Stitching the features on your softie can be the most nerve-wracking part of the whole process. Do it right and the toy looks professional and adorable. Do it poorly and…well, it’s disappointing.
I made a cute little video to show you how I satin stitch the eyes and noses on my softies. This is my first real video with titles and music and everything! I hope you like it.
You’ll notice that I stitch the features on my my toys after they’ve been sewn and stuffed. Most of my softies are really three dimensional and I really like to see the face stuffed before I decide exactly where to place the eyes, nose, and mouth. In this video I’m hiding the knots at the neck which will be covered later by the lovey’s body.
Here are the materials I’m using:
- fleece
- a Frixion pen (the marks erase with the heat of a warm iron – I got mine at Staples)
- size 8 Perle cotton in black and variegated pink
- an embroidery needle
- my mouse Lovey Dovey pattern
I always draw the facial features on the fabric before embroidering, otherwise things come out lopsided (trust me!).
music by Purple Planet
When the mouse is finished it looks like this:
Such a fun baby gift! Quick to sew with just a little bit of fabric, all embroidered features, and totally machine washable.
The pattern comes with four designs so you can make different lovies for different babies.
Thanks for watching!
Great job on the video, Abby. I’m so impressed!
Well, thank you 🙂
This was immensely helpful! I still haven’t embroidered the faces onto the Josephine dolls I made and this video made me a lot more confident about the whole process!
Yay! I’m going to do more videos like this one.
Hi, Abby, you are so inspiring and I really enjoy our web site, I am almost inspired to buy your books but have some projects undone so will try to hold off, but I am into bird watching and would love to make a bird, would you recommend doing something else first, or just jump in with a bird? I would love to make a bird for my bird watching friend who got me hooked on birds. Thanks again, love your video on stuffed animals.
Jenifer
Hi Jenifer,
I think if you really want to make a bird, the bird on the cover of The Artful Bird would be a good place to start. If you’ve never sewn a stuffed animals before, though, maybe try a free tutorial or two just to get your feet wet with the basic skills.
Great video! I love that it has text/music and is so clean and simple. Nicely done!
Thanks, Khara! I had fun making this. I hope to do a few more.
Thank you. I needed this. I have saved for further use.
Thanks so much for the great video, Abby. It’s going to be very, very helpful to me. I look forward to more of your excellent videos.
Thanks, Margaret.
Thanks so much for this tutorial. My mom made several Raggedy Annes. I have one that she had made for herself. She passed away a few years ago and I have it as a memory. I have been wanting to change the eyes just a bit. She did satin stitch, but went through the back of the head. The eyes look pressed in and a bit unsettling. Your tutorial not only gave me a bit more confidence to change the eyes but incentive as well. Thank you.
I love Raggedy Anne. I’m so glad that this video gave you a boost of confidence to do some work on the ones your mom made. That’s wonderful to hear, Debbie.
I loved your video. I’m especially grateful for the tip about the Frixion pen. I love these pens and used them a lot when I was a schoolteacher (so nice that you could just rub out any mistakes when marking or writing comments on students’ work – or even just change your mind!). I never considered using them on fabric, though. I’m just designing a quilt on which I need to mark many very accurate lines for quilting on some rather complicated fabric, so thank you!
Amanda
I’m curious, what do you do with the knots when the head of the stuffed animal is already attached? I just made your baby bear and I struggled with the face embroidery. Thanks.
Hi Michele,
I prefer to embroider the face after the toy is stuffed so that I can see how the shape of the face will look once it’s stuffed. You can take two tiny straight stitches under the eyes or under the nose, then insert the needle and bring it out a few inches away. Pull on the thread and cut it close to the face and the thread ends will disappear inside.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for making this youtube tutorial! it’s been super helpful to make simple features with a satin stitch onto a stuffed animal!
I’m just a beginner and because of people like you making tutorials on youtube etc. it’s been so much easier to do this! I learn by seeing others do it!
Keep up the great work 🙂
What I wanted to know was how to stitch the mouth. Video stopped at the nose! Did I miss something?
Hi Marguerite, Thank you for your message. I just used a simple straight stitch for the mouth on this mouse.
I have over a hundred unstuffed bears ready to finish. I am so happy to find your video… I have been procrastinating for several months to complete.
Barbara in Minnesota