Sleepy Fox & Friends

A sewing-pattern book for your first stuffed animals: a fox that lies on her tummy, front paws stretched out, fast asleep, and six friends made from the same body.

You sew one simple body every time. The ears, tail, colours and face turn it into a fox, cat, puppy, bear, panda, bunny or mouse. Each one is about 9 in (23 cm) long and 4 in (10 cm) high at the head, soft and sturdy enough to be hugged.

Who it is for

Anyone who has never made a toy. If you can thread a needle, you can start; a sewing machine helps but is not needed, because every seam can be sewn by hand. Every sewing word is explained the first time it appears, and there is a page of them in plain English.

What makes it different

• Pieces that meet. Every pair of edges that are sewn together was measured along the stitching line before the sheets were drawn, and the lengths are printed in the back of the book. Matching letters on the pieces (N, H, C, R and match marks) show exactly what pins to what.
• Printed at the right size, with nothing to tape together. The pattern comes in two files, US Letter and A4. Each starts with a print-check page (a 2 in square and a 5 cm square) and has a 1 in check square on every sheet. Every piece fits on one sheet.
• Seam allowance stated and drawn. 1/4 in (6 mm), already added: a solid cutting line and a dashed sewing line on every piece.
• The fox, step by step. Seventeen steps from flat pieces to a finished fox, each shown with diagrams drawn from the real pattern pieces: which edges to sew, where the gap goes, the order to stuff, and plans showing where the legs and ears go.
• Practise first. Six skills (seams, curves, clipping and turning, stuffing, patches, the ladder stitch) are each practised on a leg before the real thing.
• Easy faces. Five of the animals are asleep: each eye is one curved line, embroidered while the pieces are still flat. There is a full-size face guide.

What is inside

• Start here: what a pattern is, the six stages and how long each takes
• Meet the seven, and how 18 flat pieces become one round fox
• Get ready: tools, choosing fabric (fleece first), how much to buy with a cutting layout, printing at full size, reading a pattern piece, cutting out
• Six skills, practised on a leg, and the faces (sleeping, awake, panda)
• Sew the fox: a cut list, the 17 steps, and the finished fox with every detail labelled
• Six more friends: one page each with the pieces, colours, and exactly what changes from the fox
• When it looks wrong: ten problems and how to fix them without starting again
• Care and safety, including toys for children under 3
• Invent your own: mix the ears and tails (a wolf, a koala, a polar bear and more)
• The seam check and a list of all 26 pieces

What you download

• Sleepy Fox & Friends (43 pages, PDF, US Letter, in colour, with bookmarks)
• Pattern sheets, US Letter (6 pages, PDF): print-check page and 5 full-size pattern sheets
• Pattern sheets, A4 (6 pages, PDF): the same pieces laid out for A4 paper

Good to know

• Made for anti-pill fleece, with felt for the small colour patches. Minky works once you have made one. Quilting cotton is not recommended for this pattern.
• Each animal needs a piece of fleece 18 x 22 in (or a quarter yard), plus small pieces of felt or fleece for the patches, polyester stuffing and embroidery floss.
• For a baby or a child under 3, embroider every feature; the book explains how.
• Measurements are in inches with metric beside them.
• This is a PDF download. No physical book or pattern is shipped.