Woolly Jumper Creatures

Get sewing and make your very own cuddly creature for Sew a Softie month 2017.

Me and my Woolly Jumper Creatures are taking part in the brilliant Sew a Softie month – a project by Coloured Buttons which aims to get everyone sewing.

Here’s a little bit about the Sew a Softie project:
“Sew a Softie is an initiative that aims to ignite a love of hand sewing in a new generation. It encourages parents and children to turn off their computers, put down their smart phones and discover the fun and fulfillment that comes from creating a simple-to-sew softie together.”

There’s a new Sew a Softie project every day during July – have a look at the list of tutorials.

How to make your own Woolly Jumper Creature from Colourful Minds…

What you’ll need:

An old woolly jumper
Wool
Large eyed plastic or metal needle
Buttons
Beads
Stuffing*

*Tip – I buy cheap cushion pads and use their stuffing instead of buying expensive toy stuffing.

What to do:

Cut one of the jumper’s sleeves into two pieces.

Turn the sleeve piece inside out.
Using a large eyed plastic or metal needle threaded with wool, sew a running stitch all around one of the openings.
Pull both ends of the wool together like a drawstring and tie a double knot.

Turn the sleeve inside out again (so it’s the right way round) and fill with stuffing.

To make a pom pom:
Wind some wool around your hand approx. 15 times.
Carefully slide the wool off your hand and lay on a flat surface.
Cut a short length of wool and tie it around the middle of the wool loop.
Secure tightly with a few knots.
Snip the loops on either side of the knot with scissors.
Fluff out the pom pom and trim any long ends if necessary.

Using a large eyed plastic or metal needle threaded with wool, sew a running stitch all around the open end of the stuffed sleeve.
Pull both ends of the wool together like a drawstring and tie a double knot.
Keeping the wool on the needle, use this to sew the pom pom to the top of the creature by threading the needle through the centre of the pom pom and back through the top of the creature a few times before tying a double knot.
Trim the wool off the needle to the same length of the pom pom.

Sew two buttons and beads for eyes and a bead for a nose using a needle and wool.

Sew a backstitch for the mouth.

Ta da! You’ve got your very own Woolly Jumper Creature.

Ideas and variations:

A zip for a mouth.

A string of beads for a mouth.

Pipecleaners, buttons, pom poms, ribbon, beads, stitches or anything you can find (and can sew!) for features.

Any decorative stitches make features for a creature – have fun experimenting with threads and stitches.

 

art / craft / making / sew a softie / sewing