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Flora theElephant Softie

© Bustle & Sew 2017

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Flora theElephant Softie

Flora is a really easymake, a great softieproject for a beginner.The success of yourelephant dependsupon choosing theright fabric, carefulcutting out andstuffing fairly firmly.

Flora stands around9” tall and 11” longfrom tip of trunk to tail.

Materials● 1 Fat quarter printed medium weight

cotton fabric

● 12” square felt for underbody and earlinings - choose a colour that co-ordinates with your fabric

● 2 x ¼” (6 mm) black beads for eyes

● 4” chunky twine for tail

● Toy stuffing

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Method● Templates include a 1/8” seam

allowance

● Using the full size templates provided(you will need to join them together)cut out two body shapes (onereversed), two ear shapes (onereversed) and the gusset from yourprinted cotton fabric. Cut out twounder bodies and two more earshapes from the pink felt.

● With right sides together join underbodies to side bodies from X to Yaround the legs leaving the topcurved edges open.

● Join top gusset to one body sidefrom A to B, then repeat on the otherside.

● Stitch around trunk from A to X andthen join the underbodies along thecurved edge for 2”.

● Join the side bodies from B to Y -inserting the tail at B and again jointhe underbodies along the curvededge for 2”.

● Clip curves and trim corners, beingVERY careful not to cut your stitching.

● Turn right side out, press and stuff.You will probably find a stuffing stickvery useful for this - especially for thetrunk. Just use a bamboo skewerwith the point broken off and the end“frayed” so it grabs the stuffing. Use

small pieces of stuffing to avoidlumpiness and mould Flora with yourhands to make sure you’re happywith her shape. Stuff quite firmly toavoid any floppiness, but not toomuch so that her shape becomesdistorted. Close the stuffing gapwith ladder stitch.

● Join ear pieces along curved edgewith right sides together, clip curveand turn right side out. Press firmly,turn in raw edges along straight sideand slip stitch closed.

● Make a small pleat in the centre ofthe straight edge and then curve theears around the sides of the headaligning the tops with the gussetseam and stitch into place.

● Stitch beads into place for eyes. Dotake your time over this andexperiment with the positioning toensure your Flora has a nice friendlyface. A common mistake is to placethe eyes too far back, high up andwide apart. As a general rule ofthumb the lower down the head theyare the cuter your softie will look. Besure that the eyes are level from allangles.

● When you’re happy with thepositioning sew the beads into place.Pull the thread quite tightly to makelittle hollows or sockets for the eyesto sit in - Flora doesn’t want frogeyes!

● Your elephant is now finished!

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X

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Y

Cut two side bodies fromprinted cotton fabric (one

reversed)

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Ear cut 2 in printed cotton

Top gusset. Join thetwo pieces together

then cut one inprinted cotton.

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Join to other gussetpiece here

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Why do we love to stitch? After all you can purchasemass-produced textile items at many high streetsstores for very little cost. These days handmademeans something special - a unique item created withlove, a gift from the heart, not one that can be bought.

Hand stitching is also a great way to personalise anitem, or perhaps to breathe new life into an old favouritethat has seen better days.

PS If you love stitching, then you’re sure to enjoy my Bustle & Sew Magazine. It’s delivered byemail to your in-box each month and is crammed full of ideas, projects, features, articles, patternsand more to inspire you. Your family and friends will soon be queuing up to take delivery of yournew Bustle & Sew creations. To learn more please visit the Bustle & Sew website.

Helen xx

Please respect my copyright and do not copy and distribute this pattern for any purpose. You arewelcome to sell items you personally have made using this pattern provided you credit Bustle &Sew with the design. You are not licensed to go into mass production.Thank you.

© Bustle & Sew 2017

Bustle & Sew offers my own unique patterns, designed to appeal to all skill levels and bringout all your natural creativity. And you can keep up to date with all the latest news fromSomerset where I live as well as the newest patterns and much more over on the Bustle &Sew Blog.