I have done my fair share of sewing projects over the last year, and shown pictures of many of them. I thought that I might do a little bit of a tutorial on one of my favorites to do and that my little dogs really seem to enjoy. This project does not take very long at all, I made the one seen in the photos in one night. They are also easy to personalize.

Materials :

• Fleece fabric – Do not need much, I got half of a yard and still have plenty after making 2 stuffies.
• Cotton quilting fabric or other strong fabric – again not much is needed and it can even be scrap if the size is right, mine was leftover brown from a purse project.
• Stuffing! – I like to use Polyfill, or polyester fiberfill.
• Embroidery floss or thread – I hand stitch everything so I use embroidery floss a lot, if you have a working sewing machine though the thread used with it will be fine. While not necessary I recommend using a thread that will match the fleece.
• Felt – I personalized mine with initials of the puppers, you can generally get one 8″ x 11″ sheet at a craft store for .25-.40 cents in multiple colors.
• Scissors
• Pins to hold stuff in place while you sew.
• Fabric glue – I use Sobo glue for almost everything, but if you have a different one the works for you that is fine as well.
• Recommended White chalk pencil – I used one to draw out the letters to give me a guideline for cutting them out.
• Optional squeaker - I got a package of them on Etsy and used them in these stuffies, my dogs love squeaks!

Step 1 – Make you initial or other personalized feature. I started with this first so I would know how large to make my shape. The blue initial featured in the photos is for my brothers dog Bastian, the pink one for my baby girl Buddy. Still have to make an L for our new baby Lola. I used the chalk pencil to draw a bubble letter B, that I was comfortable with and then cut it out. If you are unsatisfied with the initial cut out you can always trim away until you find something you like and set this part aside.

Step 2 – Make your shape and cut it out. I made a simple small circle for one of them and a large oval bean like shape for another. Also keep in mind the size of your dogs mouth. I made the smaller circle for a smaller dog. Cut out two of these shapes in the fleece and two of them in the cotton fabric.

Step 3 – Attach the felt initial to the fleece. Take one of the fleece pieces and the felt letter. Spread a light layer of the fabric glue on the back side of the letter and press down on the center of the fleece piece. Once it dries for a bit Add some stitching to the outside of the letter to hold it securely in place and for an added decorative touch.

Step 4 – Sew the fleece and the lining together. The reason I added the brown fabric is to make this stuffy extra tough! Our newest dog rips toys apart and this added some extra structure to the toy. Simply line up one cotton piece with one fleece piece (make sure the initial is facing out) and sew around the edges using a simple line stitch. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Step 5 – Sew your two pieces together. Line up the two pieces you have sewn together with the fleece facing inward. sew around the edges again using a simple line stitch. Leave about one inch or so of space to stuff the toy.

Step 6 – Start stuffing! Turn your toy right side out by pulling the inside through the hole you left. Take your polyfill and start stuffing it into the toy, make sure to use plenty and make it big and fluffy.

Step 7 – Optional – Add the squeaker simply shove the squeaker towards the center of the toy and surround with more fluff.

Step 8 – Finish sewing together. Sew together the hole and make sure there are no gaps where fluff can get through.

Step 9 – Let your pups enjoy! So far our tearer up of toys has not been able to tear a hole in this stuffie, of course each dog is different. Watch and supervise your dog to make sure they can play with the toy nicely and don’t leave a fluffy mess in your house. She has gotten it very dirty but a toss in the washing machine will fix that.