Would you like to offer a soft toy to your baby? It is an excellent idea ! Your little one will be able to make it his best friend and playmate. He will never feel alone.
Besides, you don't have to buy one to be able to offer a stuffed animal to your toddler. You can very well make a stuffed animal yourself. For this, all you need is time, patience, and some supplies needed for crafting.
Does the idea appeal to you?
You will discover in this article all the steps to follow to make a plush . But first, let's see some good reasons to make your child's stuffed animal yourself.
Why make a stuffed animal yourself?
A soft toy is a traditional baby toy. It is usually the first toy offered to him. Most of the time, it is used as a birth gift.
It is therefore quite natural that you want to give one to your toddler. The plush will become his cuddly toy and accompany him in his psychological development. For more information on the subject, you can read our article on why a cuddly toy is important for a child .
Otherwise, as we mentioned in the introduction, there is not necessarily a need to buy a plush. It is a toy that you can design yourself.
Make a stuffed animal is actually a fairly simple operation, within everyone's reach. The only imperatives: they are motivation, time as well as the tools and materials needed for manufacturing. Moreover, you will see in a lower paragraph that it is not difficult to find some.
Moreover, in addition to the simplicity of the process, make plush also provides many other benefits. This allows, among other things, to:
- Bring a personal touch to your toddler's cuddly toy. It will be steeped in history and your child will attach a special memory to it.
- Create a unique character that will reflect your love for your little one.
- Make sure the soft toy does not contain any chemicals or other substances that could compromise your baby's health and well-being.
In short, a do-it-yourself plush is better than any other model available in the market. It will be a perfect gift for your newborn baby.
What do I need to make a stuffed animal?
Do you already do sewing? Or maybe you know something about it? If so, you probably already have most of the tools to make a stuffed animal for child.
If not, don't panic! It is easy to find in craft stores. So what do we need?
Not much at all:
- Sewing thread and needles;
- A pair of scissors ;
- Fabric or synthetic fur;
- Quality padding;
- Buttons to create the eyes;
- Any other accessories you can add to further personalize your child's plush.
Regarding the fabric, the choice depends above all on the type and shape of plush you want to make. Is it a stuffed bear, a stuffed dog or just a stuffed star?
If you want to make a stuffed animal, faux fur is often preferred. This fabric offers a more realistic rendering of the toy. In addition, synthetic fur is generally soft and pleasant to the touch.
However, it is not necessarily easy to work with. If this is your first try, it is therefore preferable to opt for a fabric that is easier to handle, such as cotton or felt fabric.
The most experienced can, however, tackle the terrycloth fabric directly. The finish is better and the fabric feels soft and comfortable next to the skin. Your little one can only love snuggling up with his cuddly toy!
Finally, if you want to buy a fabric with patterns for a prettier look, you must at all costs avoid choosing a model with dyes or colored with chemical substances. These are not good for the health of your baby.
What are the steps to follow for making a plush?
You have finished gathering all the materials and tools needed to make plush ? So you can now take action. This goes through several steps that we will describe to you one by one below.
Step 1: Create a plush pattern
That's what you need to do first. The pattern you are about to create will guide you in making the plush toy.
But in fact, what is a boss first?
Well, in a very simple way, we can define a sewing pattern as a drawing representation of the garment or, in our case, of the sewing plush seen from the front or from the back.
It is quite simple to make:
- To start, you must take a piece of paper and draw on it the animal or the shape of the stuffed animal that you wish to design. Do not worry ! There is no need to create a perfect drawing. A simple representation of the back and the front will suffice. However, the size of the design should match the size of the plush you are going to make.
- Then you need to cut the sheet of paper following the created design.
- Now take the fabric and lay the cut pattern sheet on it. Trace the design onto the fabric using this sheet.
- Once it's done, all that remains is to cut the fabric along this trace.
Good to know: it is necessary to trace and cut twice in order to obtain two sides which will serve respectively as back and front for the plush.
Moreover, if you are in too much of a hurry and do not have time to create a pattern yourself, it is possible to download prefabricated models directly from the internet. Whatever shape of comforter you want to make, you will find it easily on the canvas .
Step 2: Sew the plush
The fabrics are now cut. You already have a small preview of your baby's future plush. All you have to do is put everything together to set up the cuddly toy. And at this point, it starts with sewing. Here are the steps to follow to sew the comforter:
- Already start by pinning each side of the plush. This will simplify your sewing task and prevent you from making mistakes. Also, it is here that you will have to choose the type of seam to adopt: apparent or invisible. For the first option, it is on the visible side that you must sew. If you prefer it invisible, it is advisable to sew the internal part.
- Now the sewing can begin. And here, it is important to start from the top, that is to say the head of the comforter.
- Sew the edges little by little. Be careful, however, to leave a small part unsewn. It will be used to insert the stuffing into the teddy bear. So, try to keep enough space to introduce your hand.
Step 3: Stuff the plush
For make a stuffed animal safe and reliable for baby, quality padding should be preferred. This is indeed important to reduce any risk of allergy or illness for your baby.
But also, it must have durability and resistance to use. The comforter will be cuddled, chewed and twisted. If it is not strong enough, it will deteriorate very quickly!
For a baby soft toy, wool or wadding padding is generally used. However, if your little one is used to taking his cuddly toy outside, you will have to choose synthetic materials. Where to find it?
It's simple ! Just go to a craft store or craft store.
However, you can also do without these types of padding for a do-it-yourself plush . If you have cotton or simple fabrics at home, this may do the job just fine.
In short, once you have the stuffing product, it is now necessary to insert it into the toy. And here again, it will be necessary to start with the head. Then continue with the limbs (hands and feet) before finishing with the rest of the body.
Be careful, if you have opted for invisible seams, don't forget to turn the plush little by little to the correct side before making the stuffing.
Step 4: Make the final seam of the plush
Have you finished stuffing the plush? Well, you have now arrived at the final stage of making your baby's cuddly toy: the last seam.
You must sew the small hole that you previously left to be able to insert the paddings. It is also during this last step that you will add the different accessories that you have purchased to personalize your plush.
Among other things, we can mention the buttons that will serve as eyes or nose for the animal, knots and beads that will embellish it, as well as any other accessory that will allow you to further personalize the toy.
When it's all done, you can congratulate yourself, because you're done. make plush for your toddler.
Conclusion on how to make a soft toy yourself
You now know how make a stuffed animal yourself. As you can see, this is a fairly easy task. With a healthy dose of creativity, anyone can create one, even from a simple sock.
All you need to do is gather the necessary tools and materials. Afterwards, you can design the most beautiful stuffed animal to please your little one. And in addition to enjoying a fun activity to pass the time, you'll also save money.
In effect, make a stuffed animal much cheaper than buying it. However, it all depends on the type of comforter you want to create. There are models that cannot be designed by hand.
In this case, you have to go through a shop. And you don't have to go far to find it. On mapeluchedoudou.com , you have a wide choice of soft and cute stuffed animals to offer your baby.
