This was how I got into sewing in the first place! I read a cute little (very long) webcomic called Homestuck that I don’t recommend reading unless you have a lot of time on your hands (over 8,000 pages oof) There was a stuffed animal in this comic that a lot of people loved and so did I, so I looked up a tutorial and started at it!
I haven’t made too many other stuffed animals besides that, but it honestly helped me learn so quickly when it came to sewing I was very surprised! It also helped me to visualize things in three dimensions. It’s easy to look up how to sew something, so with a quick Google search I found 30 free patterns that should be easy enough if you follow the tutorials.
Most tutorials that you may see will most likely be pushed towards those who sew with a machine for it tends to be more secure and quicker to do. However I will say that you can still do those tutorials, it will just take longer with hand sewing and it will most likely teach you how to get better with sewing by hand!
This video by BudgetHobby shows how to sew basic stitches while also making a cute plush! There is also this very cute elephant sewing tutorial by Lia Griffith where she hand sews as well. I highly suggest looking up more tutorials, these can make great gifts as well as get you into a new hobby. It will also promote hand sewing and show how much love and effort you have put into it!
I am however biased for a sewing machine though. I do need to sew more often by hand, but when it comes to what I usually make which is cosplay, I would rather get it done faster than slower.
A cute stuffed animal that I want to do is this bat by BeeZeeArt, which on her channel it looks like she has a good chunk of other designs to do as well! Another cute design I wouldn’t mind trying is this cute cat by Let’s Make It Together! Again, I recommend looking up more designs on your own time, I don’t know what people may like to sew for stuffed animals and I’m still discovering for myself.
One last thing I would like to mention is fabric. Felt and fleece is what I often use, I’m sure you could use cotton and so on, but a warning would be is that stretchy and fluffy fabrics may be a bit more difficult to use. Stretchy fabric is nice because it often tends to be soft, but it can warp the outcome of the stuffed animal at the end and it will require a lot more fluff and stronger stitches. Fluffy fabric is often hard to cut and it ends up being very thick to use. It leaves a lot of fluff everywhere as well so it’s just a general warning, I use it every so often and always forget the mess it makes every time.
