Sewing Tuesday: Glam fish stuffie

Hi!

This week I'm going to show you how to make this glamorous fish.

Strictly Come Dancing has started on TV and so I'm all excited about sequins and sparkles and pink. 

I liked the shape of the fish picture I made last week so I thought I'd use the template again in a different way. :D

Here's how to make your own fish, you can decorate it anyway you want, you don't have to go glam, you could have beads or spots of different coloured felt or anything you like.

You will need: 

• Felt.
• Fish shaped template from last week's applique fish project. http://holloughby.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/sewing-tuesday-reverse-applique-spangly.html
• Pins.
• Needle and thread.
• A bead for the eye.
• Stuffing. I took apart an old pillow today to get at the stuffing. You can use cotton wool or scraps of cloth, anything you have lying about that's soft.

Step 1.

Pin your fish template to two layers of felt and cut around it.

Here's what you should have:

Sew on some detail lines using back stitch on to one or both pieces of the fish depending on how much time you have. If you do both pieces, put them together like they were when you cut them out and make sure you decorate the OUTSIDES of the fish.

Here's mine with the lines stitched on. It's quite hard to see them but I think they add to the overall effect of the fish nicely. If you aren't sure how to sew have a look at the GETTING STARTED post.

Step 2.
Sequins! Or any decoration you like. I sewed the sequins on so that they overlapped to make a chain like this:

I used a teeny bead for the eye, I sewed a sequin then the bead so that the bead sits on top of the sequin.

It takes a while to decorate your fish but it's well worth the time. If you didn't want to sew all of the bits on you could glue them instead.

There! All the sequins are on.

Step 3.
Put the two sides of the fish together and pin them together to keep them still.

Sew with overstitch around the edge of the fish. Leave the tail open so you can put the stuffing in.

Here he is with the tail left open.

Now you can stuff! I used the point of my scissors to get in to the fins with the stuffing. Use a pencil or something not so sharp if you're worried about poking a hole in the fish.

Sew up the tail. I put a bit of extra stuffing in his tail before I finished sewing up the hole.

Ta da! Your fish is complete!
I coloured the thread of his eye in with black marker as I thought it looked odd pink. Hehe. Now he has a proper eyeball.

Happy Sewing!
Holly.