How to Customize a Stuffed Animal

Stuffed animals are popular gifts for loved ones of any age. They come in all sizes, colors, and other traits like eye color and nose shape. Even with the variety of stuffed animals available, you can further distinguish them by personalizing them to suit your taste.

Things You'll Need

• Baby-sized T-shirts
• Fabric paints and markers
• Embroidery thread and needles
• Doll sunglasses
• Sequins
• Rhinestones
• Feathers
• Hot glue
• Upholstery or scrap fabric
• Scissor
• Buttons

Instructions

1. 

   Dress them up. Purchase a baby-sized (or larger, depending on the stuffed animal's size) T-shirt and decorate it with fabric paints and markers, tie dye designs or rhinestones with your rhinestone and stud setter. Paint your child's name on the shirt or decorate it with big flowers. A T-shirt is a blank canvas, so get creative.

2. 

   Embroider a design. Thread an embroidery needle with red thread and sew on a heart using the stitch of your choice. You can also apply a flower motif, smiley faces or a comment like "I love you" on the stuffed animal.

3. 

   Put on some shades. Purchase some doll sunglasses at a hobby shop and decorate with sequins, glitter or rhinestones. Add a dot of hot glue and apply the adornment using tweezers. You can also glue some feathers to the upper outside edge of the front of the sunglasses for some added pizzazz. Attach sunglasses to the stuffed animal by sewing a loop around the earpiece and then to the side of the animal's head.

4. 

   Accent the paws with upholstery fabric. Cut upholstery fabric samples or decorative fabric scraps to fit the bottom paw area. Sew a hem around the circle of fabric then sew the disc onto the middle of the paw for a splash of color and style.

5. 

   Button it up. Pick up an assortment of unusual vintage or colorful buttons in different sizes and sew a sprinkling onto the stuffed animal. Attach firmly by sewing the button on with multiple passes through the button holes. (See warning below.)

Tips & Warnings

• Putting a T-shirt on a stuffed animal makes it easy to keep it clean. Simply take the T-shirt off and throw it in the washer with the rest of your laundry. Get upholstery or fabric samples for free from upholstery shops. Ask for discontinued sample books or small scraps of fabric to use for your customizing job.

• The button customization is only for use for older children who will not bite off buttons. Buttons could be a choking hazard, so use only for preteens or older kids.

References

• michaels.com fabric painta
• stuffedanimals.com

Resources

• primerosedesign.blogspot.com how to sew the satin stitch
• dollclothesstore.com sunglasses for dolls