Tutorial--Stuffie Zombunny

Don't ask me why, but my 10-year-old has a passion for "ugly cuteness".  She's been bugging me to make a stuffie from her sketch.  Thus, this tutorial was born.

1.  Determine how big your stuffie would be.  If it's going to be bigger than a 8x11 paper, tape two pieces of paper together.  Mine were landscape (tape the long sides together) since the Zombunny will be quite chubby.

2.  Sketch your stuffie away.  (Mine is a design by my 10 year-old.)  Note that I drew the tail on the Zombunny's tummy to conserve paper.  (tee-hee).

3.  Cut out your stuffie.  (my girl wanted the ears to be separate pieces so it's now a baldie and looks just like a zombie!)

4. Pin the cut out pattern to the wrong side of fabric (leaving enough room for seam allowance).  

5. Use water soluble fabric ink pen (min is Mark.B.Gone) to mark seam allowance all around the pattern.  I eye balled mine to be 3/8"~5/8" wide.  

6. Cut along the marked seam allowance.  

7.  If your stuffie is not symmetrical, be sure to flip your pattern when tracing and marking your back piece.  

8.  Cut out the eye and tongue from the pattern.  Use the cut outs as templates to cut one eye on white felt and one tongue on red felt. (no need to add seam allowance.)

9.  Cut out the tail from the pattern.  Use this as template to cut 2 pieces on the main fabric adding 3/8" seam allowance.  

10.  Sew on the eye (I embroidered the pupil with black embroidery thread .) and tongue using blanket stitch.  Stitch on the X and lip line.  (I use the pattern as my guide for placement).

 11.  Cut four ear pieces adding 3/8" seam allowance.  With right sides together, sew two pieces together to form one ear.  Repeat with the other ear.
Forgot to take a picture of the tail...  With right sides together, sew two pieces together to form one circular tail.

 12.  Turn the tail and ear pieces right side out and stuff them with poly stuffing.  Sew the opening of the tail closed, but don't bother with the ears.  

  13.  Use the (already beaten up) pattern to draw sewing line with a water soluble ink marker. (adult censorship required:  my little one said this looks quite scary...)

 14.  With right side facing, sandwich the stuffed ear pieces in between (placement shown with red dotted line on the picture), pin and sew all the way around, leaving a 4" opening (on a straight line, not on curves) for turning.  Clip all the curves.  Turn right side out.

 15.  If your Zombunny looks asymmetrical, don't worry about it.  It's a Zombunny!  The more asymmertrical, the more zombie-like it will be.   Sew the tail on the back side.

 16.  You may take a tea break.  Now find a helper...

17.  Have your helper stuff the Zombunny with poly stuffing.  (use a chopstick to get to the arms and legs).  Sew the opening close.  
Finally, find a child who will give this Zombunny lots of love and hugs.

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October Aha!--Pattern Tracing Options

I have been looking for pattern tracing materials everywhere.  Joann carries sturdy plastic tracing sheets for $2-3+ a piece.  Quite pricy, I thought.  

I went across the street to Daiso and found these Translucent Poly File Folders (12.4” x 17.2”, 3pc.) for, yap, you guessed it, $1.50.  I figured that each folder has two sides that I could use.  For 3 folders, that’s 6 sheets.  For the price that I pay for these, it’s a steal.

 I like to reuse my bag and pouch patters, so these plastic folders are just the right size.  After tracing and cutting, I punched holes on each piece of the patterns and use brats o secure pieces from the same project together. 

 The down side of these plastic folders is that the permanent ink does not stay as well as tracing papers.  So I am risking losing markings or notes on those sheets.

 Then I found this: Plastic Drop Cloth from hardware store (10' x 20' for about $3.50). 

Be careful not to be greedy cut too long of a sheet since it's 10' wide.  Otherwise, you'll end up with a mess on your cutting table before you could even start any tracing. 

Lay the drop cloth flat on your pattern, using weights to prevent movement while tracing (as you would with tissue paper pattern tracing).  Permanent markers and rulers are great tools for pattern tracing on plastic. 

 Transfer markings and pattern number, size and details on the drop cloth.  It's surprisingly easy marking on it and the ink stays well.

Storage is a breeze.  You could fold it up as small as you desire.  (this sheet has 7 pieces of pattern on it, and it could still be folded up even more than this).  The beauty of this is when you open the sheet up, no wrinkles!

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October Aha!--Pattern Weights option

I refuse to buy overpriced pattern weights at the store.

 I found these fall leaves glass gem table decorations years ago and decided to give them a try as my pattern weights.  

No complaints.  My wallet is happy, too. 

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Fall Kids Craft--Funny Pumpkins

Draw a pumpkin with marker on an orange construction paper.

You’ll also need pages from cosmetic catalogs (they have mostly close up shots on faces), scissors (kid sized, blunt tips) and a glue stick.

Cut and mismatch the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and accessories.  Glue them on the drawn pumpkin.

Here's the best part:  have a good laugh with your child.

Let your child express herself, funny or not.

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Kids Water Color Tattos

What to do when your little one wants to feel pretty?

I used water color pencils (dipped in water) to draw on JJ’s feet.  She loved it so much that she walked on her tippy toes for the rest of the day.

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