Make a Friend Out of Felt

Feeling lonely? Need a friend? Got some felt?

You don't know it yet, but you've got a friend, waiting to come to life!

Suggested materials:

- felt
- loneliness
- big fat needle
- a glue gun or fabric glue
- cutting utensil - scissors or X-acto knife
- some big fat thread or yarn 
- stuffing, polyfill, or the former innards of your pillow

Friends come in many shapes and sizes.
Are they small? Are they big? Do they taste like buttery goodness, or sour citrus?

First, I spent a few minutes in SketchBook coming up with concepts for my friends.
I figured this would speed up their creation time. You could do this on paper, or in the program of your choice.

My sketches helped me realize that each character has repetitive parts- like the eyes, or the the slices on the orange.

I'm going to try and cut these parts out all at once to save time! I mean, I'm pretty lonely.
The sooner I get my new friend the better.

I'm folding the fabric so that I can cut double or quadruples of slices, depending on the friend I've decided to make. 

After I've cut the pieces out, they look a little TOO symmetrical.  I shape them differently to give my friend some uniqueness.

Now it's time to glue parts on! You should glue them on in order.
Whatever order you like.

I'm going to start top to bottom, so his face isn't on the inside.

Once he is glued together, it's time to sew.

Sew along his outside to attach the front to the back.

Leave about one inch open to allow for stuffing.
Take your fluff and put it inside your new friend to give him volume and puff.

Once he is stuffed to your liking, sew him up all the way!

Don't you feel better now ? You aren't alone anymore!