A real housewife can save a lot on her sewing skills. But what about children's toys - they don’t save on children? There are always pieces of fur in the house - old hats, children's fur coats. When they become unusable, wiped on the sleeves, you can cut out the remaining parts and put into business. Someone sews vests from them, someone cuts insoles into shoes. You can also make toys from fur with your own hands.
They do not differ in complex patterns, unlike textile dolls. And sometimes they look better than those sold in the store. Masters value their toys very expensive. Who knows, maybe the first experience will subsequently become a profitable hobby.
Beautiful fur toys
You can sew wonderful things with your own hands. The now popular hand-made movement unites aspiring artists and true professionals. The art of creating toys has reached a high level relatively recently. In the middle of the last century there was no need for a complex portrait toy.
Designers turned to her to decorate the interior, window dressing. Exhibitions held around the world showed the great importance of the author's dolls. Fur models began to appear: cartoon characters, Teddy bears, miniature souvenir animals.
Sometimes an artist manages to sew such a naturalistic thing that it can be compared to a stuffed animal. Only a toy will have a big advantage in the fact that not a single animal was injured in its manufacture.
Materials for work
Masters use new materials, since it is easier and faster to work with them. But even from an old fur coat you can sew toys from fur with your own hands. To do this, unstitch all the seams, steam the parts with an iron and cut out unsuitable places. After that, you can start cutting.
A large toy with a height of 50 centimeters will require a half-meter section of new fur (for example, Italian polar fox). Its price is 6500 rubles per meter. For the frame, you need 5 meters of wire. It is better to take a copper insulated section of 1.5 or 2.0. For stuffing, synthetic winterizer, synthetic winterizer or foam rubber cut into small pieces is used.
For the nose, eye, antennae, claws and other little things use polymer clay, fishing line, finished eyes. Eyes are easy to do on their own. Cabochons are sold for decorating postcards. The photos of toy eyes printed on the printer are glued onto them. After drying, the fur is pushed open and glued in place.
Two kinds of soft toys made of fur
With your own hands you can make a regular toy with a soft filler, which can be washed in a car. So they sew bears, bunnies, dogs and other animals for the game. With such a toy, kids love to fall asleep, it’s not scary to get it dirty or drop it into a puddle. But there is another type of toy - the author's doll. This is a collectible item that is made differently using several techniques.
To make such a model, you need an internal frame. Then the toy can be planted, give it a certain pose and change it depending on the mood of the owner. For such purposes, use wire. If the thing is done for the collection, you can take aluminum. In the case when multiple flexion-extension of the legs is assumed, the head turns are copper. Often, artists insert rigid elements into the frame according to the type of skeleton: the humeral and pelvic transverse rod, the spine. They are made of wood, a piece of twig is suitable. It is cleaned of bark and braided with wire.
A synthetic winterizer is wound on the frame and fixed with threads. This gives volume to the toy. After the frame is sheathed with fur. Individual parts are hand-sewn together with a furrier seam and turned out (usually these are paws), the rest of the places are closed with fur directly on the toy. At the same time, the seams are made secret.
Frame manufacturing technology
The frame is the base, the skeleton of the toy. Pre-create a sketch of the model, determine its size and proportion. Then the copper wire is folded several times and the spine is formed. The bases for the front and hind legs are attached to it. A small ball is formed in place of the head using foil (it is wound around the neck). To keep the whole structure well, they once again wrap the entire circuit, including the head, with wire. The frame should resemble a child’s drawing of a man from sticks.
The next step in making a toy from fur with your own hands is wrapping with soft material. It can be batting or synthetic winterizer. The old lining from the open fur coat is also suitable. The purpose of the winding is to give volume. At the joints, thickenings are made, at the tips of the legs, too. On a synthetic winterizer, the frame is wrapped with ordinary sewing thread so that it keeps well on the wire. They try to make the limbs identical.
The finished frame is already a bit like a future toy. The body architecture is visible on it, its movements are clear. After testing the flexion and extension of the limbs, you can make adjustments - lengthen the neck, shorten the tail, change the volume of the head or replace some weak knots of the joints. The toy should be proportional. If you hope that the fur will hide the flaws visible at this stage, then you have to invent workarounds for the identified problem (for example, the frame has a short neck and does not allow the head to spin) or even redo the work.
Covering the frame with fur
If the author has already made a certain model many times, he can say for sure what her pattern sizes are. In practice, it is often difficult to fit the wire frame to the already cut skin details. This is influenced by the volume specified by the synthetic winterizing banding, and allowances for the seams, and the depth of the seams, even the thickness of the thread that the seam is leading. The material can be pulled together in inept hands or the fur will be so thick that it creates additional volume.
Therefore, for a toy made of fur, do-it-yourself patterns are marked on the finished frame. A toy is put on the wrong side of the fur fabric and the detail is marked with chalk. It will be a paw, tail and stomach. Pile should be directed down. The legs are stitched in turn and put on the frame. Connect them, having cut a back, a tummy is cut out on a back.
The head is sheathed with the back half, which is cut out on the frame, and the front half, consisting of several shreds. For the outstanding part of the muzzle sew a separate cover. Pile directed to the nose. Around him there will be patches of the frontal part and cheeks. They are cut out and sewn with a secret seam right on the front side of the toy. The frontal part has a pile direction up, the cheeks - to the sides. After the head is assembled, the muzzle, soles and palms are trimmed with ordinary sharp scissors, reducing the pile to 0.2 centimeters.
Small details give personality
Ready-made eyes for soft toys can be bought in the department for needlework. But if you want to save money and make eyes yourself, you can mold them from polymer clay. Teeth, the inner parts of the ears, heels and claws are also made. The color of the clay is chosen immediately so that after baking the parts they do not have to be painted.
Such trifles can easily be done with your own hands. Toys made of faux fur with designer eyes look much more interesting and more expensive than with store ones. Blinded parts are placed on a plate and put in the oven for the time indicated by the instructions for clay. After cooling, they are varnished and glued.
Teddy Toy Patterns
This model belongs to the second type of toys. They do not make a frame for it, but they can use hinged fastenings of the limbs. However, they can be successfully replaced with fasteners, like the Big-legged doll - a button-like bundle. It is done at the shoulder and femoral level, sewing on buttons at the top of the arms and legs. They become movable no worse than on hinges, but they are easier to do with their own hands.
A toy pattern made of Teddy-type fur is standard and consists of several parts:
- Head - front part, 2 parts; back, 2 parts.
- Belly - 2 parts.
- Back - 2 parts.
- Ear - 4 parts.
- The inner part of the ear is 2 parts.
- Tail - 2 parts.
- Hand - 4 parts.
- Leg - 4 parts.
- Foot - 4 parts.
For such a model, it is best to choose a fur with a short pile, not too thick.
Technology of tailoring Teddy Bears
When the child has already learned to make a straight seam, you can offer him a task more difficult. After choosing a model, they start sewing a soft toy made of faux fur. With his own hands, the animal made will become his beloved friend. You should not choose natural fur for working with needles - it is difficult to pierce. An entirely different matter is artificial. For Mishka they cut out patches that are sewn with large stitches with contrasting thread. It is more convenient to sew patches before all the parts are sewn.
Build Order:
- Cut out all the details, mark them and number them on the reverse side.
- Sew on the head, legs and torso.
- Head and tail are sewn to the body.
- The front legs are sewn to the body using a long needle. Outside, the thread passes through the buttons.
- Sew the hind legs in the same way.
Spreading fur, cut out a place for the eyes. Embroider or glue spout. Glue the eyes. If desired, you can sew a bear jacket.
Patterns of seated toys
This is the lightest of the author's toys. She always does well. It can be offered to sew the child and help him do everything with his own hands. The pattern of a soft toy made of fur is very simple. The head is assembled from five parts: the back, two front side parts, two parts of the protruding muzzle.
The body is cut out with the limbs. This was done by three: two lateral parts of the seated toy and the inside of the tummy and legs. The tail is sewn separately. They stuff the toy through partially open seams, after which they are sutured.
What models are suitable for natural fur
Handwork is not cheap, and once again using natural fur is unprofitable. From it you can sew parts for the muzzle, ears, cut thin strips for eyelashes. Large models sew from faux fur. In order not to lose quality at the same time, choose imported materials.
If it is decided to sew the whole toy from natural fur, then there is no need to spare and cut pieces. When stitching them, different directions of the pile will be visible, and this will immediately age the toy. A good way to save money is to make a beast in clothes. For example, less fur will be worn on a kitten in a jacket and boots than on a naked one.
Making toys from natural fur with their own hands, choose high-quality material. If this is a rasporota coat, frayed places can be put on the soles of the legs, but not on other details.
Professional Tips
When sewing fur, its ability to spread is taken into account. This provides a hidden seam. To stitch the parts, put the fur inside and carefully straighten all the hairs so that they do not fall into the seam. The master works with the back of the skin, all the fur tucked in between the details.
Furriers use a thick cotton thread to sew fur. This gives strength to the product and protects against excessive constriction, which could happen when using a nylon thread. You can use their experience when sewing toys with your own hands.
The pattern of the toy from natural fur should be laid out on the skin, taking into account the direction of the pile. If you make a mistake, you can get the face of the animal, in which all the hairs will be combed to the side, or on one half of the muzzle up, on the other down. They also carefully monitor the pattern of the legs. The direction of the pile on them should go down.
The simplest model for a beginner
In working with natural fur, one of the most time-consuming aspects is the stitching of parts. This can be difficult for children. But you can glue an owl of fur with your own hands. A toy can be made with a child. In the process of its creation, needles and threads will not be needed - their function will be replaced by glue on the skin.
Necessary tools and materials:
- Pieces of rabbit fur, silver fox, fox.
- A piece of black leather for the beak.
- Scissors.
- Glue.
- Artificial round eyes.
- A wooden blank is a cylinder (you can cut five centimeters from the handle of a shovel).
Build Order:
- Measure and cut two circles according to the diameter of the workpiece.
- Measure and cut the whole piece, rolling the workpiece on the skin. The direction of the hairs is down. You should get a rectangle.
- Glue the parts to the workpiece.
- Straighten the fur and glue the beak and eyes.
If the fur is chosen fluffy enough, then no more details will be required. If desired, make fur wings and paws of leather.
Conclusion
Sewing fur toys is an exciting experience. The fur hides uneven seams, and a neat product is obtained. Try to sew a toy from fur with your own hands, and it will delight you for a long time.