Monday, September 16, 2013

Making A Cute Stuffed Dinosaur

0 comments
By Cecile Ingram


Smoke breathing dragons and cute dinosaurs have enchanted and delighted children for centuries. They have been the subject of school classrooms and have been the delight of children on Saturday afternoons, with drawing, cutting, and gluing. Making a stuffed dinosaur turns a lazy afternoon into a fun filled day.

Not only are dinosaurs a fun craft for children, but they are also a great learning tool, and can serve as decoration pieces for play rooms, or bed room dressers. This is especially true when accompanied with clothing and accessories. Children can use them for endless play, but also for learning body parts, clothing, or learning to tie shoes.

This craft is easy as one, two, three. Follow a few extremely easy steps and parents and children alike will benefit from hours of countless fun together. The first step is selecting the pattern from the Internet, or local shop. Patterns can be adjusted for size with a copy machine, so all patterns can be made smaller or larger.

Once a pattern has been selected, choose a soft or silky, but firm material. Solid or multicolored materials can be selected. A material such as felt is a good choice. Using fabric scissors begin cutting material in the same size pieces as the pattern. Cut a front and back piece if appropriate. Pin pieces together on wrong side of material for sewing.

The next step will require sewing by hand or using a sewing machine. Sew inward 1/4 of an inch, leaving 1/4 of material on outside. Do not sew shut. You will need to turn the material and stuff it. Leave a space of at least two inches that has not been sewn. Once completed, turn material to the right side of the material. With a utensil, such as a crochet hook, push pieces of material out that won't turn on its own.

Begin stuffing the material with poly fill. Do not use large amounts of the fill all at once. This will clump and will result in lumps and air spaces. Take a small amount, and fill in tails, hands, and feet first. Slowly fill to provide a more professional look, and adjust fill as needed. Packing full also isn't desired. Arms and legs should move freely, and toy should be soft, not hard.

Once filled, sew the two inch opening shut by hand. Cut any remaining thread and begin making the facial and body features. To do this use markers, felt material cut outs, cartoon eyes, noses, mouths, or sew these features on the doll. For those that plan on sewing it might be best to do this before sewing pieces together. Sequins and beads can also be attached for a special, and unique toy.

The final touch is the dinosaur clothing. This can be made by hand or store bought. All clothing should include buttons, zippers, and shoe strings. Shirts, pants and shoes should be included, but can also include any other clothing parents would like to teach their children, such as coats, hats, and gloves. The stuffed dinosaur can now be used for learning body parts, clothing, learning to tie shoes and count, and will provide hours of entertainment and fun.




About the Author:



Leave a Reply