If you are an experienced sewist, you can have a lot of fun stitching a stuffed animal for a special young (or young-at-heart) loved one. And even if you are a novice sewist, making a stuffed animal can be a fun way to practice skills. Missouri Star has a selection of stuffed animal patterns that are sure to charm people of all ages.

If you have never sewed stuffed animals or are a novice sewist, you are probably wondering, how do you make a stuffed animal for beginners? 

The first step is choosing easy stuffed animal patterns. Some patterns will state the level of difficulty. If not, use some simple tips to select stuffed animal patterns for beginners. 

Choose an animal that has a large body with big curves–a manatee for example. The pattern for a manatee will have fewer pattern pieces and fewer tight corners than a pattern for a giraffe that has lots of long, thin body parts. A manatee will be one of the easy stuffed animal patterns to sew. Other simple stuffed animal patterns are for animals like whales, sea turtles, and hippos. Snakes are also easy because they require lots of straight stitching. Snakes are a fun project for kids who are learning how to sew.

Missouri Star offers many patterns from Pauline McArthur at Funky Friends Factory. On the Funky Friends Factory website, Pauline offers a free pattern for the Honey Teddy bear if you sign-up for her newsletter. You will also find a video demonstrating how to assemble Honey Teddy. Whether or not you obtain the free pattern, watching the video can give you helpful answers to the question, how do you make stuffed animals step by step? 

The techniques Pauline uses to assemble Honey Teddy are transferable to all of the stuffed animal sewing patterns we carry at Missouri Star. But since you don’t get to watch Pauline stitch the pattern pieces together on the demo video, you may still wonder, what stitch do you use for stuffed animals? We recommend a straight stitch at a length appropriate for the fabric you have chosen for the stuffed toy. Your raw edges will be enclosed inside the toy; therefore, you do not need to take special care to finish them.

Once you have mastered some of the easy stuffed animal patterns to sew, you may be feeling ready to tackle a more challenging animal. It can be hard to choose! The sloth is a cute stuffed animal pattern but so is the lion! Who can resist a hedgehog? And maybe you are ready to try giraffe soft toy patterns to sew. There are so many adorable stuffed animal patterns for babies and kids (and really big kids) that it is difficult to decide! Rest assured that Missouri Star will strive to bring you the best stuffed animal patterns available.