Anthro plushie walkthrough

A walkthrough of how I make one of the anthro plushies. I've picked this character plushie as it doesn't have any complicated markings so will hopefully be less confusing.

For this plushie the materials and costs were-

Half metre of fur- £18

Stuffing- £4

Alcantra- £1.00

Joints- £1.50

Eyes- £3.60

Eyelids- £2.80

Second set of eyes/lids- £6.40

Nose-£1.10 (wasn't used)

additional materials-

cotton thread

Pearl anchor thread

felt

heavy felt

glue

Black fleece

(approx £3)

Equipment and other items used-

Paper

Pencil

white gel pen

Scissors

Craft knife

Long needle

Doll needles

Pins

Sewing Machine

Bolt spinner

Vice

Hot glue gun

Hair clippers

Dust mask

Craft board

Material cost total £41.50

Total time- 24 hours

After getting the character reference, I get out the fur samples to find good matches on the colours. Then I order the needed materials.

Time- approx 30 mins

I have a stock pattern I invented. I adjust this as needed to the character and make up new ear/ tail patterns.

Pattern pieces marked out on fur

Pieces cut with craft knife for larger bits and scissors for smaller, fiddly bits. Then clean up the mess this makes! Brown tape is my friend for this ^^

Time- 2.30 hours

Darts are sewn

Pieces are pinned ready to sew on sewing machine.

Parts that can be machine sewn are sewn. Fur is very difficult to machine sew so I can only do the larger pieces and I can't get more than tow layers of fur under the machine foot. Smaller pieces and pieces with more then 2 layers get hand sewn.

Then pin and sew again. With character that have more colours then there's usually another 2-3 rounds of pinning and sewing.

Time- 2.30 hours

Once all the bits that can be machine sewn are done, it's onwards to the hand sewing. Small and fiddly bits, such as soles of the feet, pits and neck of body etc have to be hand sewn. I also completely hand sew the face.

I always double up my thread when i'm sewing to make things nice and strong. I use a long milliner needle becuase short needles get lost in the long fur The needle also needs to be strong as I find the pressure can make finer needles snap.

Parts are all made up ready to be trimmed, clipped and turned round the right way. Holes for the joints are made.

The fingers I don't cut out until after they're sewn as I find this easier.

Time- 5 hours

I use a vice and a nut spinner to put the joints in. I don't know how you can do it without a vice (maybe there's something I'm not getting). I already have one for various craft stuff but you can buy a small cheap vice like the little blue one very easily.

You can use pliers to do up the bolt. I personally found this very difficult and painful, it took a long time and blistered my hands but for a one off it's not too much of an issue. However, because I make a lot of these I invested in a bolt spinner and can say it's worth every penny! I can put the joints in a third of the time and it's so much easier on my hands.

One of the tricky parts is getting how tight the bolts are right. They do loosen up a bit when the part is stuffed and sewn up but also don't want to be too tight they can't move at all.

The long screw should always point into the body.

looking like road kill...

Time- 1 hour

The plushie is then stuffed and the parts sewn up.

The neck is sewn with a dart to make it more sturdy. It can be a problem giving jointed plushies a neck as it can be a bit floppy so this combats that issue.

And the most tedious job, pulling fur out of the seams. I use a slicker/ pet brush, comb and heavy upholstery needle to do this.

Onwards to the detailing!

Time- 2 hours

Eyes! The lids are added to the glass eyes. This guy has four eyes but the technique is the same for all of them.

That's not a needle, this is a needle. Thread is attached to the eye loops and threaded through a 6" doll needle. I got these doll needles on ebay because I couldn't find any long enough in the shops and these are brilliant!

The back of the eyes are hot glued and the needle and thread is passed through the head. The thread is then pulled tight and secured on the back of the head. This pulls the eyes in so they don't have that pop-eye look :)

I've also sewn the slit nostrils with anchor pearl thread but forgot to photograph! The tongue was also glued in.

Time- 30 mins

Paw pads are marked on the alcantara. I use a white gel pen on this (and marking the pattern on dark fur fabric) as it gives a clearer line and doesn't brush off while working like Taylor chalk.

The pads are hot glue gunned on.

However, the process isn't straight forwards as simply slapping them on. When gluing to fur, the glue sticks to the top hairs and not the backing so the edges of the pad have to be repeatedly lifted and glued until they stay down. This takes some time to do

Time- 1 hour

The ears are hand sewn as the inner part of the ear is smaller to create a natural edges to them. I take longer stitches on the larger outer pieces and shorted ones on the smaller inner piece to fir them together.

Thick felt is cut and put inside the ears to make them firm enough to stand on their own but still be soft and flexible.

The ears are sewn closed and the base sewn into shape.

The ears are sewn on. I always go round twice with doubled up thread to make these really strong. I have a bad habit of pick the plushie sup by the ears and I have to assume others will do this too. So I need them to be really strong and secure.

Time- 2 hours

The hair and neck ruff pieces are made and cut, then sewn on. I take a stitch through the piece near the edge, turning the raw edge inwards, then a stitch through the plushie. This can be quite tricky and time consuming. I found using a curved upholstery needle makes this easier.

Time- 3.30 hours

I did a little extra shaving to the muzzle to define it a bit more. I always wear a dust mask when cutting and shaving fur as I find I get an allergic reaction to inhaling the fibres (sore throat, swollen glands, stuffy nose etc).

The tail and back spikes are sewn on. I leave larger pieces such as the tail, wings etc till last so they don't get in the way when I doing the rest of the detailing. The spikes were black fleece, two layers sewn together and then turned out the right way.

I used a watered down acrylic paint to define the nostrils more and to paint on the marking.

Plushie done!

Time- 3.30 hours