Craft - Stuffed Giraffe

• 
  Materials:
• 1/4 yd. body fabric (plain if painting, or patterned if not
• 1 skein embroidery floss for mane and tail
• 2-9mm post back doll eyes
• eyelashes
• Blush or pink Prismacolor pencil
• small scraps ultra suede for eyelids and ears
• black acrylic paint or paint pen
• brown acrylic paint in two shades
• stencil brush
• 2-knob end wood plugs for horns
• stuffing
• thread to match fabric
• 4-1/2" buttons
• Fabrictac
• Createx or any fabric sealer
  
• Directions:
• All pattern pieces are templates. Transfer the pieces to freezer paper and iron onto
• doubled fabric, right sides together. The ear piece will be cut from ultra suede, just iron
• the freezer paper template onto ultra suede and cut around. You may wish to add an
• inside ear piece - to do this just cut the template a bit smaller all around and cut two for
• the ears. Glue to the inside of the other ear pieces. Set aside.

Stitch around the body piece starting at the top of the neck and going all around, ending at the other side of the neck. Leave neck open as you will stuff through here. Turn to right side and stuff the body firmly, especially the neck. You may insert a small dowel into the neck for more stability if you wish. Gather the opening closed and knot off.

Make 4 legs of the freezer paper. Stitch all around each leg. From the back side make a small slit in the fabric where indicated to turn your legs right side out. Stuff VERY firmly. Stitch openings closed. Draw a line around the bottom of each leg where indicated on the pattern. With you black paint or paint pen, paint the hooves. You may want to use two coats.

Stitch around the head leaving open where shown. Stuff the head, adding little bits of stuffing into the cheek area to round them out a bit. Gather the opening closed. Paint the nose with black paint or you may want to use a small black rounded button. Be sure to pull the button tight to indent a bit so it doesn't look like it is hanging in mid-air. With an awl or sharp scissors, poke holes in the head for the eyes where indicated by a dot on the pattern. Apply a dab of glue to the post of the eye and insert into the hole. Cut 4 eyelids from ultra suede. Apply glue to the back side of the ultra suede of the first pair of eyelids, center over the eye with the straight side on the eye, and gently smooth over the eye with the ends extending onto the head. Apply a thin line of glue to the straight side of the eyelid and press your eyelashes into place. Glue the second pair of eyelids over the other so they cover the ends of the eyelashes. Lightly blush the cheeks.

Push the head against the neck piece and ladder stitch into place. Take the ears and fold in half at the bottom and glue, then glue ears to the head where the head and neck meet about ¾" from the center on each side. Poke holes into the top of the head and glue and insert the wood plugs. You may want to paint the wood plugs first before inserting into the head.

Attach the legs using the ½" buttons. Place the legs so they allow the giraffe to stand.

Using the two shades of brown paint, load your stencil brush and then dab onto paper towel until almost dry. Dab the paint in a random pattern onto your giraffe body, keeping clear of the front of the neck and belly. Make a smaller pattern on the legs.

Make small bundles of hair from the embroidery thread by wrapping around three fingers and tying off in the middle. Clip ends. Make 5 to 7 bundles and glue down the neck starting from the top of the head about ½" apart. Make another bundle in the same method for the tail and glue in place.

Lightly coat with a fabric sealant or matte spray fixative.