Felt llama and cactus

N.B. We have used felt because it does not fray at the edges when you cut it. SAFETY: the finished llama and cactus are NOT suitable for giving to children under 3 or pets.

You will need:

  • Sheet of card for your template – use a cereal packet
  • Scissors
  • Pens – felt tip or biro
  • Sewing thread
  • Needle
  • Pins
  • Felt
  • Wadding
  • Ribbons, spare buttons or other decorations

 

Instructions

1. Draw the shapes you want onto paper or print them out from the template below. Cut them out and copy onto card to make a template.

materials and equipment laid out including scissors, thread, felt and ribbon
lay the paper templates onto cardboard
template shapes drawn onto cereal box card

2. Choose two pieces of felt for each shape. Pair them together, draw round your template onto the felt. Pin the pieces together.

stack of felt and the two cut out templates of cactus and llama
two pieces of felt layered on top
llama template laid on felt
the llama shape drawn on felt
pin two layers of felt together

3. Cut carefully around the line to cut out your llama. Repeat with the cactus – we used pinking shears to make a crinkly edge for the cactus. Cut a spare pair of felt shapes for the saddle blanket for the llama.

pin the two llama shapes together
cut out cactus shape from template
pin two cactus shapes together
two saddle shapes cut from felt

4. Choose some ribbon or other decorations for your llama. Thread a needle with sewing cotton. You can choose a colour to match the felt or to contrast it. Pull the thread through the needle and tie the end with a knot so it is double thickness.

lay the saddle shape on llama shape
threaded needle with knotted end of thread

5. Sew the decorations onto the saddle blanket using a simple stitch. Try and keep the stitches the same size. Pin the decorated blankets onto each side of the llama.

sewing the trim on the saddle
the saddles with trim attached
saddles pinned onto llama shapes

6. Sew the blankets onto each of the llama pieces, one is the left side, one is the right side.

stitching the saddle on the llama
back view of saddle stitched on
saddles sewn on the llama shapes

7. Pin the llama pieces together. Use the pins to mark a place to start your stitching and to stop so that a gap is left for you to push the stuffing into the shape. To hide the knot of the thread, start stitching from the inside – use *back stitch.

llama shape pinned ready to sew along the edge
insert the needle along the edge
knotting the end of thread

8. You are ready to stuff your llama! Take small pieces of wadding and push them into the llama, starting with the legs and head. Keep adding stuffing until all the space filled and your llama is plump.

leaving a gap for stuffing to go in
wadding
pushing in the stuffing

9. Finish off by using running stitch to close the gap. You can use ribbon to make a hanging loop and sew it carefully onto the back of the llama. Repeat steps 7 to 9 for the cactus.

stitching up the final section of llama
ribbon knotted
finished llama with ribbon hanging attached
finished llama, pinned cactus

*Back stitch – This holds fabric together without gaps so that stuffing can’t come out.

  • Push the needle through both pieces of felt – you will see a stitch
  • Then leaving a small space, push it back up through both pieces – you will see a gap
  • Go back to the last stitch and push the needle back through
  • Repeat steps b and c

 

the first stitch
insert the needle back towards the previous stitch
second back stitch completed

 

Other tips and ideas

  • You can make these without sewing – just glue the felt together with water-based glue – remember to protect the table first.
  • You can use a sewing machine and use ordinary fabric or recycle old clothes and bedding. Because ordinary fabric will fray at the edges you will need to sew them together with the finished sides facing inwards and then turn them the right way out before filling them up with the wadding.
  • You can choose colours to match your room or make a present for a friend or family member in their favourite colour.
  • Embroidery thread is really nice for the stitches if you have it.
  • Experiment with special stitches like blanket stitch to make the edges really interesting.
  • If you are confident with sewing, you can embroider a friend’s name or message on to personalise your gift.
  • You can connect several shapes together with a long ribbon to make a garland.

 

Downloads

Download instructions for making felt llama and cactus (pdf)

Download llama and cactus template (pdf)