Stuffed Animal - Part 1

Today, I am going to show you the beginning steps to sewing your own stuffed animal. This project isn't very long, (I'm almost done, and started today) but it is an ambitious project, so if you don't have much sewing experience, please read these instructions very carefully. I decided to make this for my science project, on the extinct dinosaur, called a Liopleurodon. Most people think I made a shark though, so call it what you want.

Before you begin, you'll need fabric. I got mine from Walmart, but you can also get it from Joann's, or Hobby Lobby. The total amount I used was three packages of 18 by 21 inches (they didn't have a large section of fabric at my Walmart, so I experimented with using pre-cut fabric, and it worked well). Using most of that fabric, my stuffed animal is 30 inches long, but don't forget you'll need some for the feet, etc.. You'll also need fabric scissors, five feet of batting (yes, I used all of it), sewing pins, pencil, sewing machine, and thread.

To start. Fold your fabric in half, inside out, (if you're using two pieces like me, just put one on top of the other. Also if you want one side to be a different color than the other, then put one color on the bottom, and a different color on top). Now trace out your pieces with a pencil on the wrong side of the fabric, so it doesn't show up. My animal is a pretty basic animal, but just make sure you cut out an oval like shape for the body, more oval like shapes for the limbs, and on mine the head and body are connected, but if they're not, cut out a circle for the head. ( if you can form it more to look like your certain animal, go ahead. Also, try to envision it in your head how they will piece together, so that everything is proportional, etc.. One more note, everything needs two pieces for it: a front and a back, so that is why you must double up the fabric.) Once you like the shapes, cut them out with fabric scissors, and pin the front and back pieces together, to keep them in place. 

This part is what took me the longest, because I was so cautious on what to cut, but I like how it turned out. I bought one extra package of material, just in case I messed up, but we didn't end up needing it. 

After that, I lined the pieces up with the batting and cut out two pieces of batting for each part, so it stays fluffy, but after I sewed certain parts I stuffed more stuffing in the body/head and tail. Pin the batting pieces to the fabric pieces. 

The next part gets a little tricky, so you'll have to wait until next week to learn how to finish it, but I'll post a picture on my social media accounts of the finish product when it's completed. Stay tuned!