PERSONAL USE ONLY

PATTERN

No glue used. All hand sewn. The reason is that glue dries, discolours, and flakes in time. Sewing is more time consuming, though can make things last longer and in better condition. Plus the sewing helps with the eyes in that the stitches pull the felt down. Making the eyes protrude a little less.

Material:

1. Felt—1 body & fin colour, 1 white for eyes, 1 iris colour, 1 black for pupils—I rarely use wool felt.
2. Yarn for hair
3. Thread—1 body & fins (not for fin markings), White for eyes, 1 iris, Black for pupils
4. Floss—White for glare in pupil, Black for eyeliner & lashes, 1 fin markings
5. Clear Tape
6. Pins
7. Sewing Needle
8. Scissors—regular and small-pointy ones, like ones used in embroidery & cross stitch
9. Stuffing/Fiber Fill
10. Pencil
11. Cuticle Pusher—yep! X)

Cutting Pattern Pieces:

• The 3 Eye Pattern Pieces—cut out 1 eye piece completely—cut out 1 eye piece iris—cut out 1 eye piece pupil—-then cut 2 each out of felt
• Clear Tape—this is very helpful for small pieces and difficult pieces to be cut out—Just tape the pattern to the felt and cut.
• Using Very Dark Colours—flipping the pattern piece to the all white side of the paper helps cut them out on dark felt
• One Sided Pattern Felt—If using felt with a pattern on one side though not the other—Cut the body and fin out once on the right side of the felt and once on the other side of the felt OR with the pattern pieces flipped over.

Yarn Hair:

1. Cut out 13” (33 cm) strands of yarn
2. Take 2 strands and make a knot in the center of them—Do not fold strands in half to make a knot.
3. Continue until you make enough strands to go from the two ‘HAIR’ marks on the body pattern piece.

Sewing Techniques:

Starting & Finishing

You may have some of your own. Though this is how I started and finished thread.

To Start:

Start by making a good knot in the end of he thread and then drawing the needle between the two sides of the body, through to where you wish to sew.—It’s good if the knot gets pulled into the body. Though don’t pull it too much. The knot should be hidden between the pieces anyway.—Just trim off any tail end sticking out.

Or you can do the reverse of below:

To fasten off:

1. Loop the stitch
2. Several times—I like the numbers 5 and 7
3. With last loop, position the needle at a distance, away from the area.
4. Pull the thread through and cut the thread. The thread will disappear more if you squeeze and rub the area.

Running Stitch

Back Stitch

French Knot

Closer Look

The Fins

The eyes, face, & hair.

Sewing The Body:

1. Place the body pieces on top of each other and start at the center of the chest/belly sewing in small running stitches near the edge of the pieces. Sew downward, along the belly, tail, and then up along the back and head to the face.
2. When you get to the area where the hair goes, fold each strand of yarn in half at the knot. Then place the knotted part between the two body pieces. Make sure the knots are nicely placed under the edge where the sewing will be.—You do not want to sew through the knots—TIP: Try not to bunch the yarn too much. That can make it look too dense.—DO NOT TRIM TOO MUCH YARN OFF. It will make the yarn stand on end and turn the pony “crazy.” (See Prototype 1)
3. Keep sewing until you reach the end of the chin. Fasten off.
4. Stuff the body using the eraser end of a pencil. Starting at the tail and head.  The cuticle pusher helps really push the stuffing into the  tiny areas and at keeping the stuffing in as you close up the body.
5. Once stuffed enough, sew close the opening.
6. Using the body pattern piece, sew in running stitches, through both sides, defining the curl of the tail, the jaw of the face, earlobe, and the mouth. (I find the nostril doesn’t really show.)—The tighter you pull the stitches the better.—You will need to stitch going backward, filling in the gaps between stitches and making the lines more defined. NOTE: BACK FIN—Using the same stitching for the fin creases. Using the stitches to sculpt where the curve of the back is, instead of  sewing the curve of the back.
7. Embroider the fin markings with floss.—2 strands at a time.—Sew one side at a time. Starting at the bottom point of the marking and fanning out to the top, returning to the point for ever stitch. TIP: Carry the floss between the two body sides to hide the floss as you move from marking to marking.

See picture above.

Fins:

1. Sew the creases using back-stitching.
2. Use the body pattern piece to place each fin. Sewing the base of the fins to the body
3. Repeat the sewing of the markings.—Fasten off, hiding the stitches on the body, hidden behind the fins, at the seams.

See picture above. REMEMBER: Make sure the markings are one the correct sides! Eyes:

1. Using black thread, sew the pupil to the iris.
2. Using thread for the iris, sew the iris to the eye.
3. Using white floss, make a french knot for the eye glare.
4. Repeat for other eye.
5. Position eyes and using white thread, sew eyes in place.
6. With black thread or, for thicker looking (what I used), black floss, stitch the eyeliner and lashes using back-stitches.
7. OPTION: Using the thread for the body, using the same method as the stitching of the tail, back-fin, and face, define the eyebrows. See picture above.

For the eye for the back side (the side that is opposite of to the pattern’s right side), flip the pieces over to sew.

OPTION: Embroider the pupil and, or, the iris.

OK. That should be it! :)

An idea I got today is to use regular cotton fabric for the body (the attached fins wouldn’t work well) by fusing fusible interfacing to the back of the fabric, to keep it from fraying, and just sew like above.

EDIT: Also could use embroidery/cross stitch floss for hair, following the same instructions for the yarn. Or by using a long strand, looping it in half (making a U shape), and sewing the loop (U shape) to the pony very securely with several small stitches piercing through the floss.—For this method, a good idea would be to sew the floss to the inside of one side of the body before sewing the body together.

Enjoy!