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Maker Team member Johnny of @thehoopkid first caught our eye with the big personalities he crafts in small hoops. This fun new tutorial is a perfect example of his playful style and contagious energy. Stitch up a cute felt pup and then choose from an array of accessories to showcase its street (or backyard) style!
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 4 - 6 hours
Additional Supplies:
Dog Template (click to download)
Accessories Template (click to download)
Felt or Fabric for Background
Assorted Felt for Accessories
Directions:
Dog in Hoop
1. Fit background fabric into hoop by taking apart hoop, stretching fabric over inner circle, pushing outer circle back on over top, and tightening top screw. Trim fabric around outside of hoop, leaving about 1" of extra fabric around the edge. Go around edge pulling fabric tight, tightening top screw more as needed. Tight background fabric will make the sewing stage easier.
2. Flip over hoop and glue fabric over top of inner ring. Once dry, trim excess fabric.
3. Download and print Dog Template above. Cut around outside of paper dog pattern. If possible, use a different pair of scissors than your felt pair to keep those sharp! Cut around dotted line at bottom. Cut off ears.
4. Pin ear templates to Cocoa felt and head/body template to Oyster felt. Cut around templates with sharp scissors.
5. Cut out eyebrow, eye, muzzle, and chest patch templates from the head/body.
6. Pin templates to felt as listed below. Cut around templates with sharp scissors.
Eyes - Black
Eyebrow - Cocoa
Muzzle - Cocoa
Chest Patch - White
7. Cut out jaw from muzzle template, then pin remaining muzzle to Cocoa felt and cut around shape.
8. Cut out tooth and nose templates from muzzle template. Pin nose template to Black felt and cut around shape. For tooth, hold template on White felt and cut out.
9. Arrange all the felt pieces on the hoop in their final positions. The muzzle piece without the jaw will be placed over the muzzle with the jaw. Make sure that body and chest patch hang over bottom edge. Then pin down the ears, face, muzzle, and chest patch and remove the rest.
10. Sew around the outside of each piece using a running stitch and color coordinating thread. Do not sew the across the bottom or on the overhanging felt.
11. Place eyes, nose, and eyebrow back in position and pin to background. Sew around the outside of each piece using a running stitch with color matching thread.
12. Use Black embroidery floss to stitch in details:
Lines under eyes
Split in muzzle
Neck/head separation
Whisker X’s
Mouth line over lower jaw
13. Loosen top screw and remove outer ring of hoop. Push outer ring of hoop back over the top of the inner ring, making sure extra felt is tucked in between. Tighten top screw, then trim excess felt at bottom.
Accessories
Beanie is shown in example, but most accessories are crafted using same method. For both pairs of glasses, cut out black background shape of glasses using the template.
1. Download Accessories Template above. Cut out paper template pieces by cutting around INSIDE of black lines.
2. Use template pieces to cut out shapes from felt. Use pins to hold larger template pieces in place. Use whatever color felt you like.
3. Lay out felt pattern pieces on background of black felt. Leave small gaps between pieces for black to show through.
4. Lift each piece individually and apply glue to the backside before replacing. Make sure to cover outer edges of bottom with glue so pieces don’t peel up.
5. Once all pieces are glued in place, cut around entire shape leaving a thin black border.
6. Nose ring, nose stud and earring studs can be cut directly from colored felt and do not need a black background.
7. For the chain, cut out paper template but don’t cut out inner ring. Use template to cut shapes from felt seven times.
8. Cut a slit on the short side of the felt shape, using the slit to cut a square out of the center. Repeat for all seven felt pieces.
9. Link the rings together, gluing each snip back together after you loop it through the previous piece.
Make the accessories that best fit your dog's personality and... dress it up! The finished result is so fun and little hands will love helping. We think this would be a dynamite gift for the dog lovers in your life!
Thanks to Johnny for designing and writing this tutorial! You can follow him on Instagram @thehooopkid. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!
