In my attempt to bring more cuddly animals into the world, and to get some of you novice craftspeople started, I bring you...felt penguin by Crafty Daises. He's a little darling, and his vague wonkiness only makes him more lovable in my opinion. It's a very easy pattern to follow and only took the blogger, Candace, three hours to make (for her son's first Christmas). The great thing about this pattern is that you can make up any animal, or object, you want and apply this technique to it.
Full pictures and instructions after the snip...
First you’ll want to pick an animal, draw it out and then get it blow up using a copy machine, to however big you want it. Cut out the shapes and trace them onto cardboard, then cut those shapes out. When you’re cutting feet, arms, or anything that’s to go on the edge of the animal, you’ll want to add a little extra, maybe a quarter to a half-inch, to the place where you’ll adhere the piece to the edge.
Place your shapes on the pieces of felt you’ve chosen and secure them with a needle or pin. Cut around the shapes. Since you’ll need a front and a back, and you have sharp enough scissors, you may want to double up the felt to cut the pieces so the pieces match up perfectly.
Next you’ll want to stitch your top pieces onto the body of the animal. Place pieces in desire places and secure with a pin or needle. Here I put the belly on first, then the beak. I also added a little polyfil to the belly and beak to give the pieces a little more dimension. I used a blanket stitch for all the pieces but you can use any stitch you’re comfortable with. I then stitched the eyes on using a seed stitch.
Next you’ll want to stitch together the feet, adding a little polyfill to them before closing. Stitch the feet onto the piece that will be the backside of your stuffed animal.
After all your pieces are placed, then you can stitch the front and back side together, stopping when you’re almost done to add the polyfil. Add as much fill as you want. You don’t want to overstuff your animal, but you also don’t want it really flat either. If your animals has tight corners, use the end of a pencil or pen to push the fill into them. Place a pin or needle close to the edge of where you’ll stitch to keep it close together so you’re final stitches will be straight. Finish up the seam and voila! A finished (and adorable) stuffed animal.
