guest post for Riley Blake

Hey guys! I have another guest post up today over on Riley Blake’s Cutting Corners College! These adorable elephant softies. Check them out and leave some love, if you would. After all, it’s my birthday! 😉

Edit: the tutorial is below!

Elephants are so adorable are they not? Ok, maybe they’re cuter in Riley Blake fabric than in real life. (isn’t everything?!)

My girls have been loving on these little elephants and playing with their big floppy ears!

The fabrics are from Riley Blake of course-the pink is Pink-Indian Summer, the green ears are Green Indian Summer Damask. 

On the blue elephant, the floral is Promenade in Blue, and the plaid is Promenade in, you guessed it-plaid.

They have cute little appliqued eyes and the ears! I love those big ol’ ears. Too cute!

Of course elephants have got to have tails!

If you’d like a floppy eared elephant of your own, read on!

You’ll need:
fabric-2 coordinating fabrics. 1/2 yard of each is plenty-but you really only need a FQ for the ears
thread
lightweight iron on interfacing
ribbon
scraps of white and blue felt
poly fil

my free pattern

First tape together the pattern, then cut out the pieces of your pattern as labeled. Cut all the pieces so that they are mirroring each other, ie right sides together. Use a 1/4″ seam allowance throughout.

Then take the ears, and iron on the interfacing to one wrong side of one piece. Sew the two ear pieces right sides together around the outside of the ear. Leave the inside curve open. Repeat for other ear. Then clip the curves (or use pinking shears-so quick and does the hard work for you!), and turn right side out.

Press around the edges.

Then sew a gathering stitch along the open side, and gather the ears.

You can gather them in more or less, whatever you want! Pin them to the curve of the elephant body like so..then baste the ear along the gathering stitch you sewed earlier. Repeat for other ear.

Then take the elephant head piece and pin on top of the ear. You’ll have to manipulate it a little to get it pinned but it will fit nicely.

Then sew those pieces together.

Lightly press. repeat with other side of elephant.

Then take the white eye piece and place it where you want.  (you can add heat n bond to the felt to help it stay in place while you sew it down) Sew around the edge of the eye with a satin stitch. (a zig zag stitch with the stitches close together)

Add the blue for the eyes and sew it down the same as the white. Then fold down the ear and pin so it won’t get caught in the seam. Do the same for the lower ear-I just took a picture before I did!

Grab a 3-4″ piece of ribbon and tie a little knot in the end. Heat seal the edge with a lighter or fray check, and place it where you’d like it.

Then pin the two sides of the elephant together like so. Sew around the entire elephant, starting at the back and ending right after the neck, leaving about a 3″ opening. Clip corners and curves-not too close to the seam! Turn right side out and stuff with poly fil. Sew the opening close with an invisible stitch, and you’re done!

Comments

  1. Very sweet!

  2. Happy Birthday!

  3. Happy Birthday!
    And thanks for this tutorial. I am pregnant and just found out yesterday that it is a girl. I can’t wait to make her one of these!

  4. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! The elephants are adorable!

    What did the elephant wish for on his birthday? A trunkful of presents!

    Lol – corny, I know.

    Hope you are having a fantastic day! And congrats on being at Riley Blake!

  5. Happy Birthday!!

  6. Bonne fête!!! Reading from Quebec city, Canada… I really enjoy your blog, thanks for everything..

  7. So cute Jess. And Happy Birthday!

  8. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  9. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  10. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  11. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  12. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  13. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  14. You’ve had a birthday, shout HOORAY! Hope it was a GREAT day, and that you did something just for you, and maybe out of the ordinary.

    Cute elephants, great tutorial!

  15. How many times can I say adorable? These really are Jess! You are really good at this!

  16. Congrats on the post and your birthday! 🙂

  17. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
    And those elephants are SO CUTE!!

  18. Happy Birthday!!
    I just love this elephant softie. I think this might be the cutest softie I have seen. I am going to a baby shower in 2 weeks and you are motivating me to make this!! As always, thanks for the inspiration (and easy to follow tutorial).

  19. Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fabulous day!

    Those elephants are waaaay too cute! Wonder if I could whip one up before we leave tomorrow to visit my newest nephew and family for Thanksgiving?? Hmm…probably don’t need to add that to my to-do list, but they are adorable!

  20. happy birthday! so cute as always!!

  21. HAPPY HAPPY Birthday!!! I hope your day is fantastic!

  22. GAH! I was looking for an elephant tutorial leading up to my baby shower. I never did make one, and it is a good thing too because of the whole gender switch thing- now I can do a girl one! Thanks Jess!

  23. Ahhhh soooo cute!!!! Evelyn needs one of these! I have so many projects I want to tackle and I will just add this one to the list!! Love them! So cute!!

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  26. Checked out and bookmarked 🙂 Thanks!
    Have a happy happy birthday!

  27. so sorry my impatience meant it posted that comment 3 times! delete away!

  28. I just saw your adorable elephant tute on the Riley Blake blog and had to come say thank you. It is the most adorable elephant. I’m going to try and find time to make one for my 4 yr old Granddaughter for Christmas.

    And it’s a bit late but, Happy Birthday! I hope it was an awesome day for you.

  29. Thank you for the adorable elephant tutorial. I will need to try these out as gifts for some little people I know!

  30. happy happy birthday, jess! i hope it was exciting, fun, and relaxing all at once.

  31. Happy (belated) birthday.
    EEEEEK! I love elephants. These are TOO CUTE! Hope I get time to make one each for my kids for Xmas. Thanks so much for the tute

  32. Happy birthday! and the elephants are just too sweet 🙂

  33. These are adorable, Jess!

  34. Happiest of Birthday wishes! Love the elephants, too cute!

  35. These are adorable. I couldn’t get the guest post to open for the pattern…Do you have another link to the pattern? I would love to make these for my kiddos!

  36. I forgot to give you my contact info for the pattern. My email is [email protected]. Thanks!

  37. Could i possibly have the pattern to make one of these for my baby daughter please? My email address is [email protected]
    Thank you so much x

  38. Would it be possible to get a copy of the tutorial reposted as it’s not available on Riley Blake.
    Thanks

  39. Great tutorial! The little elephant turned out great!!! Sooooooooo cute… 🙂 Thanks so much! Many blessings!

  40. This comment has been removed by the author.

  41. These are ADORABLE! And I’m in the process of making 2! I was hoping you could help me figure out how to add something underneath the elephants, so that they have 4 legs?! I’m not certain how to get it to look right. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

  42. Thanks for this post. I made two of them and they are simply adorable. Viji

  43. For some reason the pattern won’t download for me, is there any chance you could email it to me? Sorry to bother you about this. It looks so beautiful I want to make some for my daughter and her cousins. Thx

  44. I made one of these for my great nephew. Thank you so much for sharing the pattern!

  45. Barb Sisson says

    I was wondering how to make the elephant with four legs? Any ideas? Thanks

  46. Abigail says

    Hi! i love this tutorial i make these for baby shower gifts. everyone loves them!:) thanks keep up the good work!

  47. Thank you so much! I made this for a baby welcome home/happy birthday gift. I am so excited for her to be born so I can give this to her.

  48. I so love your pattern, so simple but the result is simply awesome! Super love the tutorial also, clear and easy to follow! Thank you for sharing. I featured this in my blog: http://www.plushiepatterns.com/elephant-plushie-pattern-by-craftiness-is-not-optional/

  49. love these I have made one for my son our of some old scrap material he loves it 🙂

  50. Thank you soooo much very this adorable tutorial. I have printed the pattern immediately and tomorrow I will sew them.

  51. As I promised myself to make the elephant today, I did. But now I realize that he has only 2 legs!!! Do you know how I can make another one with 4 legs please?

  52. Now I see others posts with the same question and your answer. So I go on for looking a pattern on Pinterest.

  53. Delores Bruyette says

    its a very cute pattern. I looked at it real close and couldn’t find the other two legs. I read all the posts and found out that they don’t have four legs. that’s ok I have another pattern with four legs but Im going to incorporate the ears from yours. They are so cute. Thank you for the pattern. If I study it enough I can give it four legs. so cute

  54. Gaynor Jones says

    They so sweet love to make these up x

  55. my le nguyen says

    Thank you very much.
    It’s very easy for me to make an elephant for myself thanks to your instructions.
    Please show us more.
    Thanks again.

Trackbacks

  1. […] I set to work sewing an elephant toy for our friends’ adorable new son. I followed this tutorial and free pattern and had so much fun! In a matter of 2 hours I learned how to appliqué for the eyes and blind […]

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  3. […] You will find the plushie pattern here: Elephant Plushie Pattern by Craftiness is not optional […]

  4. […] toy was a much more engaging project. I found the pattern and a tutorial through Pinterest, here, (I have over 3000 pins for craft, food and planning; I love Pinterest). When I initially looked at […]

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