The Wild Knoll

 Welcome back! I am SO excited to share this tutorial with you! I came up with this design about 6 or 7 months ago and my daughter loves it so much I knew I’d have to release the pattern. It has taken more time than I’d like to admit to get to this point, but luckily for you the hard part has been taken care of so that you can get right down to business!

To start off with, I have just a few notes. If you are experienced at working with felt or making these types of projects then please feel free to keep scrolling!

* I personally prefer to work with 100% merino wool felt for its durability and ease of use, however if you’re new to working with felt I highly recommend a quality blended felt (usually wool/rayon) like Benzie Designs. There are many shops online and Etsy that sell 100% wool and wool blends. I get my wool felt from Weircrafts.com. The cheapo acrylic felt you find at places like Michaels stores can be suitable for certain projects but i find that with things that require a lot of stitching and stuffing they can stretch and warp badly, sometimes even tear. Also, the wool felt will not pill like acrylic felt does after being played with – wool is truly an heirloom quality fiber that will hold up for years and years.

* In this same vein, I also use only wool for stuffing. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Its more expensive than poly or other fibers, but you’ll see why as soon as you start using it – trust me!

* I always use DMC embroidery thread, and for projects like this I usually separate it down to one strand for stitching.

* You will probably notice in the photos that I really like the teeny tiny binder clips! They are totally worth the investment (not that they’re expensive!) and will really make your project a whole lot easier!

* I get kind of irritated when tutorials like this don’t give enough detailed instructions, so I apologize in advance if it seems like i over-did it on the directions! Also, if you feel like anything didn’t make sense, PLEASE do not hesitate to comment email me your questions and I will try my best to clear it up!

*Some of the photos are sideways even though I didn’t take them sideways – this site is just trying to irritate me!

OK, here we go!

FELT DRAGON PLUSH TUTORIAL

Materials:

* Felt Dragon Pattern – Pattern is available for purchase HERE

* 3 different colors of felt

* Coordinating thread, separated down to one strand

* Embroidery Needle

* Doll makers needle (Optional)

* Freezer paper (Optional, but it makes cutting the felt SO much easier!)

* Small binder clips

* Straight pins

 Begin by tracing the pattern pieces onto the freezer paper. Alternatively, you could print the pattern directly onto freezer paper, but several pieces require doubles, or even quadruples (like the wings).

Trace one belly gusset piece from the front side of the pattern and trace the second piece from the reverse, so that it looks like the photo above – this will make more sense in the next steps.

You will want the 2 main body pieces, the head and tail gussets, the ears, and two wing pieces all the same color. The neck gusset, two belly gusset pieces and two wing pieces will be one color, and the spiky piece along the back of the neck (F) can be another coordinating color. Iron the freezer paper pieces onto the felt – NOTE: If you are using acrylic or a blended felt, keep the iron on med-low heat!

Once all your felt is cut out it should look like this.

Before peeling the freezer paper off the two belly gusset pieces you will want to trace the FOLD and DART lines onto the reverse side of the felt. I like to use my lightpad for this because its nice and bright, but if you have a light color felt and a bright window you should be able to trace just fine. If you’re not able to directly trace, you’ll just have to carefully estimate where to draw the lines.

 Fold the legs over on the straight lines, pin if place if you need to, and backstitch along the curved dart lines.

 Clip the two belly gusset pieces ‘right sides together’ – meaning the sides with the pencil markings should be facing out. Line them up, clip or pin together, and stitch all the way across the top from points E to E1. I used a backstitch for this, but a blanket stitch works just as well.

 Starting with the neck gusset piece, align one edge of the widest angle along one edge of the notch in the belly gusset on the ‘right side’ of the felt and blanket stitch from the end, to the corner, and then to the other end.

 Do the same thing with the tail gusset at the other end of the belly piece.

Set the belly piece aside for a moment.

Clip or pin the two body pieces together and, starting at point B, blanket stitch to about point A, and do not tie off your thread yet. In the photo below I made a few too many stitches and had to take some out in order to get the neck/belly piece in.

 Here is a little video for lining up the neck/belly piece with the body piece before you begin stitching.

 Once your neck/belly piece is lined up and pinned or clipped to the body piece, begin stitching at point A/A1, with the gusset piece facing toward you.

 Continue stitching all the way around the legs and up to about point G2 where the tail gusset ends. The next step can be a bit tricky and you will end up very frustrated, and with a crooked product, if you dont take the time to make sure all your pieces are properly lined up (this is were those nifty little binder clips really show their worth!).

Again, making sure everything is aligned, continue stitching back down the tail piece, around the legs, and back up to point A/A1 at the neck.

 Pull your needle back through to the inside and tie it off before cutting so the tail is secured inside the body and the knot doesn’t show on the outside.

 Whew! Tired yet? I know I always am at this point, but we’re about halfway done!

Beginning at point G2, the tip of the tail gusset (where my index finger is), stitch the tail together up to the point in the photo – it is at this point that you will want to begin stuffing the tail bit by bit. Stitch a little, stuff a little, as i like to say 🙂 Continue stitching and stuffing until about point G1. Pull your needle to the inside of the body and tie off and and cut your thread,

Now back to the head. This step is optional but I find it helps to keep things aligned and even when working with such small pattern pieces like…the ears. First, I fold each one in half and put in a couple stitches to keep them folded, then i use just a couple of tiny stitches to baste them where i want to the inside of the body pieces. I have included another video for the next step – inserting the head gusset.

 How to insert and anchor the head gusset.

 Anchor in the head gusset as shown in the video and continue stitching all the way around back to point B, the same way you stitched in the tail gusset.

 Pay no attention to my crooked ears

 When you stitch back to point B at the nose, you can either tie off and cut the thread as before, or just pull it through to point B2 at the end of the head gusset. In any case, you will want to make one anchoring blanket stitch right where the two body pieces meet. It is at this point that you will want to stuff the head, as it will be very difficult to reach once the neck is all sewn up.

Once you have stuffed the head, insert piece F into the back of the neck and pin in place. Continue stitching down to point G.

 Now you will stuff the neck and begin stuffing the legs.

 In order for your dragon to stand up properly you will want to stuff the legs quite firmly. This is another reason I prefer working with wool stuffing – it is very easily maneuvered and sculpted, which creates a nice firm and smooth finished product. There aren’t any photos of stuffing the rest of the body, but its pretty self-explanatory – as you get the body more and more stuffed, keep stitching the opening along the back until you get it all just right.

 Okay, now we’re REALLY almost done!

Align the wing pieces together so that they are mirror images of each other with the proper color on top (like how i used pink for the body and the wings), as they are laid out in the third photo down from the top. Stitch from point H all the way around the spikes to point I, leaving the space between open for stuffing. Stuff the wings lightly, you dont want them too bulky, and stitch the gap closed. If you have enough thread left on your needle just continue by using a running stitch up to points J and K as shown in the photo below. You’ll want to pull the thread taut as you stitch to give the wings a ribbed effect. Figure out where you want them along the sides of the body and pin in place. I like to pin & place and stitch one wing at a time.

It’s certainly not a necessity, but a 3-inch dollmakers needle comes in really handy for attaching pieces like this. Feel free to attach these with whatever method you are comfortable with. I chose to just use a blanket stitch.

 Now stitch on whatever facial features you wish and your dragon is ready to fly!

I hope you enjoy this project as much as I have and that the little ones in your life appreciate all your hard work! If you love the pattern don’t forget to tag your creations on instagram @thewildknoll  or #mywildknollcreations