How to Make a Stuffed Doll

Series Summary

Stuffed animals come in a broad range of shapes and sizes. Some of us have seen the giant, 8-foot Teddy Bears at sale during Christmas time or the tiny frogs and kittens that fit on key-chains and charm bracelets. The Teddy Bear, named after President Theodor Roosevelt, is probably the most famous stuffed animal, but the concept is at least a century older than him. In recent years a number of stuffed animal (AKA plushie, plush toy, soft toy) crazes have hit the American toy market: In malls across the country you can find workshops to make your own stuffed animals, online shoppers were bidding thousands of dollars on bean-filled toys, and one furry plush toy that giggled when you tickled it inspired competition (even violence) on an unimagined scale.

Watch expert Candy Cane-Canncel teach you how to make your own plush toy, push needle doll, or stuffed animal in this free series on designing a plush toy. Candy shows you what supplies you need, how to draw and cut a pattern, how to lay out the doll, and much more. You will learn where to start when stuffing a toy, how to stitch the limbs together, how to fill the body and head with stuffing, and other simple tips that will go a long way. Candy also teaches you to add eyes and a mouth. Perfect for the craft room, dog house, or playroom!

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Candi Cane Cannel with Expert Village. I'm a clothing designer, customer and a sewing instructor based in Los Angeles. I've been sewing since I was 14 years old; I absolutely love to sew. One of my favorite projects is making my own clothes but I also do a lot of my home accessories and home furnishings. I think sewing is such a great skill to have cause you can make anything that you want. If you buy something from the store and it doesn't fit right, you can just alter it. Or if you come across some gorgeous curtains in a store that maybe it's a bit out of your price range, you can go ahead and knock it off. Another project that I love to do is make toys I've made dolls, I've made stuffed animals, I've made toys for my dog, I've made toys as little gifts and just recently I started taking my little stuff toys and turning them into pin cushions which as a sewer you can never have enough pin cushions. So I'm going to show you today how to make a really fun stuffed doll pin cushion for the sewer of your life. Some of the things I'm going to talk to you about today is how to make a pattern using just some basic circular shapes. I'm also going to show you how you can dress up your doll with some fun embroideries sequence also using some felt accents. We're also going to construct the doll and stuff it. The method that I'm going to use is really fairly simple so anyone, a beginner to advance probably have a lot of fun doing this project."