My Weblog: Lavender Baby Tutorial

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You will need a small amount of felt for the ears, fabrics for the face and body, and some plain light cotton fabric. My baby pattern is about 4" or 10cm high, but make yours as big or small as you like.

Cut a strip of fabric for the face (my piece measures 4"/10cm x 9"/23cm) and body (5"/12cm x 9"23cm) and pin and stitch together along one of the long edges.

Next cut a piece of plain cotton ( I used an old sheet), slightly larger than your sewn together fabrics and pin together around the edges.

This is my first tip - when making softies out of cotton fabrics, I always back them with a plain piece of cotton, this gives your toy more strength and avoids that lumpy look when you come to stuff it.

Next, pin your pattern piece to the fabrics and stitch all around close to the edge of the pattern. You'll be doing this for only the front piece of baby.

Cut out about a quarter inch away from your stitch line.

Next, pin and stitch the ear strips in place.

Now flip your baby over onto to the remaining fabric so right sides are together, and making sure your head and body seams line up, pin and stitch together. Don't forget to leave a gap for turning. Sounds obvious I know, but I've lost count of the number of times I've forgotten to do that Goddammit.

Cut out and snip carefully all around for maximum curvability.

Turn right side out, stuff, putting in a teaspoon or two of dried lavender if desired, and stitch gap closed.

Baby should now look like this.

And now for my second top tip - shape the ears when your softie is at this stage, that way you don't have to deal with itty-bitty ear shaped bits of felt that are very tricky to pin and sew in place. Just cut a straight line to the length you want and then round off the corners. Simple huh ?

Embroider the face, add a little hair, and your all done.

Have fun.

And have a lovely weekend too.

Comments

Geez, you are just the greatest. Thanks for sharing your pattern and your super tips! You have a good weekend yourself. :-)

Posted by: Sarah | January 18, 2008 at 02:56 PM

What a sweet little baby. Thanks for the tutorial. =)

Posted by: Steph | January 18, 2008 at 03:06 PM

Thanks for the tips. That little sprig of hair at the top is so cute.

Posted by: Mama Urchin | January 18, 2008 at 03:11 PM

Hum, I'dont speak english very well, but I'll try to sew this cute lavender baby ... (Grrrr I speak englisk like a spanisk cow...)

Posted by: Claire | January 18, 2008 at 03:20 PM

Thanks for the good little tips-like backing with cotton and the ear shaping tip is a gem. Who woulda thunk it? Only question I have is how to embroider the face--where did you put those knots, honey?
ps. please post more often--I can't get enough of Molly Chicken!

Posted by: theresa | January 18, 2008 at 03:28 PM

i think i might make these as gifts for the parents of new babies...i always want to give them a little something too.

Posted by: risa | January 18, 2008 at 03:40 PM

Thanks for posting this! So cute.

Posted by: Meredith | January 18, 2008 at 03:40 PM

ps-thank you!!!

Posted by: risa | January 18, 2008 at 03:41 PM

Too CUTE! Thanks for the tutorial!~~XXOO, Beth

Posted by: Elizabeth Holcombe | January 18, 2008 at 03:46 PM

how cute! I might have to make a new lovey for my daughter with this pattern. Thank you for sharing. :)

Posted by: Darlene | January 18, 2008 at 04:04 PM

How sweet! I know what I'm doing this weekend now :)
Thanks for showing us how to do this

Posted by: Christine | January 18, 2008 at 04:13 PM

Thank you!

Posted by: mariarrosa | January 18, 2008 at 04:30 PM

Perfect! Thanks :)

Posted by: Regina | January 18, 2008 at 05:25 PM

Yay, these are so cute.
I love it.

Posted by: seven | January 18, 2008 at 05:27 PM

Love it! So cute, I have to agree with Claire above though - the embroidery looks the hardest part! Any chance of a tutorial on how to embroider faces? x

Posted by: Donna | January 18, 2008 at 05:50 PM

i love your tutorials, they're like a good, well written book. thankyou

Posted by: hazeljoy | January 18, 2008 at 05:53 PM

Thank you so much-super cute!

Posted by: Sue | January 18, 2008 at 07:00 PM

Thanks so much for this. Love the tip about the double layer of cotton and the tip about the cute little baby ears. I love your site!

Posted by: dorkyquilts | January 18, 2008 at 07:38 PM

Oh, so cute!!! Thanks for sharing!

Posted by: Andrea | January 18, 2008 at 08:18 PM

Thanks for sharing your tutorial. I can't wait to try it this weekend!

Posted by: Jennifer | January 18, 2008 at 09:08 PM

Great tutorial, thanks for doing it, I know they take some time and effort!