- Recommended
- Tools And Supplies:
- black & white felt fabric
- toy stuffing
- doll eyes or embroidery thread
- wire or pipe cleaners
- needle and thread
- pink embroidery thread
- small sharp scissors
Make Your Own Felt Stuffed Skunk!
Begin by cutting all of the felt pattern pieces as directed by the last page of the tutorial. The easiest way to cut felt is with a small sharp pair of scissors. For the greatest precision you could: 1. choose to trace the pattern onto the felt, or 2. iron some wax paper to the felt then trace onto that and cut, or 3. tape the pattern pieces to the felt with some wide clear tape, cutting through both tape and felt simultaneously.
Begin by installing eyes on the main body pieces of the skunk. I like to use a 3-4 mm plastic doll eye but you could use beads or tiny buttons, embroider the eyes or even paint them. Next sew the white detail pieces into place onto the skunk’s body and onto the head piece using a simple running stitch.
Prepare the under body piece by folding each leg inward and stitching across the top of the leg as shown
in the photos below. Sew the rear end piece onto the back end of the under body piece. Optionally sew
into place a small “X” to the top of the rear end using pink embroidery thread.
Sew together one of the Main Body pieces to the Under Body piece by matching at the legs and pinning
together. Begin sewing at the rear just at the base of the tail. To start, knot your thread at the base of the tail
then begin sewing the edges of the felt together with one of the above recommended hand stitches. Begin
sewing at the rear, moving downwards towards the back foot.
Continue stitching along the entire underside, along both legs, eventually reaching and stopping at the chest. Pin the opposite Main Body piece into place to begin sewing the skunk together. Knot your thread at the top base of the tail to begin sewing the tail together.
Stitch along the tail moving towards the back of the skunk, sewing down the back of the opposite leg and
continuing along the under body pieces until you reach the chest again. Stitch the front face piece into place attaching it to the front of the chest. Stitch the piece into place by pinning and sewing to one side of the main body piece/head and sewing until you reach the tip of the tail.
Return to stitching the opposite side of the body/face into place by knotting your thread to the inside of the
neck/body then stitching the pieces together moving towards the tip of the nose. Once you’ve sewn just past the nose area of the face, stop stitching while leaving the thread dangling. Stuff the front of the face lightly with toy stuffing, then prepare to stitch in a nose.
Stitch the little pink nose into place by threading a needle with pink embroidery thread. Knot the end of the
thread, then sending the needle through the opening in the top of the head, exiting just to the side of the
snout where the edge of the nose would sit.
Continue creating stitch upon stitch as shown above until you have filled in a nose. To finish send the needle back into the skunks face then knotting at the inside of the face.
Next we’ll move on to stuffing the skunks legs full by pushing small bits of stuffing into the legs at a time. I like to use a chop stick or stuffing tool to fill my animals with toy stuffing.
Stuff the legs completely full. Then begin stitching at the head again until you’ve reached just past the neck.
Stuff the head full. Continue stitching and stuffing until you have stuffed the entire animal and sewn it shut.
The last step to finishing the stuffed skunk is to add some ears! Begin by making a single stitch at the bottom of each ear. Fold the ear in half and create the stitch at the bottom to hold the fold in place.
Pin the ears into place on the head to find the placement that you think looks best. Stitch the ears into place. I like to use a very long thread and stitch a few stitches straight through the head from one side to the other. This will hold the ears on extra sturdy.
