Toby the Terrific Stuffed Turtle FREE Sewing Pattern and Tutorial
Toby turtle is cuddly soft from top to bottom. He’s meant to be a little pillow pal, and as such, his head is designed to be a bit droopy rather than sticking straight out. It has button eyes. They are very securely stitched in place (you’ll see below how they are secured with heavy thread through his head to create a bit of a tufted look). But, if you want to make him for a very young child, you may want to consider using appliquéd fabric circles instead of buttons. Just make sure you choose a fabric that will not bleed onto the main body fleece when washed.
What you'll need:
Sewing tools you need:
- Sewing Machine and standard presser foot
- Zipper foot; optional but helpful when stitching the edge of Toby’s shell
- Walking or Even Feed foot; optional but helpful when working with layered fleece – or engage your machine’s built-in fabric feeding system, such as the Janome built-in AcuFeed™ Flex fabric feeding system
Fabric and Other Supplies
- ½ yard of 58-60″+ wide soft fleece for the turtle’s bottom shell and secret pocket; we originally used a green/white chevron Cuddle
- ¾ yard of 58-60″ soft fleece for the turtle’s shell, shell piping, head, feet and tail; we originally used a green Cuddle with white dots
- Scrap or ¼” yard of medium-weight fusible interfacing to stabilize the neck, you only need an 8″ x 8″ square; we used Décor Bond by Pellon
- ONE 12 oz bag of Poly-Fil® 100% Premium Polyester FiberFill or similar
- 1½ yards of ½” piping cord, also known as Size 5; this is the bulkier size of cording often used in upholstery
- TWO ½”- ¾” black dome-type, shank buttons or felt or similar to create ½”- ¾” black fabric circles; we used ¾” dome buttons purchased locally
- ½ yard of ½” – ⅝” fold-over elastic; we used lime
- All purpose thread to match fabrics and fold-over elastic
- Strong thread for attaching the button; optional
- Cotton floss in a contrasting color; optional
- See-through ruler
- Fabric pen or pencil
- Iron and ironing board
- Scissors
- Rotary cutter and mat
- Seam gauge
- Seam ripper
- Straight pins
- Long doll needle for sewing button eyes in place
- Hand sewing needle
You might want to check this T-rex Dinosaur Softie FREE Sewing Tutorial.
