You would like to offer a plush to your baby? This is a great idea! Your little one can make it his best friend and playmate. His cuddly toy will accompany him in his learning and will comfort him at night. He will never feel lonely.
Besides, you don’t have to buy one to be able to offer a plush to your toddler. You can make a stuffed animal yourself. All you need is time, patience and a few supplies to make it.
Are you tempted by the idea?
In this article, you will discover 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 plush toy yourself?
A stuffed animal is a traditional toy for babies. It is generally the first toy that we offer him. Most of the time, it is used as a birth gift.
So it’s only natural that you would want to give one to your toddler. The plush will become his cuddly toy and will accompany him in his psychological development. To learn more about this topic, 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 stuffed animal. It is a toy that you can design yourself.
Making a plush toy is indeed a fairly simple operation, within the reach of everyone. The only requirements are motivation, time and the tools and materials needed to make it. You will see in a paragraph below that it is not difficult to find them.
Besides the simplicity of the process, making plush also provides many other benefits. Among other things, it allows you to:
- Add a personal touch to your toddler’s blanket. It will be full of history and your child will attach a special memory to it.
- Create a unique character that will reflect your love for your little one.
- Ensure that the plush contains no chemicals or other substances that could compromise your baby’s health and well-being.
In short, a do-it-yourself plush toy is better than any other model available on the market. It will be a perfect gift for your newborn.
What do I need to make a plush toy?
Do you already sew? Or maybe you know a lot about sewing? If so, you probably already have the basic tools to make a plush toy for a child.
If not, don’t panic! They’re readily available at craft stores. So, what do you need?
Not much in all:
- Sewing thread and needles;
- A pair of scissors;
- Fabric or synthetic fur;
- Quality stuffing;
- Buttons to create the eyes;
- Any other accessories you can add to further personalize your child’s stuffed animal.
Regarding the fabric, the choice depends primarily on the type and shape of plush you want to make. Is it a teddy bear, a stuffed dog or a simple stuffed star?
If you want to make a stuffed animal, faux fur is often the best choice. This fabric offers a more realistic rendering of the toy. In addition, synthetic fur is usually soft and pleasant to the touch.
However, it is not necessarily easy to work with. If this is your first attempt, it is therefore preferable to opt for a fabric that is easier to handle, such as cotton or felt fabric.
If you are more experienced, you may want to go straight to terrycloth. The finish is better and the fabric feels soft and comfortable against the skin. Your little one will love to snuggle with his blanket!
Finally, if you want to get a patterned fabric for a prettier look, you should avoid at all costs choosing a model with dyes or colored with chemicals. These are not good for your baby’s health.
What are the steps to follow to make a plush toy?
You have finished gathering all the necessary materials and tools to make plush? Then, you can now proceed to the act. There are several steps that we will describe to you one by one below.
Step 1: Create a plush pattern
This is the first thing you have to do. The pattern you create will guide you in making the plush toy.
But really, what is a pattern in the first place?
Well, in a very simple way, we can define a sewing pattern as a drawing representation of the garment or, in our case, the plush toy to be sewn seen from the front or back.
It is quite simple to make:
- To start, you need to take a piece of paper and draw the animal or plush shape you want to design on it. Don’t worry! There is no need to create a perfect design. A simple representation of the back and face will suffice. However, the size of the drawing should match the size of the plush you are going to make.
- Next, you need to cut out the sheet of paper according to the created design.
- Now take the fabric and lay the cut pattern sheet on it. Trace the design on the fabric using this sheet.
- Once this is done, all you have to do is cut out the fabric following this trace.
Good to know: it is advisable to make the tracing and the cutting twice in order to obtain two faces which will be respectively used as back and face for the plush.
If you are in a hurry and don’t have the time to create a pattern yourself, it is possible to download pre-made patterns directly from the internet. Whatever the shape of the cuddly toy you want to make, you will easily find it on the web.
Step 2: Sew the plush
The fabrics are now cut out. You already have a small glimpse of your baby’s future plush. All you have to do now is put it all together to create the plushie. And at this stage, it starts with the sewing. Here are the steps to follow to sew the comforter:
- Start by pinning each side of the plushie. This will make it easier for you to sew and will prevent you from making mistakes. Also, it is here that you will have to choose the type of sewing to adopt: visible or invisible. For the first option, it is on the visible side that you must sew. If you prefer it invisible, you should sew the inner part.
- Now the sewing can begin. And here it is important to start from the top, that is, the head of the comforter.
- Sew the edges little by little. Be careful to leave a small area unstitched. This will be used to insert the stuffing into the teddy. So, try to keep enough space to insert your hand.
Step 3: Stuffing the plush
To make a safe and reliable plush toy for baby, you need to use quality stuffing. This is indeed important to reduce any risk of allergy or illness for your baby.
But also, it must have hold and resistance to use. The comforter will be cuddled, chewed and wiggled. If it is not strong enough, it will get damaged very quickly!
For a baby plush, we usually use wool or cotton stuffing. However, if your little one is used to taking his cuddly toy outside, you should choose synthetic materials. Where to find them?
It’s easy! Just go to a craft store or art store.
However, you can also do without these types of stuffing for a do-it-yourself plushie. If you have cotton or simple fabrics at home, this can work just fine.
Anyway, once you have the stuffing product, it is now time to insert it into the toy. And again, you’ll need 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 into the right side little by little before stuffing.
Step 4: Make the final sewing of the plush
Are you done stuffing the plush? Well, now you’ve reached the final step in making your baby’s comforter: the final stitching.
You have to sew the small hole you left beforehand to be able to insert the stuffing. It is also during this last step that you will add the different accessories that you bought to personalize your plush.
Among others, we can mention the buttons that will serve as eyes or nose to the animal, bows and beads that will embellish it, as well as any other accessory that will further personalize the toy.
Once everything is done, you can congratulate yourself, because you have finished making plush for your toddler.
Conclusion on how to make a plush toy yourself
You now know how to make a plush toy yourself. As you can see, this is a pretty easy task. With a good dose of creativity, anyone can create one, even from a simple sock.
All you need to do is gather the necessary tools and materials. Then 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 will also save money.
In fact, making plush toys is much cheaper than buying them. 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 are obliged to go through a store. And you don’t have to go far to find one. On Magic-plush.com, you have a large choice of soft and cute plush toys to offer to your baby.