Thursday, November 25, 2010

Felt Pucca "Doll"

My baby loves Pucca. But their time slot on the Disney Channel jumps from time to time so we don't really know when to tune in. One night last week, Andrea and I chanced upon Pucca while channel hopping on TV. When she saw Pucca appear, she broke into a big smile and yelled "Pucca!" (Andrea's first words are usually the names of her favorite cartoon characters). And a light bulb went off in my head... IDEA!
I made her a Pucca "doll"!

I'm saying "doll" with quote marks because I still keep trying to convince myself that it's a doll. It's a little flat, see... but Andrea likes it so all's good. I initially just wanted to make her a Pucca patch to sew on one of her shirts. After finishing the face, I can't find shirt to attach it to so I decided to make it into a doll instead.

Here's a simple how-to (this should work for other cartoon characters, as long as the parts are simple and not too complicated to cut):


You will need:

  • 2 copies of a template: search for an image online, resize, and print 2 copies
  • Different colored felt: red, black and cream for this one
  • Sewing needle
  • Matching thread: red, black and cream
  • Marker
  • Polyester stuffing
STEP 1: Find a template and print 2 copies. I used this one for mine:
STEP 2: Pin the template on the cream felt and cut. This will be the overall shape of your doll. Cut 2 pieces for the front and back.
STEP 3: Cut up the other printout into the different parts of the doll to use as pattern. Pin on corresponding color felt and cut. Here's a summary of "parts" for my Pucca doll (each "part" is labeled with a letter):
  • Part A - 2 pieces
  • Part B - 1 piece
  • Part C - 1 piece
  • Part D - 2 pieces
  • Part E - 2 pieces
  • Part F - 2 pieces
  • Part G - 2 pieces
STEP 4: Put the front together. Using black thread, attach Part B, E and F to the first piece Part A. I used back stitch, sewing across all the edges of Parts B, E and F.
STEP 5: Attach the red shirt to the front using black thread. Using back stitch, I traced along the edges of the red shirt. I also sewed lines from the "shoulder" to the "hem" of the shirt to copy the original black lines of Pucca's shirt on my template.
STEP 6: Draw the face. I actually sewed thin strips of black felt for the eyes and brows and just drew the mouth. But looking back, I think you can just draw the whole face and it won't make much difference.
STEP 7: Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the back, this time, using Parts C and the 2nd piece of Part A.
STEP 8: Sew the front and back pieces together, I used blanket stitch for mine and I used the same color thread for the color of felt that it will be sewn on. Start with the left bun.
STEP 9: After stitching around the bun, stuff with polyester stuffing, then attach Part G using back stitch, sewing through front and back parts:

STEP 10: Repeat the process for the right bun.
STEP 11: Finish attaching the front and back parts of the head using blanket stitch and fill head with polyester stuffing. The reason my "doll" is flat because I couldn't stuff too much. It bulges when I do.
STEP 12: Close off the head part using back stitch, stitching between Parts B and D on the front:
STEP 13: Sew along the edges of the shirt and pants using blanket stitch to close. Remember to stuff the body with polyester as well before closing off all edges.

And that's a wrap!

Front of the "doll".
Back of the "doll".
I actually don't get why Andrea likes her. I guess because of the red shirt? My finished product kinda looks like a voodoo doll to me, but Andrea's face lit up when I showed it to her. Anyway, I plan to make her another one of a much cuter character next time.

2 comments:

nicquee said...

I wish I have the same creativity as yours! Ang cute kaya! Maybe you can make one to be a finger puppet. You can use that for storytelling. :)

Janelle said...

Nakakita nga ako ng tutorial for finger puppets... pero since smaller yun, feeling ko lang mas madugo tahiin. Ang hindi ko nasabi sa post ko is how long it took me to finish Pucca... I started last Saturday pa, haha! For something that looked like simple sewing to me nung una, ang tagal din pala gawin!