When I was a child I had a very special stuffed animal dog named Barnard. He was all brown except for the white lining on his ears and his feet were weighty, like beanbags. I carried Barnard around by one ear while sucking my thumb for…well for more years than I care to admit (Yes, I sucked my thumb until I was 13. Don’t judge.) One day when I was seven or eight-years-old the stitches on Barnard’s ear finally gave way and it fell off.
My mom doesn’t really sew. We didn’t have a sewing machine and I don’t remember her ever sewing, but she fixed it. She sewed it on backward, with the white lining facing out, but I still loved Barnard despite his changed appearance.
Because that’s the thing. Even if you don’t sew, you’ll get out the needle and thread to repair a special stuffed animal for a child.
Beloved stuffed animals become a member of the family and are often as important to the parents as they are to the child. If you’re a parent and you’ve ever lost your child’s lovey you know what I’m talking about. If it get’s dropped on a walk, or left in a restaurant, or in the airport (don’t even think about it!) your heart is broken. These toys are irreplaceable. Even if you can find the same stuffed animal again, it doesn’t feel or look the way that old, well-loved one did.
Now I’m a mom of three little girls and I’m a stuffed animal designer. I’m pretty confident that I can repair my daugthers’ special toys when they become frayed and threadbare, when the seams burst or the stuffing compresses, or if an ear falls off. And I can show you how so that you can make expert repairs, too!
This post is the first in a new occasional series called “Animal Hospital: Intensive Care for the Intensely Loved” in which I will show you how to make common repairs on your child’s favorite stuffed animal. From simple fixes like sewing up a burst seam to more complex repairs like replacing paw pads and reattaching jointed limbs, my intention is to help you mend and care for the special softies in your family’s life.
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To prepare for this series I put a post up on the Wellesley Mother’s Forum list serve asking if anyone’s child had a special stuffed animal in need of repair. The Mother’s Forum is a pretty active group in town, nearly 600 members strong. To say I was deluged with requests would be an understatement. The stuffed animals that came in were of every variety from a handmade horse that was a gift from a great aunt to a lamb that had traveled the world and had been swimming on several occasions, this was a very special and well-loved crew.
I photographed each of them before, during, and after their visit to my Animal Hospital in order to illustrate how to perform the most common repairs. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them restored to health.
To kick off the series let’s meet a very endearing little guy named Pigawig. When Pigawig arrived it was clear that his snout had been repaired once before, but the repair was now completely threadbare. Here he is:
Here’s a close-up of his snout.
That bit of orange was the old stuffing peeking out through a hole that had developed many years prior. The threadbare satin was a patch that had been put over the hole, but was now almost completely worn away. Like my dear Barnard, Pigawig had been fixed, but poorly. The patch was too large and didn’t match the original material.
I took a seam ripper and very carefully removed the old patch. Then I added some polyfill stuffing to flesh out his collapsed snout.
I cut a new, more appropriately sized patch from pink fleece. It was just about 1/4 inch larger than the area that needed covering.
I folded the edges to the back by 1/4 inch and used a simple running stitch to temporarily baste them that way.
I pinned the patch in place and then I ladder stitched it to his snout using light pink thread. Be sure to tie a double know before trimming off the thread.
The patch stands out quite a bit because it is clean and new, but after a few romps outside and a couple of hugs to tear-stained cheeks it’ll blend right in. And with an appropriately sized patch Pigawig looks more similar to his original handsome self.
I hope this first installment is helpful to you and if you have any particular stories about the loss or repair of a favorite lovey, please share.
In the next installment I’ll be talking about what to do when toy stuffing has become extremely compressed with a wonderful bear named Crane Man (she’s a girl).
HI, Looking forward to this series. When my daughter was in kindergarten I had made a frog bean bag for her. She dragged it everywhere including school. One day they were playing “Red Rover,” where 2 lines of children hold hands and the child they call runs over to the other line and tries to break the links. Well, froggie was being held between my daughter and a friend and sure enough another child ran there. Dried green peas everywhere. The kind teacher scooped up most of the peas and the empty body and it came home in a ziplock bag. I stitched up the frog (have been sewing since childhood) but he had a suture line from his groin up his body to the opposite shoulder and over. Needless to say he stayed home and I had to make another one. He is still cherished by my adult daughter though!
My daughter is 11 and her fave toy got torn up by the dog its way beyond my repair any ideas where ro send it?
No, I’m sorry. I don’t know.
I can’t wait for the next installment! “Duckie” has been with us for the last 10 years (my son is 10); he is no longer yellow, but green, and his stuffing is all but flat!!
Love this idea for a series! I have a request for a post regarding cleaning. I know that doesn’t involve sewing, so maybe that’s out of the realm of what you want to discuss. We have a well loved beluga whale that hasn’t been white for years!
When my middle son was a baby, my mother bought him a gorgeous teddy that he still has. This teddy went with him everywhere and somehow ended up with a broken arm. We were living in Cranbourne, Victoria at the time, and in Hampton Park – just up the road – there was a couple who repaired beloved cuddly friends.
They restored Huggy and he is still fine. My boy is now 28 and I know that bear is somewhere in his possessions.
yep, another great series. Your mind must be working overtime!
Ha, thank you, Amanda. I have to say that the more I write about plush, the more things there are to write about!
Thank you, this has been a tremendous help to repairing my daughter’s lil black & white kitty! They are both 11 yrs old????
I’m so glad to hear that.
Pls help me before March 22nd 2019 because my favorite stuffed animal Bob got a big attack from my dog today I need your help!!!!!!!😢ðŸ˜
What a great service for that couple to provide! I think many of us still have the special stuffed toy from our childhood. It says a lot about the role that plush can play in our lives, as children and as caregivers. These toys are really important to us.
I wish I knew more about cleaning toys, too. Maybe I can do some research. For now, we handwash our special lovies in the bathroom sink with lukewarm water and Woolite. Towel dry and then a short spin in the dryer to finish. If anyone has any good tips on cleaning, I’m all ears!
Hopefully the next post will be helpful to you and Duckie, Kristin!
That’s a great story! That teacher sure was sensitive to the needs of a child, too. I’m not sure everyone would have so carefully saved all of frog’s bits. I love that frog was a homemade toy, too!
I just finished up a little repair on a stuffed cat I made my niece…that met up with their new dog. I decided to go for obvious patches in a fabric that matched the ear lining. This is a great tutorial though!
That is a pretty common reason repairs are needed for an animal. I'm working on a post about another common repair: replacing paw pads.
I want to learn more too! My childhood doll was packed away in a box in the basement for months, and when I finally took it out, her skin had been chewed up by bugs! The stuffing is barely holding inside, and I can’t figure out a way to patch her up. I’m so sad, especially since Bee is very interested in playing with her. wah! For now, she sits on a shelf in my studio and only occasionally is played with.
These are so useful.
And not judging, I took my knockoff snoopy with his embroidered eyes (the originals were labely things that fell off) and much fixed nose to college with me. I still have him in the shakespearean costume I made for him…
Aw, that's so awesome, Sandra! Lucky Snoopy.
Do you have a buissnes card? Because you were incredible how you repaired Pigawig! My little Brownie’s chest has a hole in it. I wish you could fix him. He is Portegese Water Dog. He has been with me for11 years! And never left my side.
He sounds very cute, Alivia. I don't do this kind of repairs for money, but I'd be glad to help you figure out how to repair him yourself!
Hello,
My Teddy bear called Titti is already quite mature, she turned 58 in January. The problem is that most of her fur is gone and the textile is just disintegrating and her inside which is small cork pieces is coming out.
Any suggestion how to repair her?
Hi Bjorn,
Titti sounds very special! I can't say for sure without seeing her, but to me it seems the only option would be to patch her with new fabric, or to take her apart and rebuild her parts with new fabric and perhaps some new stuffing. Once the fur fabric begins to disintegrate I think those are the only option. I hope that helps!
I have a stuffed animal named Boo Boo Bear. He is a gallerie bear au chocolat with red pajamas. his fur isn’t as soft anymore. it is rough-ish. Do you know any way for him to be soft again? And maybe to help him look like he is not so scruffed up? I have had him for 8 years. i cant give up now.
Hmmmm.. I really don’t know. Have you tried machine washing on gentle with a very mild detergent?
Wonderful article!
Looking for next installments
You can find them here: http://whileshenaps.com/?s=repair
Hi! I’m 29 and I’ve had a stuffed Sylvester the cat for about 23 years now, and he’s very thread-bare, his head has come off once and had to be sewn back on, one of his arms had to be sewn back on. Yea, he’s got a lot of issues, but me and my kids still love him. Is there an easy way to fix his many bald patches? I do know how to sew.
My daughter has a stuffed penguin and our dog tore the eye out and the fur and felt around it how should I go about repairing it should I just stitch it up or should I try to find a replacement eye and fur would it be worth the expense
Hi Abby, my daughter has a stuffed frog that she loves. It has plastic/ resin eyes. Unfortunately, our puppy also loves Froggy, and has chewed on his eyes. I don’t think there is any way to repair them, the scratches are pretty deep and one eye even has a chip out of it. I want to replace them, but have no idea how to go about getting the old ones out. I would be happy to send you a pic if it would help. Thank you!
Feel free to email me a photo of the eyes. I can see if I know of a source for a replacement. I do recommend searching Etsy and eBay.
Hi Abby,
Did you find a source for eye replacement above? Our dog got a hold of our daughters one and only lovie and not only destroyed the eyes but left big holes. She is devastated. We have the eyes but they are in bad shape. Trying to find new ones and someone to repair, I don’t sew! Any leads me I’d be forever grateful! Thanks so much.
Hi Tanya, Without seeing the lovey I can’t say for sure, but they’re likely plastic safety eyes. You can find them in my shop and also on Etsy. Measure how large they are (12mm, 16mm, etc.) and then look for the correct color. They’re sold in pairs. You’ll need to affix them to a fresh piece of fabric that matches the lovey, then sew that fabric over the face to cover the holes. I hope that helps!
I just found this thread! Can I get the link for the next one about what to do when toy stuffing has become extremely compressed? Our giant panda hasn’t had a neck in years but I don’t want to just open him up to see if I can fix him.
Thanks!
Hi Becki, Yes, sorry about that. Here it is: http://whileshenaps.com/2012/11/how-to-repair-a-stuffed-animal-restuffing.html
Hi Becki,
My son is going off to college and will miss his cat. I bought a black stuffed cat and would like to give it a white patch on her chest just like our live kitty. Can you suggest a way to do this? The white patch is approximately 2 x 3 inches.
I don’t know if you’re addressing me, but I would turn the edges of the patch under by 1/4″ (you can temporarily affix them with a glue stick), then stitch it in place with ladder stitch.
Thank you very much for this. Now to find Rainbow Snoopy a nice piece of rainbow fleece. She (and yes, Rainbow’s a girl even if all the other Snoopys are boys) has several threadbare areas, though no holes yet. Yet. That is one very well loved stuffed animal, despite her being only 3.