Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Elephant stuffed animal tutorial (with pattern)!














So, as I have said in previous posts, I just made (and mailed!) a little present for my new neice due any day (actually due yesterday =P)!  I am waiting until she is born to reveal the quilt in it's entirety (check out the matching quilt here!), but here is the stuffed elephant I made to match!  Soft minky on one side,  a patchwork of bright colors on the other.  Floppy ears perfect for the little hands to grab!  I'm loving it!

Do you want to make one too???


Materials: A bunch of small scraps pieced together at random or 1/3 yard of printed cotton fabric (for body)
                  6" of a coordinating printed cotton fabric (for ears)
                 1/3 yard minky (for ears and body)
                 Embroidery floss (for braided tail, and eye)
                 Stuffing

Time:        One evening, two long naps


I made a patchwork with my leftover scraps for one side of the elephant.  It was soooo easy.  Just sew a few pieces together, cut a line with your straight edge, and sew a few pieces onto your new straight line.  Don't have any scraps? Or don't want to worry about sewing a patchwork? Never fear!  Just use fun patterned fabric instead.  It turns out just as cute.

Print out pattern with page margins set to zero.



Cut out your fabric pieces.  Make sure you flip over your pattern after you cut out the printed cotton body, so that the minky is cut out the other way, like is shown below.  Same for the ears.  Cut out one minky and one cotton ear, then flip over the pattern, and cut out another minky and anther cotton ear. 

All of my pieces cut out. I'm ready to start sewing!
Sew the ears together with 1/4" seam allowance.  Put one printed ear and one minky ear right sides together and sew around the curved part.  Leave the end of the ear open so you can flip it right side out.


Flip ears right side out.  Transfer markings from pattern to ear for the pleats, on the outer side of the ear, only.


Fold the outer dots in to line up with the center dot (with both layers of fabric) -- pin in place. 



Sew pleats with 1/4" seam allowance. Whew.  Ears are done, and ready to be sewn onto the body!



If you want to embroider eyes, now is the time to do it!  For the eyes, I used the woven wheel embroidery stitch.  It's actually a lot easier and quicker than it looks. I think it makes perfect little eyes.  If embroidery scares you, try a button, or nothing at all!  It will be super cute either way!

Pin one ear on each side of the elephant, line up ears as shown on pattern. 


Sew ears onto each side of the elephant with a 1/4" seam allowance.


I braided embroidery floss to make a cute little tail.  Sew tail onto one side of the elephant, with a 1/4" seam allowance.


I really thought I took more pictures of the last steps, but I guess I didn't. =P Sorry!

Pin both sides of the elephant right sides together.  I pin A LOT when I use minky, since minky is stretchy and slippery.  Sew together with 3/8" seam allowance (to make sure you hide your previous 1/4" seams).  Leave a 2"-3" gap along the back leg.  Clip corners and severe curves so that it will lay flat when you flip it right side out (not sure what that means? Check out my Jellyfish tutorial).

Fill with stuffing until fairly firm, and hand-stitch the opening closed.   Ta da!  You are done!


36 comments:

  1. I LOVE the scrappy side. So creative and a great way to use up scraps instead of just throwing them away. :)

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  2. what a sweetie¬! thanks for sharing the tutorial.

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  3. How gorgeous! I have a friend who LOVES elephants - so I may be making this as a gift.

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  4. Thank you for the tutorial - I have taken your idea to my idea book!

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  5. Lovely! thanks for sharing the tutorial..

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  7. OK I know I'm missing how to do this and its probably so easy. BUT how do you print out the pattern pieces? I don't see a highlighted word for printing.
    Thanks so much

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    1. Sorry! I'm not very high tech! =) I think the easiest way is to right click on the image of the pattern, and "save image as..." Then print the saved image with zero margins and no scaling (the elephant should fill up an entire 8.5x11 page). Then do the same thing with the elephant ear. Good luck! Let me know if you have more questions!

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  8. yes where is the pattern this is so cute, i would like to make one for my Granddaughter. please help :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, I'm glad you like it! See my answer about printing above. Let me know if it doesn't make sense!

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  9. esta hermoso el elefante, gracias.

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  10. Love the pattern! My elephant boy will get at least one of these! He's loved elephants since he was two and still does at almost ready to drive!

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  11. Replies
    1. Minky is a super soft fabric similar to fleece, but more plush and fur like. It's a little hard to sew with since it's stretchy, but it's worth it!

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    2. Sometimes it's called "fabric cuddle".

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  12. Thanks so much. I hope to give this a try really soon!

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  13. Just made this! Thanks for the instructions! :)

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  14. Heya - Thanks so much for this pattern! I've made my own version and blogged it over here http://a-fresh-page.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/patchwork-elephant.html

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  15. Could I use felt instead of minky? Would it work?
    I love the elephants. Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Angela -- Yes! You could definitely use felt. Felt may not wash up as well as minky, but as long as you hand wash it carefully when needed, you shouldn't have any problems!

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  16. Thanks for this tutorial :)
    I did it this morning for my little girl !!!

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  18. I'm in love with these softie elephant!!! And I love love that they are pink! I featured this post in my own blog, just because they are toooo cute and adorable! http://www.plushiepatterns.com/elephant-stuffed-animal-tutorial-cute-easy/ The kids will surely love these!!! thank you!

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  19. I used your pattern to make a door stop and added a little strap to the top to carry it - i filled it with rice and it worked really well!

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  20. how big was your pattern (width and height) ?

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    Replies
    1. Suzanne, I made the pattern to be printed out on an 8.5x11 page. So the elephant pattern is about 7 inches tall and 10 inches long!

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  21. Thank you so much for sharing this pattern. I just made one lastnight. Although, I reduced the size of the pattern by 1/2 and attached a ribbon as the tail. I then attached snap fasteners to the tail so that it can be a pacifier holder.

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  22. What a blog post, I was searching for a baby elephant stuffed animal and there are so many with their specifications. I really appreciate your blog post. Keep it up.

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  23. I just made my first elephant :D Great pattern and tutorial, Thank You very much for sharing :)

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  28. Thanks so much for this tutorial. My Grand daughter and I made this is this morning for her baby sister. Such a great learning to sew project .. From Claire and Alice - Australia

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