All small children are partial to soft toys. Some are quite difficult to buy in a store due to their high price or simply lack of availability. This article tells you how to sew Toothless with your own hands and what materials you will need for this.
Tools and materials
Not long ago, the last part of the cartoon "How to Train Your Dragon" was released. The character Toothless continues to conquer the hearts of children and adults. He is done completely in black, since in the cartoon he fights only at night. He can show and hide his teeth, which is where his name comes from.
At the beginning of 2019, this character broke all records. He became the most popular image on mugs, T-shirts or pillows. A limited series of toys in mugs was released, which had characters from the entire cartoon. Below is a detailed description of how to sew a dragon from this cartoon with your own hands.
Before you start working, you need to decide what fabric is best to sew the toy from. It can be fleece, felt or regular knitwear.
To make the toy better quality, you need to make a pattern, the animal must completely correspond to the cartoon character.
The body should be elongated, the head oval, and large wings. It is a bit difficult to find a pattern for Toothless on the Internet, but there are other types of dragons. You can simply choose the most similar pattern.
The easiest pattern consists of two elements that need to be sewn together. Paws, ears, tail, wings can be made to your taste.
Materials you will need to sew Toothless:
- a large piece of velour material;
- felt fabric for the mane;
- If the child wishes, you can sew a costume for the dragon;
- toy filling, this can be synthetic padding or cotton wool;
- sewing threads;
- elastic band;
- lining for the wings, such as cardboard or thick felt.
It is also necessary to prepare materials that will be used to decorate the finished toy. This can be beads, floss, brooches, multi-colored stones and much more. You can involve the child in the work and ask his opinion.
Experienced craftswomen recommend doing any sewing on a sewing machine. Such seams are denser, stronger, and will not fluff up when washed. But if there is no machine, it is necessary to work using the double seam technique with a thick needle.
It is advisable to choose higher quality fabrics and threads for work. The price may be slightly higher than average, but it will pay off with the service life of the toy. If you use cheap threads, then after the first wash they will start to shine and crack. Also, the child may develop an allergy if the material contains synthetics.
Please note! Fabrics should be purchased only in specialized stores, not markets.
A special synthetic padding or holofiber is used as a filler. Sometimes children are allergic to these materials, so they need to be replaced with regular cotton wool or foam rubber. But such fillers will not last long.
If you use a sewing machine, you need to buy special sewing needles. They have a wide eye and are thick enough to pierce felt fabrics.
Toothless Pattern
The dragon pattern is built independently or searched for on the Internet. For this, you can seek help on special forums on handicrafts. The dragon pattern is built on cardboard or a regular A4 sheet. First, you need to draw two parts for the body. Then the tail, large wings and horns are made. The pattern is transferred to the fabric using chalk or carbon paper.
Please note! Carbon paper does not wash off fabric, so the transfer must be done with extreme caution.
Before sewing, it is advisable to wash the fabric in the machine. This will help to avoid shrinkage and the fabric will be more pleasant to work with. The edges of the material can also be processed on an overlock so that they do not crumble.
If a person has artistic skills and spatial thinking, he can build a dragon pattern himself. In this case, he can be given any pose or any action.
You can also make a dragon template using online editors, this will take more time, but such a scheme will be reusable.
To simplify the work, you can simply copy the dragon from a photograph and visually divide it into components. This will create a simple pattern. But it is not always accurate.
Step-by-step sewing
The toy is sewn in several steps. First, you need to cut out all the details according to the pattern. It is advisable to use a special textile roller for cutting. The size of the details can be adjusted as desired. The toy can be high or low for a baby crib. When cutting, you need to remember that in any product, allowances for seams are always left. If this is not done, the toy will decrease in size. Step-by-step instructions on how to sew a dragon:
- First, you need to sew the pieces for the tummy. The most convex side will be the center of the tummy;
- Straighten the blank and sew the tail onto the toy;
- Next, you need to start sewing on the limbs. Horns, legs, wings and tail. For the eyes, you can use buttons or special store-bought eyes for toys;
- Next, sew the tummy to the sides of Toothless;
- Insert the longest side of the tail between the sides;
- Sew all the elements of the toy on an overlock machine;
- The felt mane is sewn into Toothless's back. It can then be finished with a zigzag stitch;
- Turn the toy inside out and check that the seams are correct;
- Stuff the toy with special filler. This should be done tightly so that the dragon acquires a beautiful shape.
The product can be decorated with various materials as desired. Eyes can be embroidered, made from buttons or beads.
You can insert wire into the wings so that you can give them any shape.
It should be emphasized that the diagrams from the Internet do not specify the direction of the shared thread. In this case, it is necessary to rely on the height.
The finished toy can be washed in a machine at a temperature not exceeding 40 degrees. It is better not to use spinning. Because at high speeds, all the filler will turn into lumps. If the product is made of felt, it is not advisable to dry it under direct sunlight. This fabric is prone to fading and color loss.
For Toothless, you can also sew a costume at will or make additional dragons of different types. The toy can be given different positions (lying, sitting, standing). The entire work process directly depends on the imagination and preferences of the child.
The dragon can be used not only as a toy, but also as a keychain for a backpack or keys. Accordingly, the dimensions will be much smaller.
Toothless is loved by many people due to his cute facial expression. You can make not only toys with him, but also embroidery, decorative pillows, crafts. Such a product can be made not only from felt and velour, but also from old jeans or other dense materials. Some sew toys from beads or crochet them. Knitted products, by the way, are hypoallergenic and suitable for every child.
You can find a special website on the Internet, Postila. There, experienced seamstresses share their secrets and patterns. You can ask them for sewing tips or learn new secrets and life hacks. More advanced craftsmen share their finished works and receive ratings and reviews for this. The site is recommended not only for beginners, but also for professionals.
Such a dragon can decorate not only a child's room, but also a kitchen or a living room. The toy can be presented as a gift for a child or a loved one. Toothless will not leave anyone indifferent.
In conclusion, it should be noted that sewing a toy from the cartoon "How to Train Your Dragon" is quite easy. Beginner needlewomen are advised to study master classes on sewing. Toys made of velor and felt are considered the lightest and most affordable. Therefore, the product will be much cheaper than one bought in a store. When sewing, special attention should be paid to the selection of threads and fabric. It is advisable to read about this on the Internet.
