Plush-Making Tips!
A couple of people have asked me about making plush critters, I'm not an expert by any means but I can pass along some of the things I have learned that you might find helpful if you are wanting to make some of your own. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask :D
Patterns
This can actually be the most challenging part of making an animal! Locating just the right pattern can be difficult, as the majority of commercial patterns are for jointed teddy bear-style animals. If you're just starting out, you want to look for a pattern that is all one piece (no joints), with not too many color changes. You can try looking in your local library or used bookstore for toy-making books, as many of these have good patterns for beginners. You can also try online, there are some free patterns available if you are willing to search.
If you're feeling adventurous, you can buy an inexpensive stuffed animal from a store or garage sale and "disassemble" it into its parts, and try to replicate it that way. If you find a pattern that's similar to the animal you want, you can adjust it -- for example, changing the shape of just the ears and tail can make a pattern look totally different in the finished animal.
Materials
As a beginner, you will want to use a synthetic knit fabric, not mohair. Synthetics are very forgiving, come in a huge variety of styles and colors, and are less expensive than mohair. Many fabric stores don't have a wide variety of furs, and those they do have are low quality. Therefore, I suggest buying your fur online, but look for a site that offers sample cards, as it's really hard to determine the color and length of the fur from a photo. I usually buy around a half a yard at a time, which makes it not so expensive, but still allows for a lot of room for error :)
I use plastic safety eyes because they are easier, but you can use glass if you prefer that look. Noses can be plastic or you can sew or embroider your own. You can also sculpt eyes and noses with Sculpey or a similar material, just bake it separately and attach to the finished animal. Again, these can be hard to find locally, so I buy mine online, where there's a huge variety of sizes and styles. If you are using a pattern, it should mention what size of eyes and nose to use, in millimeters.
Cutting
It sounds simple, but there are some really important things you need to remember when cutting out your fur pieces.
First, check and double check that you have all of the pieces, including the reverses! Two left feet will not help you in making an animal any more than in dancing :)
The direction that the fur lies on the fabric is called the "nap", and the pattern pieces will generally have an arrow indicating which way the nap should lie for each piece. This is really important because it makes the fur lie more naturally on the finished animal. If you don't cut them correctly, your animal will look like he's having a bad fur day with hair sticking all over :)
When you cut, use only the tips of the scissors so you are just cutting the backing, and not the actual fur fibers. This will keep your seams from looking "bald" (and it helps hide your mistakes!).
Sewing
You can use a machine for sewing animals if you want, but I don't, for a couple of reasons. First, fur is very thick and rough on your machine -- I broke no less than three needles on the last critter I machine sewed. Second, once your animal starts to come together, it will be really difficult to navigate all of the pieces through the machine and around the tight corners. I like to hand sew mine, I can do it while watching TV and it's a nice relaxing activity. Use a thimble (or a Band-Aid, with the pad part covering the tip of your finger)! Don't worry about having perfect stitches. The fur will hide a LOT of mistakes. But your stitches should be even and as close together as you can get. Pay special attention to areas where several pieces meet, or areas that will be under a lot of strain.
Any sort of thread will work, I use a double strand for strength. Use a color that matches the fur you are working with, or sometimes your stitches may show through. If it's on a seam between two colors, I use the thread of the lighter colored fabric.
And yes, it takes a long time to hand-sew, but as I said, you can do it while you are watching TV and you won't notice how long it takes at all :)
Finishing
If you are using safety eyes or noses, affix them before you stuff the animal. They attach from the inside with a washer.
Regular old polyester fiberfill works just fine, this should be available in any craft or fabric store. How firm or loose you stuff is a matter of personal taste and how you want your finished animal to look. As a general rule though, you will want to stuff legs more firmly as they need to support the weight of the entire animal. I sometimes use unsharpened pencils to keep legs straight and to add strength, you could use wire as well.
On many of my animals I use paint to add details, just acrylic or craft paint works fine for this. An airbrush would be even better, but I don't have one :) You can also add details like beads, collars, or ribbon to customize your animal's appearance.
Patterns
This can actually be the most challenging part of making an animal! Locating just the right pattern can be difficult, as the majority of commercial patterns are for jointed teddy bear-style animals. If you're just starting out, you want to look for a pattern that is all one piece (no joints), with not too many color changes. You can try looking in your local library or used bookstore for toy-making books, as many of these have good patterns for beginners. You can also try online, there are some free patterns available if you are willing to search.
If you're feeling adventurous, you can buy an inexpensive stuffed animal from a store or garage sale and "disassemble" it into its parts, and try to replicate it that way. If you find a pattern that's similar to the animal you want, you can adjust it -- for example, changing the shape of just the ears and tail can make a pattern look totally different in the finished animal.
Materials
As a beginner, you will want to use a synthetic knit fabric, not mohair. Synthetics are very forgiving, come in a huge variety of styles and colors, and are less expensive than mohair. Many fabric stores don't have a wide variety of furs, and those they do have are low quality. Therefore, I suggest buying your fur online, but look for a site that offers sample cards, as it's really hard to determine the color and length of the fur from a photo. I usually buy around a half a yard at a time, which makes it not so expensive, but still allows for a lot of room for error :)
I use plastic safety eyes because they are easier, but you can use glass if you prefer that look. Noses can be plastic or you can sew or embroider your own. You can also sculpt eyes and noses with Sculpey or a similar material, just bake it separately and attach to the finished animal. Again, these can be hard to find locally, so I buy mine online, where there's a huge variety of sizes and styles. If you are using a pattern, it should mention what size of eyes and nose to use, in millimeters.
Cutting
It sounds simple, but there are some really important things you need to remember when cutting out your fur pieces.
First, check and double check that you have all of the pieces, including the reverses! Two left feet will not help you in making an animal any more than in dancing :)
The direction that the fur lies on the fabric is called the "nap", and the pattern pieces will generally have an arrow indicating which way the nap should lie for each piece. This is really important because it makes the fur lie more naturally on the finished animal. If you don't cut them correctly, your animal will look like he's having a bad fur day with hair sticking all over :)
When you cut, use only the tips of the scissors so you are just cutting the backing, and not the actual fur fibers. This will keep your seams from looking "bald" (and it helps hide your mistakes!).
Sewing
You can use a machine for sewing animals if you want, but I don't, for a couple of reasons. First, fur is very thick and rough on your machine -- I broke no less than three needles on the last critter I machine sewed. Second, once your animal starts to come together, it will be really difficult to navigate all of the pieces through the machine and around the tight corners. I like to hand sew mine, I can do it while watching TV and it's a nice relaxing activity. Use a thimble (or a Band-Aid, with the pad part covering the tip of your finger)! Don't worry about having perfect stitches. The fur will hide a LOT of mistakes. But your stitches should be even and as close together as you can get. Pay special attention to areas where several pieces meet, or areas that will be under a lot of strain.
Any sort of thread will work, I use a double strand for strength. Use a color that matches the fur you are working with, or sometimes your stitches may show through. If it's on a seam between two colors, I use the thread of the lighter colored fabric.
And yes, it takes a long time to hand-sew, but as I said, you can do it while you are watching TV and you won't notice how long it takes at all :)
Finishing
If you are using safety eyes or noses, affix them before you stuff the animal. They attach from the inside with a washer.
Regular old polyester fiberfill works just fine, this should be available in any craft or fabric store. How firm or loose you stuff is a matter of personal taste and how you want your finished animal to look. As a general rule though, you will want to stuff legs more firmly as they need to support the weight of the entire animal. I sometimes use unsharpened pencils to keep legs straight and to add strength, you could use wire as well.
On many of my animals I use paint to add details, just acrylic or craft paint works fine for this. An airbrush would be even better, but I don't have one :) You can also add details like beads, collars, or ribbon to customize your animal's appearance.