project // millenium falcon felt plush

Happy Star Wars Day! This May the Fourth, I'm very happy to share my pattern for making a felt Millennium Falcon.

I love, love, love making Star Wars projects, and usually they start as gifts for my brother. In the past, I've designed a Wompa, a Storm Trooper, Maz Kanata, C-3PO, and more. This particular plush is a little different from the others, in that it's a ship and not a character. But I think Star Wars fans would agree that the Millennium Falcon sort of is a character, right?

So here's the story on this. It's been a while since I shared a Star Wars Day pattern and that's because I started this two years ago. At least, I think that's when I started it. It's been so long that I couldn't actually find the step-by-step photos I took. Yikes!

Since I can't show you all the steps for this, I almost decided to let it be only a one-of-a-kind felt ship. But maaaaayybe you're up for trying this with a few simple instructions? I'll warn you that at times it was a little fiddly. But worth it, I think! Be sure to look at the photos as a guide for placement on the pieces.



Here's what you need:

Grayish-tan felt in two shades (though you could use just one)
Charcoal gray felt
Aqua blue felt
Dark gray-tan embroidery floss
Needle
Pins and/or Wonder Clips
Stuffing

Millennium Falcon Plush Pattern PDF

1. Embroider the lines from the main ship piece in light gray-tan felt. Embroider the lines from the smaller pieces on dark gray-tan felt.

I did this before cutting out the shape because I used Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy, so I didn't want to risk it shrinking when soaking off the stabilizer.

I used three strands and back stitch for almost everything except the thick lines on the pattern. For those I did bullion knots. And for the dots on the small front piece I used french knots.

2. Cut out the embroidered Millennium Falcon shape (plus an extra one that's not embroidered) and the small embroidered pieces. Stitch the small pieces onto the main piece with whip stitch and three strands of embroidery floss. They should fit in the non-embroidered areas.




3. Cut a strip of aqua blue felt with the long rectangle template. Cut a long strip of light gray tan felt that's the same height as the blue strip (1-1/4" tall). I think mine was 24 inches? You can piece this together if you need to. Basically it will need to wrap around the sides of the Falcon.

I added a face to the blue piece because it's kinda my thing. You can do that too if you want, and now's the time! But it's more traditional without the face.

4. Join the end of the blue strip to the end of the tan strip. The blue will be the back of the ship when it goes into lightspeed. Start sewing the blue strip in place along the back where the two indents are, attaching it to the embroidered top. Use three strands of embroidery floss and whip stitch.

Continue sewing around the entire shape, fitting the tan felt into all the lines of the ship. You should end up with a little extra tan felt, which you can trim off. If you came up short, add another strip to finish it off.

5. Next, sew around the bottom in the same way. You should end up with an opening where the blue and tan meet.

6. Fill the Millennium Falcon with stuffing. When it puffs up a little, it's super cute! But don't overstuff it. Stitch the opening closed.



7. For the escape pods and cockpit, using the templates, cut a curved piece of dark gray-tan felt and cut it in half. Cut one half-curved piece (the same size as the ones you just cut) from charcoal gray felt. Cut three charcoal gray circles and one dark gray-tan rectangle.

8. Stitch the curved pieces onto the circles and then stitch the end down where it overlaps. You should have pieces that flare out a little at the bottom.

9. For the gray-tan side escape pods, put a tiny bit of stuffing in each one and then stitch them down to the sides of the ship in the large indented areas.

10. For the cockpit, stitch the rectangle to the end of the charcoal gray piece and stitch it into a cylinder.

Now, this next part is the hardest to explain, because I kid you not, I just cut the thing. If it doesn't go well the first time, thankfully, felt isn't very expensive.

11. Flatten the cylinder on the cockpit piece and cut it off at about a 45-degree angle. Add some stuffing and stitch it onto the side of the ship as shown in the photos.



All that's left to do is send your Millennium Falcon to infinity and beyond! Wait...that's the wrong movie.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this VERY paired down tutorial. I'll do my best to answer any questions, but a lot of this I just figured out as I went. As I said, this was made as a gift, but over a long period of time and without taking notes. Oops!

Also, my version of the Falcon is nowhere near as detailed as the real deal, even with all that stitching on top. This is more like an impression of the Millennium Falcon, and I kind of love that.

May the Fourth be with you!

NOTE: The Millennium Falcon is copyright Disney/LucasArts, and I'm only sharing this pattern as fan art. Please do not sell items made with this pattern.

project // felt pizza pal playset

You shouldn't play with your food, but with this felt pizza pal playset your kids (or you!) can play and make faces to your heart's content!

I've been on a pizza kick here on the blog, thanks to my Kawaii Crossing Pizzeria cross stitch and embroidery patterns. And I'm quite fine with that! Anyway, I like putting faces on things, and that includes pizza. In fact, I recently added a new pattern set to my shop and it's filled with pizza-y things.



But let's get back to this felt playset. So, I've had these small pizza boxes sitting here for a while and I couldn't decide what to do with them. They are clean and never had any pizza in them, making them perfect for crafting. You could probably use a box with minimal grease and cover it, but having these ones was quite lucky. I don't know how I even ended up with them, it's been so long.

Once I got on a pizza roll with my making (pizza roll...get it?), I quickly thought of a felt board type pizza. And then I realized that you could use the pieces to make faces! Your own pizza pal!

It's as easy as cutting out felt pieces. If you have a box, it's a perfect place to store the pieces and play (there's even a printable label for your box top!), but it also works on a felt board or as its own thing stored in a bag or large envelope.

Here's what you need:

Felt in a bunch of pizza colors: I used tan, red, cream, two shades of green, yellow, orange, brown, lavender, and more
Freezer paper
Pencil
Scissors
Iron
Plate (should fit in the box if you're using one)
Rotary cutter and mat (optional – you can simply trace and cut the circle)
Pins
Pizza box (optional)
Glue stick (optional — for attaching the label to the box)

DOWNLOAD THE PIZZA PAL PLAYSET PDF



Print the first page of the PDF on paper and trace the topping pattern pieces on freezer paper. I like to group the pieces by color. Then, iron the freezer paper to the felt.

Cut out the pieces. For the center of the olives, you can use a hole punch, which is much easier than cutting! You can also cut some of the bell pepper pieces in half.

Finally, peel away the freezer paper.



Use a plate as a template and cut out a circle of crust-colored felt.



Next, flip over your pattern page and trace the plate. It's okay if it doesn't all fit on the page, as you'll be cutting it out smaller.



Trim the paper template down a little with a wavy line around the edge. Use this to cut out a sauce-colored piece of felt.



Trim the template down again in the same way. Once you make it a little smaller than the sauce template, cut out a cheese-colored piece of felt.



Print the second page the PDF on cardstock and cut out the circle. If you have a small (clean!) pizza box, attach it to the top with a glue stick.




Layer the crust, sauce and cheese pieces in the box and get ready to design a pizza pal!





You can use the toppings in all kinds of ways to make all kinds of faces and kids will certainly be even more creative than I have!






Of course, you don't have to only make faces. You can simply create regular pizzas with your favorite toppings!

And to end this, I'll add one more pizza that may be more than a little contentious, but it's one that I love:



Pineapple, (turkey) bacon, and onion pizza!

project // baby yoda blanket for a guinea pig

In the latest episode of the Very Serious Crafts Podcast, we talked about Baby Yoda and the need for more patterns and tutorials inspired by this adorable Child. And in the midst of the conversation, we all arrived at the idea of making a little coat like the one he wears, but for my guinea pig. And well, I just had to make that happen.

The original thought was to crochet the coat, and I actually started to do that. But before I got even a full inch finished, I started to wonder if Lt. Nibbles would like it. And as I sat there crocheting, I looked down at my furry friend who was wrapped in a piece of fleece and knew that changing to a sewing project would be so much better.



I grabbed some fleece I had on hand, which isn't quite the colors I'd want, but it's close enough. And I sewed this simple blanket-style coat together in about 30 minutes. With "coat" in mind, I cut some slits for her arms to go through, but she HATES the holes. So while mine has them, I don't recommend it. Besides, she's just as cute all wrapped up in her blankie, while still giving off some Baby Yoda vibes.

If you have a guinea pig who needs to snuggle up like The Child, you can make these at lightspeed. And you really should. This is the way.

You will need:

Anti-pill fleece in two shades of brown
Scissors or rotary cutter/mat
Pins
Sewing machine
Needle and Thread



Cut a 10x15-inch rectangle of the darker brown and a 4x15-inch rectangle of the lighter brown. You could also adjust these measurements to make a blanket for a different-sized animal.



Fold the smaller piece in half the long way with wrong sides together. Pin the raw edges to wrong side of the larger rectangle on the long edge. Sew along the edge.



Fold the lighter piece over to the right side of the darker piece and pin it down. This hides the seam and makes a smooth finished edge.



Use a needle and thread to sew down the folded piece. You can use large running stitches that go through the dark fabric and one layer of the light fabric. My stitches were about 1/4" long. Secure the end with a knot between the layers.



Now you can wrap your guinea pig so they're as snug as a Baby Yoda in a rug!



They may not love it right away...



...but you can appease them with a frog (or perhaps a carrot lightsaber)!

project // jam jar cat toy

Giving a jam of the month club for Christmas is a bit of a cliche, but I'd like to think that your kitty might still enjoy it if it's filled with catnip! I used the cranberry conserves embroidery pattern to create a little felt jar that's also a cat toy.

I mean, it wouldn't need to be a cat toy. You could use these to make a little ornament or a gift topper! But even furry friends like gifts at this time of year. AND it's super fun to watch your kitty play and go crazy!

The assembly is fast and easy which means you can make a whole set of jars, each in a different color or flavor!



Here's what you need:

Felt in two colors
Embroidery floss in matching colors + black
Catnip
Scissors
Needle

DOWNLOAD THE JAM JAR CAT TOY PATTERN PDF



Cut two jar pieces and two topper pieces.



Embroider a face on one of the jar pieces.

< Stitch around the two sides and the bottom with matching embroidery floss.

Fill the jar with catnip.



Sandwich the top of the jar between the two topper pieces, then stitch around edges with matching embroidery floss.



For an extra touch, use the jam color thread to stitch a line of running stitch across the topper.



Now you can gift some jam to your kitty! If they're anything like my cat Darcy, they might just go a little crazy...






When I tried to take it away, Darcy showed off her crossed eyes, but super crazy style!



Happy kitty catnip toy crafting!

project // felt kawaii emoji peach keyring

Know what would be perfectly peachy? Adorning your keychain with a fuzzy felt peach! Since this month's Jam of the Month is peach jam, I thought it would be fun to make a little felt peach with a kawaii face. And a keyring seemed the perfect way to use this fruity friend!

Now, I know that in the world of emojis, a peach can be, um...questionable. But I'm choosing to make this a very sweet and innocent peach. Your own keyring can represent whatever you choose. Ha!

You might also be thinking that felt for a keychain could be a bad choice. You'd be wrong, just like I was years ago. I bought the book Cute Stuff by Aronzi Aronzo, and it showed how to make felt keychains. I figured I was making an item that wouldn't last long, but it was cute for now. No joke, my mom used that embroidered felt keychain for YEARS. Yes, it looked worn, but it held on. So don't be afraid to make this little gal.

Now, be a peach and grab some felt so you can get started!



Here's what you need:

Wool Blend Felt in Peach and Green
Scissors
Peach and Black Embroidery Floss
Pink or Red Crayons
Needle
Keyring
Stuffing

DOWNLOAD THE PEACH KEY RING PATTERN PDF



Use the pattern to cut out two peach pieces and a rectangle from peach felt. Cut out one leaf from green felt.

I like to use freezer paper to accurately cut out my pieces, but you can use a regular paper pattern.



Use three strands of black embroidery floss to stitch the face on one peach shape. You can freehand this if you want, or trace the face on tracing paper (or the freezer paper), then stitch through the paper and tear it away when you're done.



Use a crayon to lightly add peachy cheeks if you want to make your peach extra kawaii. Be sure to test this on a scrap of peach felt first.

I didn't love the way the pink looked on its own, so I added a bit of red over it.



Place the two peach pieces together and stitch around the outside, starting near the bottom. Use three strands of peach embroidery floss.



When you get near the top, pause your peach stitching. Fold the felt rectangle over the keyring and place it between the layers. Place the leaf over that. Be sure that they are tucked down between the layers enough to catch them when you continue stitching.

Stitch through all the layers at the top of the peach. Try to get several stitches through the leaf and the tab of felt. If you need to, you can even go back and add stitches in between the running stitches.



When you get near the bottom, pause again. This time add a tiny bit of stuffing in the peach. It doesn't take much!

Finish stitching to close it up, and you're done!



This little peach is ready to hold your keys or just hang out on a zipper pull or tote bag handle. You could even add a tiny crown to make it a princess peach (any Mario fans reading this?)!



I also just had a realization. You could use this to hold your spare key. That way it would help you get out of a peach jam!