Sew a Sloth (or Bunny!)

Would you like to sew an animal friend and take them on an adventure? If so, I have included patterns and directions on how to sew a bunny and a sloth. Choose one or sew them both!

1) Choose which animal you are going to make. Cut out the paper pattern for the basic body, including the arms (long ones for the sloth and short for the bunny) and the eyes. The next set of patterns are specific for either the bunny or the sloth. Cut out the ones for the animal you have chosen.

Bunny

Gray felt, cut:

  • 2 body pieces
  • 4 arms
  • 2 outer ears

Pink felt, cut:

  • 1 nose
  • 2 cheeks (circles)
  • 2 inner ears

Black felt, cut:

  • 2 small round circles for eyes
  • 2 tiny circles for eyes

White felt, cut:

  • 2 tiny circles for eyes

Sloth

Dark grey felt, cut:

  • 2 body pieces
  • 4 arms
  • 2 teardrop eye patches

Light grey felt, cut:

  • 1 face mask
  • 1 small heart if desired

Black felt, cut:

  • 2 small round circles for eyes

White felt, cut:

  • 2 pairs of claws (4 total)

Directions:

2) Lay the pattern pieces onto the colored felt indicated in the cutting directions above. Pin or trace around them.

When you have cut out all the pieces, lay them out so you can see how your animal will go together.

This is the bunny with the cut pieces laid out before sewing.
This is the sloth with the cut pieces laid out before sewing.

3) Sew the arm pieces first. You will have a front and back for each arm.

For the bunny: Use a running stitch to sew around each arm, leaving the end open. Carefully turn them right side out.

These are examples of a sewn and turned arm and one sewn before turning.

For the sloth: Begin with the claws. You should have 2 pairs of claws that mirror each other, 1 pair for the arms and 1 pair for the feet (4 total.) Sew the claws to the ends of one side of the arms and legs using a few stitches to tack firmly in place. Sew the arms together, right sides out, with a whip stitch. Sew from claw to claw, leaving the ends with the claws open.

These are the claws tacked onto the ends of the sloth’s arms and legs.

4) When the arms are sewn, stuff them with a little of the stuffing. A dull pencil or chopstick is helpful in turning and stuffing small pieces.

5) Sew the face of your animal.

For the bunny: Sew, using a whip or running stitch, the pink nose and cheeks and the eyes (black circles) to the face. Add a tiny circle of white to the eyes to add a bit of sparkle. Next, sew the ears. Pin the pink inner ear over the grey outer ear, lining up the bottom edges. Sew the two ear pieces together using a whip or running stitch.

These are the bunny ears with the pink lining whip stitched and the completed arms.

For the sloth: Pin and sew the face mask to the face of your sloth. Place the eye patches and the nose onto the face mask and stitch in place. Sew the eyes (black circles) on the eye patches and stitch down. Add a tiny circle of white to the eyes to add a bit of sparkle.

Getting ready to sew the face mask to the sloth.

6) Sew a pom pom to the back of the bunny for a tail.

7) Lay the back of your animal right side up on the table.

8) Turn the ears and the arms in towards the tail. Pin and stitch these in place.

The front of the bunny will be turned over so that the right sides will face each other.

9) Lay the front of your animal, wrong side up, on top of the back of your animal, with the two right side body pieces facing each other. Carefully pin the front and back together.

10) Use a running stitch to sew around the edge of your animal. Make sure to sew over the places where you have tacked down the ears and arms. Remember to leave an opening at the bottom for stuffing.

11) Carefully turn your animal right side out. A dull pencil or chopstick can help here too.

12) Stuff your animal with fiber fill, until it is nice and plump.

This is the bunny just before stuffing. The eyes for this animal were added at the end.

13) Whip stitch the open edge to close it. Make sure to knot your thread securely when you are done, then push the needle into the body of the animal and out, pulling taught and cutting the thread close to the felt. This will hide the thread’s “tail.”

14) Decorate your animal with a pretty ribbon bow, attach a heart or make a flower. You are now ready to go on an adventure with your new animal pal!

Completed bunny ready to go on an adventure.
Completed sloth ready to go adventuring.

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