Meet Bessie Bunny. She is having her big debut today on Sew-a-Softie.

Sew-a-Softie is an annual month-long event in July that expands all forms of social media. It was created by Trixi at Coloured Buttons. Please go to Trixi's website for a link to all the wonderful people who are participating in this blog hop. Wait until you see all the free patterns and tutorials. They will be awesome. Just use the tag #sewasoftie to find them. There will also be lots of fun prizes. We would love to see your creations, so please post them on facebook.

Thank you to Shannon Fabrics for donating Bessie's sweet fabric for her body and tail. Thank you to Fairfield World for donating her soft stuffing. By the way, on the back of all the Fairfield World bags of poly-fil there is always a cute pattern and now they even include a stuffing stick to assist in the process of stuffing.

Bessie is so easy to sew by machine or by hand. She only requires scrap fabric about the size of a piece of paper and a handful of poly-fil stuffing. I used Shannon Fabrics Cuddle 3 in Baby Pink for the body and their Monkey Shag Fur in Baby Pink for the tail which is only 4" wide. I also used a teeny-tiny piece of Liberty London tawn fabric for the inside of the ears.

Here are some links to tutorials on hand sewing stitches. You basically only need the backstitch for constructing Bessie and then a french knot for her eyes. The ears and tail are put on with a whip stitch and the running stitch is for basting the tail.

Click here for Bessie Bunny's template.

NOTE: This project uses a 1/4" seam allowance and it is included in the template.

STEP ONE

Print the template twice. Cut out the templates.

STEP TWO

Following the instructions on the template cut the fabric with the nap of the fabric going in the downward position.

STEP THREE

Sew the two body pieces together along the sides and top with right sides together. Leave the bottom open.

STEP FOUR

With the body still inside out, attach the bottom to the body with right sides together. Leave a two inch opening.

STEP FIVE

Turn right side out.

STEP SIX

Fill the body with poly-fil.

STEP SEVEN

Close the bottom with a hand whip stitch.

STEP EIGHT

Sew the ears with right sides together, leaving the bottom open.

Turn right side out.

STEP NINE

Fold the bottom of the ears up and inside.

Then attach to the head with a hand whip stitch and pinching the ear a little in the middle for a simple pleat.

STEP TEN

Baste around the edge of the tail leaving two long lengths of thread.

Pull the lengths of thread to form the tail into a ball leaving a very small opening to fill the the tail ball.

STEP ELEVEN

Stuff the tail ball with poly-fil.

STEP TWELVE

Sew the tail ball closed with a whip stitch. Use something thin like a bamboo stick to pull the long pile from out of the sitches.

STEP THIRTEEN

Attach the tail to the body of the bunny.

STEP FOURTEEN

Add the eyes with the french knot stitch.

Hoppy trails to you and your bunny!

Meet Harry Hippo! He is a softie and I mean a real softie. He is stuffed with Fairfield World’s Poly-Fil Supreme® Ultra Plush Fiber Fill. Thank you, Fairfield for donating this wonderful Poly-Fil. It is so soft, I just cannot stop squeezing Harry.

Harry was created just for Sew-a-Softie month of July. Today is his day to debut. He is joining the Sew-a-Softie club that has been going on over at Facebook. He has lots of friends over there, even a piece of pizza and an amazing pencil with paper. They have a public group that you can join and see all the other softies that have been created for the month, with a few still left to join the club through the 31st. Trixi, the originator of this event, has a list of all the month long softie tutorials on her website.

You can sew Harry by hand or with a sewing machine. In addition to the two resources for how to hand sew listed in my previous blog post of Sew-a-Softie, I thought you would like this more comprehensive one also that is a pdf.

INSTRUCTIONS

TEMPLATE:

Click here to download hippo template

MATERIALS:

Fat Quarter of cotton for the main fabric

OPTIONAL: Scrap of fabric for the inside of the ears

Good quality thread in a coordinating color

Hand Needle (or sewing machine)

Fairfield World’s Poly-Fil Supreme® Ultra Plush Fiber Fill

Embroidery Thread for the eyes and nose

Embroidery Needle

SUPPLIES:

Frixion Erasable Pen

Pins or Pattern Weights

Shears & Trimming Scissors

Point turner or some other blunt, but pointed object

Pen or pencil for tracing the pattern

STEP ONE

NOTE:

This project uses 1/4” seam allowances.

You may press this fabric, but finger pressing is sufficient if you use cotton.

Please read the instructions below before beginning. Gather the materials and supplies. No need to pre-wash the main fabric.

STEP TWO

Download the template and print it. Cut it out along the solid lines.

STEP THREE
Position pattern pieces on fabric to verify the placement before cutting. Fold fat quarter cotton fabric in half. Place the gusset pattern along the fold. Pin in place. Cut out.

STEP FOUR

Place the hippo body and ear pattern over the remaining fabric, pin in place, and cut out. Using the Frixion pen, mark point A and B on the hippo body and gusset. Also, mark an opening on the hippo back about 2” long.

STEP FIVE

Cut out the inside of the ears from the scrap fabric.

STEP SIX

Embroider the eyes and nose with French knots on the body of the hippo.

STEP SEVEN

Place the two hippo body pieces right sides together. Pin along edges matching point A with A and B with B.

STEP EIGHT

Stitch from point A to point B, but do not sew over the opening.

STEP NINE

Lay the hippo body on its back with the underside up. With right sides together, pin the gusset to the underside, lining up point A with A and point B with B.

STEP TEN

Stitch the gusset in place.

STEP ELEVEN

Clip the curves and check that all seams are closed on both sides.

STEP TWELVE

Turn right side out and push out corners with a turner.

STEP THIRTEEN

Through the opening in the back of the body, fill the body generously with poly-fil.

STEP FOURTEEN

Stitch the opening closed.

STEP FIFTEEN

Place the outside fabric of the ear right side up. Place the inside of the ear fabric on top of it with right sides together. Stitch around the curve and not the flat side.

STEP SIXTEEN

Turn right side out. Fold the flat edge up 1/4" into the ear opening and finger press the flat edge to the inside of the ear. Stitch the ear closed.

STEP SEVENTEEN

Fold the ear in half lengthwise with the inner part facing the front of the face. Stitch the ear to each side of the head of the hippo.

Watch out! You never know where you may meet a hippo.

Have fun introducing Harry to his new family.