How to Sew a Huggable

If you are looking for a super special handmade gift for a kid, look no further! Sewing a Huggable is a quick and fun project that makes a meaningful gift for a birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day or any other occasion. It also uses very little fabric and is also a great project for showcasing some little leftover bits of precious fabrics.

I made the very first Huggable when my daughter was six years old as I was experimenting with my new sewing machine. I was just playing with some scraps and was inspired to make a little appliqué that looked like Joanna. I then turned it into a little doll shaped pillow for her. She was immediately taken with her new toy and when I received requests from family and friends to make ones that looked like their kids, I knew I had to pursue the idea further.

Since making that first Huggable for Joanna the design has evolved. At first I was hand drawing and cutting each one from a paper template. Later, I taught myself how to make my appliqué designs into digital files. This has allowed me to use an automated cutting machine to resize my designs to any dimensions and cut them out. Learning how to turn my appliqué designs into digital patterns also allows me to share them with other makers much more easily.

I'm so excited that I can share my sewing and appliqué designs with other makers, and I'm even more excited that How to Sew a Huggable is the first tutorial I have on Haven Handmade.

Let's get sewing!

---

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

This is what you'll need to make your own Huggable:

• Huggable appliqué pattern

• Body Fabric: 12 inch square in the color you want for your Huggable’s skin

• Body Interfacing: 11 inch square lightweight fusible interfacing

  • Apply to the back of the body fabric before cutting

• Hair Fabric: 4 inch square

  • Slightly different dimensions are needed depending which Huggable design you're making, but a 4 inch square should be sufficient for most designs.

• Shirt Fabric: 4 inch square

• Pants Fabric: 3 inch by 4 inch rectangle

• Shoes Fabric: 3.5 inch by 1.5 inch rectangle

• Fusible Adhesive: 4 inches by 14 inches will give you plenty

  • I use Heat N Bond Lite

• Thread: 1 spool of skin color and 1 spool of black

  • I use high quality all-purpose polyester thread

• Stuffing: approximately 4 ounces

  • I use standard polyester fiber filling

In addition to the above sewing supplies, you'll need these tools:

• Sewing machine

• Embroidery/Darning/Free-motion quilting presser foot

  • This presser foot can go by different names. Check with your sewing machine manufacturer or manual to find the right one for your particular machine.

• Iron

• Scissors

• Hand sewing needle

Step 2: Cut Out Pattern Pieces

Before cutting out your pattern pieces:

1. Apply fusible interfacing to the back of the body fabric piece.

2. Apply fusible adhesive to the back of each appliqué piece (hair, shirt, pants & shoes).

Once your fabric pieces are prepared, cut them out.

• If you're using the pdf pattern, cut each paper pattern piece, pin them to the appropriate fabric pieces and then cut around each one with scissors. Cut two body pieces.

  • Note: Tape together the two body pattern sections before cutting your fabric.

• If you're using the svg cutting file, size your file to 11 inches tall and follow the cutting instructions for your machine.

Step 3: Position the Appliqué

After you've cut everything out, head to your ironing board and fuse all the appliqué pieces onto one of the body pieces. Then use a fabric marking pencil to draw on a face and hands for your Huggable kid. You can also draw on any additional details you'd like to stitch onto your appliqué, such as lines to add texture to the hair.

Step 4: Free Motion Stitch the Appliqué

You're ready for the best step—sewing the appliqué! Get your sewing machine set up with your black thread and your embroidery presser foot. Then stitch around each appliqué piece. I go around each one twice to make it look like I sketched the design.

In this step, you will also use free motion stitching to complete the look of your Huggable by stitching the eyes, mouth, hands and other details. This is where you can get creative and give your Huggable its own personality. Be sure to remember the stitching lines for the shirt sleeves and in the center of the pant legs too.

Here is a time lapse video of how I do the rest of the free motion stitching.

Step 5: Sew the Front and Back Together

Once you've stitched the appliqué, you're ready to sew the front and back of your Huggable kid together. Reset your sewing machine back to regular straight stitch setting with the feed dogs back up and your standard presser foot installed. Then thread your machine with thread to match the body color of your Huggable.

Get the un-appliquéd body piece and place it right sides together with the appliquéd body piece. Sew around the two pieces at a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Start at the bottom, sew around the Huggable until you're back at the bottom again and leave an opening for turning the pillow right sides out. At the corners, leave your sewing machine needle in the down position, lift your presser foot and pivot the fabric before putting the presser foot back down and continuing to sew.

Step 6: Turn, Press, Fill and Sew the Opening Closed

After stitching around the body pieces, you'll need to turn them right sides out through the opening you left at the bottom. Then, press everything nicely and fill your Huggable.

Tuck in the edges of the opening and hand sew the opening closed using a ladder stitch.

I hope you enjoyed making your own Huggable! I'd love to see how yours turned out. You can tag Haven Handmade on social media (@haven.handmade) or leave a comment on this post.

Happy stitching from my haven to yours!