#how to make your own eel plushie pattern

[tj-crochets]

Hey y’all! I got a request for help creating an eel pattern, so below the read more I’ll be talking about how I created this eel pattern and offering suggestions for how to possibly size it up and create your own eel pattern. This explanation kind of assumes you have already made at least one plushie and have at least passing familiarity with things like seam allowances, darts, and basting. 

This eel pattern was kind of an exercise in how simple I could make a pattern and have it still work. It’s really just a drawing of an eel with a 1/4″ seam allowance added around the outside. To sew it, I cut out two of the pattern (one mirrored), with the stretch of the fabric going across the eel and not down the length. I sewed them together around the outside, left an opening for turning near the tail, and flipped the eel right side out. Then I topstitched the length of the top and bottom to define the, oh, what are they called? Flippers? Fins? The parts of the eel plushie that make it distinct from a snake plushie. I then cut the mouth open. In this pattern, the mouth serves as a dart that makes the face more 3D, so I flipped the plushie back inside out and sewed the mouth closed like it was a double-ended dart. The mouth dart is sewn perpendicularly to the rest of the seams of the eel. Idk how else to word that, but looking at the finished eel you can probably see what I mean. (I’ll be honest, I can’t remember if I sewed the mouth first or did the topstitching first. It should work either way, but I’ll make another eel in the next few days and I’ll update the post) So, some tips for making your own much larger eel plushie pattern:  - you’re probably going to need some darts to make the shape 3D. I tend to avoid darts when drafting my own patterns and use the stretch of the minky fabric to make the shape 3D, but the stretch of the fabric can only do so much and if you go much bigger you’d probably need more darts. I *think* with a shape like this you’d be okay with a dart at the tail end and a dart at the head end, but it will depend on how large a circumference you want the eel to have and if you’re using stretch fabric or non-stretch fabric (non-stretch needs more darts than stretchy fabric).  - you can make the fins and body one pattern piece, like I did, and delineate between them with topstitching, or you can make the fins separate pieces. Totally up to you. If you make the fins separately, you’d sew the fins, leaving the body side of the fins open, flip them right side out, and baste them to one side of the body before you sew the body seams. If you end up needing darts along the body to increase the circumference, you’ll probably need to have the fins as separate pattern pieces - for the face, you can use safety eyes and a dart as the mouth, or you can use applique for one or the other or both. I usually applique with felt, but have also used minky for applique; if you are new to applique, I would recommend not using stretchy fabric. With new patterns, I usually add the face after I’ve done almost all the sewing so that I can experiment with applique placement and see how it will look on the fully stuffed plushie. With patterns I’ve made before, I might add the appliques at the beginning so that I can machine applique them instead of hand sewing them.  Some tips for plushie pattern designing in general: - have a tool to help you add a seam allowance to your pattern. I have a compass (the kind used to draw circles) set to 1/4″ diameter that I use sometimes, but I also found out that if you tape two Zebra brand mini mechanical pencils together, the points are 1/4″ apart. I usually used the taped mechanical pencils, and just trace along the outer edges of the pattern pieces to add a seam allowance. Whatever works, whatever seam allowance works for you, it’s just WAY easier to have a tool than to try to use a ruler. - I use a brush pen when drawing the base of pattern pieces. When I add the seam allowance, I kind of eyeball it and put one edge of the tool in the middle of the brush pen line, but I also use the opportunity to smooth out curves/straighten out lines by moving away from the lines with my seam allowance tool when necessary (you can kind of see what I mean when you compare the brush pen drawing of an eel on the pattern to the actual edges of the pattern; it’s not evenly 1/4″ around because I was smoothing it out as I went) - make sure you leave enough space for your opening for turning. This eel pattern is a pain to turn right side out because the only place for an opening for turning is the last inch or so of the tail - if you have to match a curve to a straight line, like if you’re using a circle as the bottom of a leg and the sides of the leg are rectangles, you can use pipe cleaners or yarn to measure the curve and then straighten them to get the length of the straight line that will match that curve - I don’t usually do this, both because I primarily make fairly small plushies and because I am experienced at fixing mistakes in the pattern as I sew the plushie together, but if you are new to pattern design/not sure how a pattern piece will work/want a prototype, you can usually make a pretty good prototype of a minky plushie with fleece for a lot cheaper. It won’t look exactly the same in minky as it will in fleece, but it’s usually pretty comparable - I use scrap paper from stamp albums for pattern drafting because my neighbor gave me a bunch, but if you have parchment paper or cardboard or other paper, you can use pretty much anything for you pattern designing as long as you can make marks on it and cut it down to size. Scaling up the pattern makes finding a big enough piece of paper tricky, but heck, you could use wrapping paper if you want to. Don’t get stuck thinking you have to tape together regular printer paper (I’ve been there lol)

[busycloudy]

"Happy Birthday Prefect!"

 • So...Guess who's birthday it is. That's right, it's mine!😁

 • This is basically what I think they would give you when it's your birthday 

• Tooth rotting fluff fanfic? Headcanon? Idk🤷‍♀️Either way it's tooth rotting fluff(The last part might make you shred a tear tho)

 • Reader is gender neutral. The first years/our chaotic of a group is last! 

• Enjoy! (And happy birthday to anyone else that has a birthday today!)

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Riddle Rosehearts- A Necklace

He gave you a necklace with a Rose, to resemble him, on it. The beads are a bright red and black. In the center of it a beautiful and small glass rose is shown proudly.

Trey Clover- Favorite Sweet

He made you your favorite sweet! He made it specially, and don't worry, no oyster sauce was added!

Cater Diamond- A Phone Case

He got you a phone case that has your favorite thing on it. For example if you like cats he got you a phone case with a cat pattern on it.

Leona Kingscholar- A Ring

This ring was something that simply just reminded you of him. It was golden with silver lettering that said "Herbivore". He didn't tell you this, but he has one himself that says "Sleepyhead"

Ruggie Bucchi- Favorite Food

Ruggie got you some of your favorite food, free of charge! Well, all you owe him is to always have a smile on your face.

Azul Ashengrotto- A free drink + free food

He let you have a free drink, and a free dish from the monstro lounge. How very kind of him to do for a poor unfortunate soul like you! He may also let you sit with him in the V.I.P room and chat.

Jade Leech- Book- Terrainum

He got you a book about different plants, and a terrarium! When you decorate the terrarium, do get Jade if you need help! He will gladly do so!

Floyd Leech- Plush

He got you a eel plushie. He came across it and thought it was adorable, so he thought to give it to you! (He also has a matching shrimp plush)

Kalim Al-Asim- Pictures

Kalim knew for a gift like this, it couldn't be anything, it had to be sentimental, so he gave you some pictures the two of you had together. Hang it on your wall/fridge and he will be so happy!

Jamil Viper- Snake Bracelet

A golden snake bracelet that wraps around your wrist. He hopes this reminds you of him. (He'd be so happy if you wore it every day, please do so, or at least wear it as much as you can🥺)

Vil Schoeinheit- Hair Clip

He gave you a hairclip shaped like a crown. He was still the fairest of all, but maybe you could second him.

Rook Hunt- Bow and Arrow

Rook gave you a bow and arrow of your own Iff you ever would like to practice archery, come to him!

Idia Shroud- Controller- Headphones

He gave you a black and blue game controller with headphones that match, which also have cat ears on them. You can game with him anytime!

Malleus Draconia- Earrings

Malleus gave you dragon earrings, something to represent him. "Would you like to go on a walk tonight?" he asked you. The two of you looked at stars and constellations that night.

Lillia Vanrouge- Fingerless Gloves

Black fingerless gloves with a green bat symbol on it. He also says "You've grown so much since I first saw you" then patting you on the head.(KJDHSJHSHSDJ I DIED WHILE MAKING THIS PART)

Silver- A Blanket

This blanket had multiple squares of different shades of your favorite color(Like patchwork)The blanket was also very soft! If you wasn't already getting good sleep, this will definitely help!

Your friends, the first years, gave you scrapbook to hold all your memories, and matching bracelets

The scrapbook has pictures of everytime all of you guys have hanged out together, and some pages are still left empty to fill out more and more memories. The bracelets have all your main colors on each and every one of them, and connect to each other when close by. They have a striped pattern of Red(Ace), Dark Blue(Deuce), Yellow(Jack), Purple(Epel), Light Blue(Ortho), Green(Sebek), Grey(Grim), and [insert your main color](You).

Ace says the bracelets were "Duece's 'stupid' idea" But in all seriousness, he also loves them.

These things are something you can have so if you ever end up finding a way home, you can take it with you to remember them.

[tj-crochets]

Hey y'all! I was thinking about trying to share how I create my own plushie sewing patterns, and I'm sure I'll figure out more things to share, but the first thing I start with (once I decide what I want to make) is figuring out what the limiting factors are for the final product

Frequently, the limiting factor is minimum size; there is a minimum amount of width each piece has to have to be able to be turned right side out, so for things like the ant and the giant frog, the narrowest part of the ant legs and frog toes were drawn so that they could be turned right side out, and the rest was scaled to fit Sometimes, the limiting factor is maximum size. For me, this is usually because I have a specific fabric I want to use for the project and only have so much of it left, and must make the pattern small enough to fit the fabric I have. Occasionally, though, the limiting factor size-wise is the construction technique I am using for the plushie. If I am creating something with a fairly flat pattern made of the same pattern piece cut out twice, like the eel, Fred the Fish of Minimal Effort, or either of my frog patterns' bodies, where I am not using darts or gussets to create three dimensions, my size is limited by the stretch of the fabric. It's totally fine to use the stretch of the minky/fleece/other fabric to create the 3D shape, just make sure to take into account that it will only stretch so much, and that to get maximum stretch you'd need to overstuff it (making a plushie less soft). Also keep in mind that depending on your fabric, stretching it in one direction might make it smaller in the other direction One final thing to keep in mind is that your seams will not stretch as much as the rest of your fabric. With stretchy fabric, you can sometimes choose where to put your seams so that you can shape the finished plush as much by where it doesn't stretch as by where it does (this is a thing I know I have done but I can't remember off the top of my head which plushies I used it in, I'll take a look and share a picture of them if I remember)

[tj-crochets]

Hi! I’m hoping to sew a big eel plushie and saw your eel on Google when I searched for plushies. Do you have the pattern for free or for purchase anywhere? Thanks!

Hi! I don't have the pattern up anywhere, but it's a really really simple pattern to write your own version of. I think I made a post about how to make an eel plushie pattern at one point, I'll look through my posts and try to find it. If I can find it, I'll add a link here. If not, if someone reminds me tomorrow I'll do my best to share a post about how to make an eel tomorrow