Everyone needs a felt Llama in their lives right??!! We've recently released a template and stitch guide to make this little one as a freebie so I wanted to give you some step-by-step instructions to help guide you through it. You can get your template here by signing up to our mailing list.
First of all you'll need to gather your materials. You will need the following:
Main colour felt - approx. 20x10cm
Scraps of other colour felts
Embroidery thread in same and contrasting colours as felt
Thread or ribbon for hanging (I used crochet yarn)
Stuffing - I prefer wool but other fillings work as well.
Design templates
Embroidery needle
Scissors
Pen
I use 6 strand embroidery thread for this project. For most stitches I take 1 or 2 strands of the thread but use 6 for the French knots to get some bulk.
First of all cut your shapes from the template. You can get the template from here or you can draw your own and then trace around these onto your felt.
Cut out all your felt shapes
Start by sewing the details onto the front of your llama. Use small running stitches to sew the face on in 1 strand of a matching colour. Next sew 2 or 3 small back stitches in 1 strand of black for the eyes and mouth. If you don't have matching thread the eye and mouth stitches should be sufficient to hold the face in place.
Using 2 strands of a contrasting colour (I've used white) sew the larger blanket piece in place using small running stitch.
Sew the smaller blanket piece in place with the same thread using a zig zag stitch. This is simply a back stitch but instead of going in a straight line, angle the stitches in a zig zag.
Decorate the edge of the blanket using 6 strand of a contrasting thread to sew chunky French knots on the llama body, next to the edge of the blanket. If you prefer you could use 2 strands and sew single stitches around the edge to look like a fringe.
Place the front and back pieces together and starting on the front leg sew around the outside using blanket stitch.
To add the feet, place the piece between the front and back pieces, and continue with blanket stitch but come back up through the foot piece to catch the loop. Try and do 2 stitches per foot to firmly hold in place.
Continue around the body, adding the second foot as you go. Leave around a 2cm gap before you reach where you started.
Stuff with filling using a pen or similar to push the filling into the legs and head and close using blanket stitch, ending with a stitch on top of the first stitch then finish with a couple of stitches on top of each other, then pass the needle through the body and cut to finish.
Use the needle to thread the hanging thread as a loop on the llamas back.
And that's it. You should now have made a lovely felt llama. How did it go?