Monsters Inc. is one of my favorite Pixar movies. I actually like all the Pixar movies and they haven't gone wrong for me yet! I'm not sure if you remember this little guy, his name is Little Mikey and I'm going to explain how to make this cute plushie. If anyone is wondering who Little Mikey is, it is Mike Wazowski's toy that Boo wanted to play with, but Mike didn't want her to have it at first because humans were contagious. Silly Mike. :]
To make Little Mikey, here are the supplies you'll need.
- 9" x 12" felt sheets (black, white, off white, light blue, and tan)
- Thread that matches each colored felt
- Sewing needle
- Scissors
- Chalk or pen
- Seam ripper
- Polyester fiberfill
- Sewing machine (optional)
First, I drew a sketch of what I'd like my Little Mikey to look like. I know that it's not going to turn out exactly the way it is in the movie, but I try to get as much correct as I could. Once you've sketched out the way you would like the plushie to look like, you'll need to label how many pieces you'll need. For this plushie, you'll need a front piece and back piece.
Grab your felt sheets and start drawing out the shapes. You can follow the sketch. For the mouth and eye, you'll do this last when you have already stuffed the plushie. It just makes it easier to size the mouth and eye when it's already stuffed.
Once you are done sketching out the body parts, make sure you have the right amount of pieces and cut them all out.
Start sewing the smaller body parts, the horns, arms and legs - right sides together. In this case, the sides that DON'T have any sketch lines are facing together. Here's
some advice for these parts. If you were like me and accidentally did
not sketch out big enough pieces, you will have to sew halfway, leaving just enough seam allowance. This only goes for the legs and the arms.
Once you have done that, invert the body parts, so the stitches you made are now on the inside. Put the horns aside. With the arms and the legs, half of the parts are not finished. To close up the other half, you will have to make an invisible stitch, a ladder stitch. Here's a good video that shows you how to do so:
DON'T CLOSE UP THE OPENING! The image to the right shows the openings. You will need to stuff the body parts first.
When you have finished sewing the other half of the body parts, stuff them to your liking, but don't seal the opening. You will do this when you're ready to place it with the actual body and head.
Place the stuffed arms and legs (already inverted) inside the body like so in the image to the right. Sew all the way around, leaving top of the body open for stuffing.
Invert and stuff the body.
Now comes the tricky part. I drew a step by step diagram to better explain what I'm talking about.
Step 1: With the already inverted horns, place them in between the head (wrong sides facing out) and sew according to the diagram.
Step 2: Take your stuffed, finished body.
Step 3: Take the head and stuff the body into the head, having the opening of the body aligned with the opening of the head (where the head and the top of the body meet).
Step 4: Sew the remaining parts and make sure to leave an opening.
Step 5: Invert the body and head and Little Mikey is almost complete! Stuff the head to your liking and use the ladder stitch method to seal the opening.
Little Mikey just needs a few things before he's ready. Cut out circle pieces for the eye, 1 white, 1 light blue, and one black circle. Cut them accordingly to look like the eye. Sew the light blue circle to the white circle. Sew the black circle onto the light blue circle. Then sew the whole eye onto the head.
Cut out a black piece that resembles Little Mikey's mouth. Make sure the ends of the mouth are aligned with the white parts of the eye. You may want to use a little fabric glue and hand sew the mouth onto the head.
Your Little Mikey is done! Enjoy!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at imperfectnotebook@gmail.com or leave a comment. :]
Labels: What the Craft Wednesday
