How to sew a cuddly little pig to match your Gravity Falls cosplay.
Welcome to my explanation of how I made my Waddles plush. I hope, it's not too confusing. Anyhow, if it should be, feel free to leave your questions on one of my social media.
Materials used:
♠ about 1,5m of pink fleece (in my case an old blanket)
♠ matching thread
♠ stuffing
♠ two black buttons
♠ grey, brown and dark pink accent fabric
♠ wire
♠ thin sqishy foam (upholstery foam)
♠ fabric glue
Creating the pattern
There are many ways to make patterns for plushies. The easiest way for me anyway was, by looking at reference images and transfering what I saw to paper. Waddles' front and ears were the easiest part, because I didn't have to think about how anything works in 3d. The back anyhow was a bit more complicated. I first drew the outside line of my front pattern and marked where the centerline (where e.g. the nose is) runs through. At this part it was a bit of a guessing game, because I basically drew wave shapes where the head and back are. You can see that in the picture down below.
The legs were a bit of a pain in the butt to be honest. I'll explain how I made the upper ones first, because it worked at the first time I tried. The method of how I patterned them out is exactly the same as with the front. Just cut the pattern at the point, where the fabric is no longer pink but grey. In general, the lower legs were easy as well, but I needed three attempts, to finally get them right. That's why I'm highly suggesting, to make a mock up, out of cheap fabric, before you use your final one.
Cutting out all light pink and grey parts
This is the probably easiest step of the whole process. Depending on if you made the pattern with or without seam allowance ( 1cm or 1/2") you draw a line around your pattern and either cut it out on the line or add the seam allowance and cut it out then.
For the unpatterned part, the tail you can just cut a 15cm by 3cm rectangle out.
Sewing
I suggest starting out with the ears. Just sew the both upper sides shut and leave the base line open. Cut the corner (only the fabric, NOT the seam) and turn the triangle inside out. Take your squishy foam and cut it to the measurements of the ear and slide it in. Now is the first time you are going to need the wire. Measure it around the shut sides and fold it in the middle. Bend it in the right angle and put it inside. The last step is about sewing a straigt seam from the open side to the corner of the opposite.
The legs are almost as easy as the ears. You just pin the corresponding parts of the grey, to the pink fabric and sew them together. Now sew the both sides of the leg together except of the part, which connects with the torso of your plushie.
Now comes a tricky part: The tail. You got to cut a piece of wire to size (for me it was about 15cm) wrap some of the squishy foam around it, and pin it down. Now you should take it slowly and wrap your fabric around that saussage and move the pins, one after another, from inside to outside the fabric and pin it all together down. Then, taking a needle and a thread you have too sew all the way from the top to the bottom together.
Next, you should sew the backseam. When you are done with this step, you need to take it slowly. Take the now complete back and the front and pin them together, you have to pin the ears in, where you want to have them sit. At the bottom you must leave a open space (about the size of your hand) to turn it inside out and put the stuffing in. To put it in is the last step of this part.
Installing the legs and tail
To install the legs, you first need to fill them. Pin all of them to the body and handsew them to the filled pig-body, and when you have found all of the positions, you like, you can start sewing them on. To do so, you have to turn a little bit of the fabric inside, so the raw edges won't show in the finished product. Before you sew the last bit of the upper legs shut, take your wire again, measure it along the leg and add around 2cm. Turn the ponty bits inwards, so you won't poke yourself, and put it in. This way you can move Waddles' legs the very way you want. Now you can finally sew the leg shut.
For the tail, you simply cut a tiny hole in the fabric, where you want to place it. Stuff it in (around 1cm) and sew it firm.
Patterning the face and spots
First you need to wrap the butt and face area with tape. Sketch out the face and spots and draw on everything you want to have. Now remove the tape from the product and put it onto some paper. Draw around it and cut it out. The pattern is finished. Take a round object, the size of the cheeks and draw around it for them. Now you only need to find two black buttons, of the size you want his eyes to have.
You can now take all of your patterns, transfer them onto the respective fabric and cut them out. You also need to cut out a rectangle, as long as the scope of your nose pattern and as long as you want the nose to stick out.
Dont forget to add seam allowance to all of your parts.
Sewing the face and spots
The first step here is, to sew your nose together. Pin the rectange along the patterned out frontal nose shape. Take it slowly through the sewing machine and when you are done, close the open side and cut it to the desired length.
For the cheeks, pin them in the right spot and sew them to the project. Leave a 3cm gap to put stuffing in and close it afterwards. The spots need to be "hemmed" with fabric glue and glued to the plushy. After this is done, you just need to sew the buttons (eyes) to the right places and you are done.
I hope this little guide was sort of helpful. :)
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