Yesterday’s sewing project was a fun one! A student wanted to make a plush panda as a gift, but we didn’t have a pattern. After browsing for panda pictures online we were inspired by a squishy panda toy and modeled the design for our plush after it.

I think it turned out pretty cute!

It went together very quickly from making the pattern to adding the details. We named him Felix, and the students thought adding a top hat would be a nice touch, though we haven’t done that yet.

The project required about 6 x 45 inches of white fleece. 6 x 20 inches of black fleece. We used JoAnn Blizzard Fleece. It also required a good amount of polyfil (always more than you expect) and safety eyes. We used two 1/2 inch safety eyes for the eyes and one 1/4 inch safety eye for the nose. The mouth was stitched with embroidery floss, and bit of  blush added the rosy glow to the cheeks. If you don’t have safety eyes you could just use felt and carefully cut out circles.

I found that the slip stitches were quite visible on the fleece, but no one seamed to mind, and it turned out to be quite adorable despite that. I think I will just need to work on my technique. I will keep you posted if I find anything that helps minimize the stitches.

The project went together so quickly with such great results that it makes me want to use this style to make other stuffed animals.