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Looking for a new decoration to make your Thanksgiving table pop? Hillary from @wee_wonderfuls has the perfect tutorial! This cheerful squirrel in an acorn hat will add a smile to any fall celebration, and it's a breeze to make! Gather up your supplies, and in just a couple of quick hours you'll have the cutest little creature to share a table with!
Wool felt is perfect for making pocket sized stuffed animal friends. This time of year the most active animal friends in my yard are the squirrels. I’d rather they spent more time making themselves silly acorn hats than digging up my bulbs, so this friend is wishful thinking.
Stuffed firmly, like soft sculpture, your new squirrel friend will look great on a shelf as part of your fall decor, or squirrel him away in your pocket while you go out crunching in the leaves.
Skill level: Intermediate
Time: 2 hours
Supply list:
One 6 x 9 sheet of Shortbread
One 6 x 9 sheet of Pumpkin
One 6 x 9 sheet of Nutmeg
One 6 x 9 sheet of Toast
One 6 x 9 sheet of Brown
Floss in Brown, Nutmeg, Black and Pumpkin
Stuffing
Scissors
PDF template (click to download)
Directions:
1. Following the written directions on the pattern pieces, cut your shapes out of the felt colors listed.
2. Decorate your acorn hat to look a little more acorn-y using three strands of Pumpkin floss (DMC 976). I embroidered little “V”s on one side of each of the 3 Acorn Hat (A) pieces.
3. Assemble the hat using 3 strands of Brown floss (DMC 938). With wrong sides together sew two of the hat pieces together along one edge. Next sew the third piece to the open sides of the first two pieces, again with wrong sides together. Finger press the seams open flat.
4. To sew the squirrel use 3 strands of Nutmeg floss (DMC 434). The squirrel’s head is made up of 3 pieces, two Head Sides (B) and the Head Gusset (C). The first step is to sew the two side pieces together along the front edge.
5. Next sew the Head Gusset (C) to the two head sides. Pin the gusset along one of the open rounded sides of the head with the point at the nose. Sew along the edge, nose to neck. Next pin the other side of the gusset and sew in place.
6. Press the seams open flat with your fingers and then stuff the head firmly until it has no give and is a nice round shape.
7. Now let’s start the body. Lay the Front (E) over the Back (D) lining up the curved arm/leg edge. Sew together along that edge stopping at the bottom as shown. Knot off and cut your floss.
8. Repeat on the other side, lining up the edges which will bump out the space for the body. Again, stop at the base but this time you don’t need to tie knot and cut floss because you will fold up the base/bottom flap and continue sewing around it as shown in next picture.
9. Finger press the seams open and firmly stuff as you did the head.
10. Pin the head to the body and sew together. Fold under the edge of each piece about ⅛” and use a ladder stitch to join the pieces.
11. Now it’s time to put on the hat. Pin the acorn hat to the top of the head, pulling down snuggly, and sew in place around bottom edge with Brown floss.
12. Embroider the face using 3 strands of Black floss (DMC 310). Start with the nose and mouth. Knot your floss and then bring your needle in between the seams at the point of the nose gently pulling your knot to the inside. Bring your needle up where you’d like the nose and embroider the nose and mouth.
From there bring your needle out where you’d like the eyes. I use pinheads to mark where I’d like the eyes and then remove them when I embroider. When you’re finished with the embroidery pull your needle and thread through the back of the head and clip close to the surface. Then squish the head around a bit to pull the thread back into the stuffed head so it’s not visible.
13. If you’d like a little glint in the eye, finish off with a stitch of 2 strands of Pumpkin floss across the eyes.
14. Now to finish up with the tail. Cut your three Tail (F) pieces into fringe along each long edge.
15. Layer the pieces with Toast in between the two Pumpkin pieces. Pin together at ends and twist the tail into a nice fluffy one.
16. Pin to the bottom of back of squirrel and sew in place with a few tacking stitches.
17. Loop the tail up and pin the other end to the back of the Squirrel’s head. Sew in place. Lastly, pin a middle section to the Squirrel and sew in place. You can sew as much of the tail down as you’d like and play with the placement to get the shape you’d like.
Congratulations! You've made your stuffed squirrel!
Thanks to Hillary for designing and writing this tutorial! You can follow her on Instagram @wee_wonderfuls or visit her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!