away from the edges so you have room to glue right on the edge of the felt.

Now it’s time to sew (glue) on the back tail piece. When doing so, make sure you lay on the front so they two tails are lined up exactly. Otherwise, it will be all sorts of disasters when you get to sewing the final front and back together.

Once lined up, pin the back tail piece in place, and sew (glue) on to the back body piece.

Continue adding and sewing (gluing) on all detail pieces (in this case that meant all tail and body stripes for front and back, and the heart pieces on front). A quick note – when sewing piece on outer edges, leave a bit going past the edge instead of lining it up exactly (see above image) – it makes it easier when putting the whole thing together.

Once all the detail pieces are attached, I put on the eyes. For these, I used Safety Eyes (which when I started I had no clue what that meant. But luckily, the people at Joanns do, and clued me in!). If you’re using Safety Eyes, simply pop them in, and if you’re not you have two choices. You can cut out black felt circles and sew (glue) them on, or wait until the end and paint them on. I have done both, and they both work fine.

Step 5: Sew together front and back pieces. Getting to the end now! Line up your pieces and pin them together – again, feel free to go nuts on pins as you don’t want any wiggling.

Then start sewing (gluing) things together. I always start with small areas that will need stuffing; in this case, the tail.

When sewing the two pieces together, put your needle through only the top layer, not both, to start (see above). This will allow you to hide your knot at the end inside the plush (see below – no knot sticking out the back!). If you’re gluing, quite obviously this is irrelevant.

Step 6: Stuffing. After sewing (gluing) all around the tail, and a bit down on each side, stop and put stuffing in the tail. I use purchased polyester batting, but if I continue making them I’d like to come up with something more eco-friendly (like mixing scraps and using stuffing from discarded stuffies.)

Once the tail is stuffed, keep sewing (gluing) all around the body, leaving a gap to put the rest of the stuffing in.

The size hole you leave is entirely up to you. I’m used to stuffing now, so I only leave a 1.5″ – 2″ gap to stuff. Now fill it with stuffing!

I pack the stuffing in pretty tight. If left loose it can settle oddly, and end up lumpy. Just make sure you leave enough space to close that final edge. Once stuffed enough, sew (glue) the whole thing shut!

Step 7: Final Details. This step may or may not be relevant for yout. In some plushes, I add on the little details like mouth (or eyes if I’m not using Safety Eyes) with hot glue or paint, once the whole thing is put together. I like this since sometimes when you put things on ahead of time, pre-stuffed, the stuffing can warp the positions and things look off. This prevents that. In this case, I painted on the mouth, and darkened the purple part of the rainbow as I didn’t have any dark purple felt, and didn’t want it and the body to be the same color.

Ta-da! The finished product! Pardon the messy art desk…it is always in some form of disarray.

So there you have it! My method of making a felt plush, from scratch. Now I have a question for you, lovely readers! Would you like me to share some of my already made patterns here on the blog? If people are interested, I’d be happy to share some! Obviously, not the Doctor Who ones, as those are purchased and that’s just a rude thing to do. But the ones I made from scratch I’d be happy to share with you guys if anyone has a desire to get crafty!

And lastly, I’d love feedback on the tutorial. Is it easy to follow? I know it’s long, but I am one who loves every detail spelled out for me, so that’s was my diving off point. If it’s too much – let me know! Constructive criticism completely welcome. Thanks! 😀

A Very Small WIP Wednesday

I am in massive super crunch time mode for art lately. There are EIGHT DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS. I have no idea how that happened. I started making presents in September. How is it that I’m still behind?!?!? In spite of that, I am actually feeling relatively okay about being able to complete the last two gifts I have left. Anywho, let’s dive in to the WIPs.

Finished the kitty plush! I used a Pusheen pic as a ref for the pattern I made, and finally got her all finished up yesterday. Keep an eye out – I’ll be posting a tutorial on how I make plushies this Friday, and this little kitty is my example!

The next time I decide to do an oil painting on a deadline, please kick me in the face. I am the slooooowest painter, and this is taking me so much more time than I planned for. But I am ALMOST. DONE. At this point, all I have left is adding in the bowstring, and then detailing out her midsection and bow. Then it’s just a couple detail revisions and a bit of reworking on the background and DONE. I’m hoping two more sessions will complete it. Which sounds great, except oils take a long time to to dry. I have serious doubts that this will be dry by Christmas so I think I’ll just be placing it ever so carefully in a box, giving to my brother and saying, “Hope you love it, but don’t touch it!” 😀

Below is a quick comparison of what it looked like last WIP Wednesday.

I fixed the proportions (aka no more giraffe neck and looking like she just got her wisdom teeth out) and also added more detail to things – gloves, dress, and so on. Definitely SO much happier with it now.

And that’s all I’ve got for this week! My next WIP Wednesday won’t be until 2015!! But hopefully by then I’ll have some new stuff to show you. I’ve got lots of art plans for the coming year!

WIP Wednesday

I’m still rolling steadily along with Christmas presents. Down to my final six! Which sounds kinda scary when I think about the fact that Christmas is in less than four weeks. I got this?! I mean, YEAH, I got this!

Most recently finished is this little puppy plush! Made for a very special little boy I know. I realized afterward that I totally forgot to include a tail when making the pattern! Whoops…thinking I’ll cut out a dark blue piece and give him a 2D tail hot glued on the back.

This pile of pieces is on it’s way to becoming a cute little kitty plush! I based my pattern off a Pusheen image I found online, and customized the colors to suit the little girl it’s going to.

Oh, the Zelda painting. I am still loving it, but hating what an incredibly SLOW painter I am. It’s not so much a complaint as a realization of reality. Luckily I’m almost done.

And now, a little art babble with this close up. First off, let me tell you that painting a face in oil paint when her whole head is legit the size of my thumb is HARD. Also, I’m very quickly discovering I have some seriously wacky proportions going on in the head/neck area. That will all be taken care of with the next session. I need to bulk up the left shoulder, move up the cape clasp section – basically just a lot of adjusting the whole area. Then it’s just adding in a some eye detail cleanup, finishing the dress and bow and DONE! Oh, and Gannondorf’s top hand if you look in the big view; apparently I completely forgot to detail the shadow there!

I sketched this portrait out on Monday, and now I just need to shade it. Followed up by one of her little brother.

Other than these projects I still have my little’s treasure chest to detail, and my hubs oil painting to finish. Go go go!!

What are you working on lately? Making any presents for the holidays?

 

WIP Wednesday

GAH, I am so behind on blog stuffs! I can never manage to keep up with life when I am sick! But luckily, I feel pretty much tip top again, so it’s time to get back on track with posts, starting with WIP Wednesdays again. Nothing new this week, just more progress on things I’ve already shared. Now that I am in epic Christmas present scramble mode, I won’t have a ton of new stuff to share in the next two months, but I’ll post all I can!

I’ve had this portrait of Mr. Cumberbatch finished for a couple weeks, and I’m quite happy with it! However I absolutely need to work on rendering certain clothing texture.

A penguin daddy and baby! This is a Christmas present for a friend of mine, who adores/collects penguins.

I’ve made a rather abysmal amount of progress on my Neil Gaiman portrait. I haven’t even finished laying the darks in the hair yet! But, this project does wind up at the bottom of the priority list since it’s just for fun, not a Christmas present. I work on it when I can, or when I just HAVE to use my pencils after spending days leaving them untouched while I work on my two big sewing projects (see below).

Princess Luna is coming along nicely. All her pieces have been cut out and I’m in the process of stitching each side together.

But this is where the majority of my effort has been going. Princess Celestia. This plush has taken SO MUCH work. I entirely hand stitch these plushes, and since I’m kinda slow at it, these are a huge time sync. But I’m loving how she’s turning out!! This is the front side, obviously, and it’s 100% finished.

The back side has MUCH less detail than the front and will therefore take much less time to put together. Then, I can sew the whole thing together and stuff it. I’m a little worried about the stuffing part, as I’m hoping nothing will look warped or misshapen, but I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week! I feel like I’ve been working a TON, but it’s only because sewing takes me ages haha. I’ve got a couple more plush patterns to draw, then cut out and stitch, and TWO oil paintings to do, one of which I haven’t even started. It’s gonna be a busy two months of art. Just the way I like it!

WIP Wednesday

Lately art has been a balance between finishing the just-for-fun projects I’ve started, working on Christmas presents, and still wanting to start more just-for-fun projects! I’ve made the decision to focus on Christmas though. I know it’s still two months away, but I also know me and if I don’t bust out at least half my list, I’ll never get them done in time. I’m making so much this year! Which is awesome, but also stressful. I’ve actually closed commissions for the season just so I can focus on it, and it’s been a great choice. One less things to stress about!

Last week, I was lamenting about my little raccoon and his poor nose. I made the decision to seam rip the nose off, then cut and hot glue a new one one and I am SO HAPPY I did! I just love him now! So I will definitely have to remember that when making a new one…I’ve got some raccoon plans up my sleeve.

Finished my Bravely Default piece! Tiz’s (far left) eyes are a bit dark, and Ringabel (pirate) looks a bit evil haha, but overally I like it a lot! I also learned I’m not a huge fan of using watercolors in this manner. I like them for more tightly controlled things, and this was very loose. I think a piece in this style is one I’d like to try once I get a set of Copics and see what I think!

I got the Neil Gaiman piece all sketched out and have just barely started laying in the darks in the hair. However, after staring at it while working I think I’m going to erase the left eye (our left, that is) and redraw it in. It’s too low, and it’s driving me banana sandwich.

This piece however, I am 100% happy with! It was just one of those times where everything is working out exactly the way I want it to! I’d say I have about an hour left to finish up that side of his coat, and then it’s all done! At this point, I feel like I’m subconsciously putting off finishing it up because it’s been so much fun to draw.

The last thing I wanted to share today is a bit of my pattern/plush making process. I started a new plush for my daughter for Christmas, and figured I’d give you a taste of how I do it!

I start with a sketch. I find a reference pic that I like, then sketch it out to the size I want the plush to be. In this case, it’s about 8″ x 8″ including the hair and wingtips. I know how messy it looks, but I have to sketch in all the sides of everything (hair, wings, etc) for the next step: tracing.

Using a light box, I take my sketch and trace out each individual piece I will need. Then I cut them out, pin them to felt, and cut the felt out.

And voila! Princess Celestia is coming right along. I need to snag a couple other felt colors to cut out the rest of the hair, and then I’ll be ready to start sewing it together (which is a whole other ball game). This is definitely the most complicated plush I’ve tried. I want it to be ‘viewable’ from both sides, not just the front, which added the extra step of making sure it all works from the back too. So far so good though! We’ll see how it all comes together once I start layering everything to sew.

I have some plans for upcoming Christmas posts and I was thinking about making a full step by step tutorial for (how I do) pattern & plush making. What do you guys think? Something you’d like to see?

WIP Wednesday

Although I love sharing for WIP Wednesday I am heading into the season where a lot of my art is being made for Christmas presents, which means a lot of it has to be kept under wraps (WOO bad puns!). But, I’ll of course share what I can!

I finished my fox plush! I made him from my own pattern, using both a ready-made plush on Etsy and Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog for a reference. I definitely learned a lot (via trial and error) about pattern making, and for my next couple designs I’m going a bit bigger. This guy was a tad small, and some of the pieces were hard to cut. My stitching also ran into a couple problems, but I still like him! Eventually I’ll do a post dedicated just to pattern making, and probably share my patterns if they come out nicely!

This is the next pattern I’ve made – a raccoon! He actually had a lot more pieces than I was originally thinking, but he should be so cute once he’s all done!

This little guy is the one I’m most excited about – a hedgehog!! Who will of course be blue to accompany the fox (Sonic and Tails!!), and then I’ll have added in some subtle geek to this particular batch of presents.

This was a speedpaint I did last week to celebrate Winter Solider coming out on Blu-Ray. (YEEHOO!! I love this movie). Anywho, start to finish was about 25 minutes I think? I posted it on my Instagram but wanted to share here too. I’m trying to work on speedpaints to help me improve my watercolor blending skills without taking a ridiculous amount of hours to get a painting done! As you can see, it’s pretty rough, but that’s why we practice, right?!

I threw some rough color into this sketch, and now I definitely have an idea where I want to go with it. It is definitely going to get fully inked, and (hopefully) have a comic panel type to it.

And lastly, from my sketchbook, I’ve been working on some pose stuff for two reasons. 1. It’s good practice, especially when I rarely do full body stuff. 2. I have some fun illustrations planned that will need a full body pose and I’m trying to find ones I like!

I do have a couple portraits finished and started, but can’t share them. . .I’m not sure if the people they are for read my blog but I’m not risking it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s WIPs!