Day 2 - Plushies

High on yesterday’s success LeeAnn and I embarked on a journey into the world of Plushies! The production of stuffed animals as toys began in 1880 when the Steiff Company, in Germany, converted their machinery to produce a new type of product, a stuffed elephant that actually started as a pin cushion.[1] Perhaps the most well known stuffed animal is the teddy bear, produced by the same company in 1902 for Theodore Roosevelt.

LeeAnn was very excited when I told her what we were doing tomorrow. As we picked out some felt from the hobby store she said, “Good, my pet rocks need some friends.” I did my homework that night; we picked out the animals we were going to make and worked out rough patterns. In fact I felt so confident I decided we would make the animals out of real fabric and sew them. I was afraid the fabric glue and felt would not hold up to an active three year old.

What was I thinking? I had forgotten my watch words entirely! Simple, no! First off, I’m not the most experienced seamstress and I’ve never made a pattern before in my life. Colorful, yes we did use lots of color. Easy for little hands to do, not on your life! After taking about two hours to work out the patterns and how they fit together, a period of time where my daughter was reduced to drawing with markers on scraps, I was ready for her to choose out fabric. Five minutes later I was cutting and sewing and she was back to coloring on fabric discards. Hours passed with LeeAnn getting more and more fussy, but finally we got to a step where she could participate, Stuffing the plushies! It took her about a half and hour, even so, after leaving her with nothing to do for so long it was great. Then we glued on the eyes and tiger stripes and were done. She claimed she had fun and she loves her plushies, nevertheless I don’t recommend this project for a toddler at all. Six hours of work, mostly done by moi and tons of clean up. Below are directions for a no-sew version of felt plushies. Much more toddler friendly!

No Sew Felt Plushies (Penguin, Octopus, Scarab)

Supplies:

Felt Pieces

Fabric Glue (Make sure it does not need to be heat set)

Scissors
Polyester Stuffing

Googily Eyes

Glitter Glue

Clothes Pin or Small Clamp

Instructions:

1. Using a pattern, or making your own, cut out the body shapes
2. Glue the edges of the body front to the body back, leaving a two inch gap so you can add stuffing. Set aside and allow glue to dry.
3. Once dry, add stuffing until desired puffiness is achieved. Glue gap closed and clamp shut while completing it.
4. Cut out additional felt body parts and glue onto animal.
5. Glue on eyes and accent with glitter glue. Let dry at least 24 hrs before letting child play with toy.

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[1] http://steiffblog.com/steiff-news/unique-plush-toys-evolution-of-the-stuffed-animal.html