Drawing to a Custom Plush

During my time back home for two weeks, I recieved a special request. A grandmother wanted to give her granddaughter something unique and meaningful for her birthday. She sent me a picture of a drawing that her granddaughter created. The drawing was of a “Peacock Butterly” according to the 6 year old.

Love the mix of colors the child has chosen for this drawing. Good thing is I have these colors in my stash of fabrics. 😉

I accepted the challenge to create a representation of the drawing and make it into a plush form. This was my time to make my own plush pattern instead of using someone else’s. I told the grandmother that I would make a mock up plush first using muslin fabric and send her pictures of it for approval. If she likes it, I will start making the plush using the soft minky fabric.

Here is the mock up I made:

I did not have a pink and blue marker so I used black to show outlines. There are small adjustments that I need to make on the head (like making it a little bit bigger) but other than that it turned out pretty good. The grandmother approved the mock up but asked if I could make the wings not floppy. She wanted them to stick up like the drawing. I agreed and continued on.

To make this plush extra special so I tried my hardest to create the squiggly lines that the six year old drew on the body and repesent them using a satin stitch on my embroidery machine. I had to upload the picture to my embroidery program and trace the squiggly lines to create the satin stitches.

My next task was to figure out how to make the wings stand up. I used white fleece for the wings which the material stands up a little but they can still flop down easily. I looked through my fabric stash and found an ultra firm craft interface that I had left over from a craft project I did last year. This is perfect! I cut two pieces and slipped them into the wings. TADA! The wings stood up.

Here is how the final custom plush turned out:

Isn’t it adorable? I am so proud that this turned out great! Better than I imagine. The grandmother was thrilled and can’t wait to give this to her granddaughter for her birthday in May. I believe this 6 year old will freak out when she sees that her drawing “came to life” in plush form. I know I would if I was a kid again.

I had fun creating this little guy, I have a feeling I might create more custom plushies and design my own plush patterns. Hehe. Exciting!

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