https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/freestyle-weasel • Posted by aya R.
I've made a whole bunch of those, and named them after my neighbor's. 3 were already sold on Etsy, and this is my latest addition. I used beautiful wool felt, which I love, but it was 12.50$ a piece (I used about a third of it for this) if you want to make this cheaper, you can use acrylic felt or a blend which will make this a "practically cost nothing" project. Please only use this to make stuff for yourself and for gifts, I'll be really pissed off to see someone else making those weasels on Etsy or other sites.
I've made a whole bunch of those, and named them after my neighbor's. 3 were already sold on Etsy, and this is my latest addition. I used beautiful wool felt, which I love, but it was 12.50$ a piece (I used about a third of it for this) if you want to make this cheaper, you can use acrylic felt or a blend which will make this a "practically cost nothing" project. Please only use this to make stuff for yourself and for gifts, I'll be really pissed off to see someone else making those weasels on Etsy or other sites.
materials that you need - wool felt, floss in 2 colors, one matching the felt and one not, filling, needle, scissors and some trimming or ribbons. Also, an image you want to work from, in this case I chose a vintage print of a weasel. You can of course use this tutorial to make other animals.
I just look at the image I'm working from and put it into stitches, but if you don't feel like doing that, you can copy the image with transfer paper or draw it with a white crayon on the felt. Separate the embroidery floss and use only 2 threads, to get a nice thin line Using back stitch, stitch the outline of the weasel: http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/Back-stitch.html I used French knot for the inside of the eye: http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/frenchknot.html
When the whole body is done, either use a separate piece of felt or the left over from the body to make the tail in the same way you did the body.
Now, split another floss into just one thread to do the fine details. I used it to make the fur, if you are doing a furry animal, try to match the direction of the stitches to the directions of the real fur in the image, it'll make your weasel look more realistic. use straight stitch for the fur, to get a more loose feel: http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/satin-single.html Then do the same on the tail.
Pin the finished embroidery piece to the clear piece of felt. then cut around loosely, leaving about a quarter of an inch around. You don't need to be precise, just keep the general shape of the animal.
Split the embroidery floss of the same color as the felt and use 2 threads thick to attach the 2 sides of the tail using a blanket stitch: http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/Buttonhole.html Because this doll is small, stuffing it once it's done would be really hard, so, just put the stuffing in as you go along.
Do the same with the body - start with the neck and going around the head then legs. When you reach the place you want to attack the tail in, just push it in place and continue with the blanket stick on top of the tail to attack it. stick all the way around until the weasel is complete!
All done! Decorate your weasel with ribbons or trimming or in this case a cool looking bell, and admire your handiwork!