Two Little Piggy’s | Simplicity 8716

Background : I’ve made a couple of soft toys before. Well, one year I made like nine nifflers for Christmas but…. I was asked if I could make a couple of pigs. Which is fine, it shouldn’t be too hard right? Oh and they’re clothed? Let’s give it a go!

Things used :

I was recently asked to commission two pig soft toys. I’ve made soft toys before but they’re not exactly my area of expertise. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

I looked through every soft toy pattern currently available in the pattern catalogues at my local Spotlight and decided that this bear/dog/cat pattern was my best bet. I liked the size and the long limbs which looked perfect for hugging. I also thought that the cat with a few alterations would make a nice pig.

For the body of the pig, I was looking at a few options, from fleece to ribbed jersey knit. I opted for this amazing peach suede scuba knit. It was the perfect piggy colour and incredibly soft. For the clothing, I picked a generic jersey knit in red and green for the shirts and a lightweight denim for the shorts.

I made up one of the cat patterns as the pattern called for and started at it wondering how best to transform it in to a pig. I decided all I needed to do was to add a snout. I did this by making a short cylinder. I used the reverse side of the fabric for the tip of the snout to add some contrasting colour. The nostrils were hand embroidered and then the snout hand stitch to the place where the cat’s nose should have been. It was an improvement but there was still something missing. I showed my dad and he suggested I tack the ears down, and viola! The cat was now a pig. I used some acrylic paint in red which I dry brushed on to give them blushed cheeks and used a fabric pen to give them eyebrows. I did originally embroider the eyebrows on but it just didn’t look right.

Now for the clothes. I make a lot of clothing, but I’ve never made something quite so small before. I didn’t know where to start! A quick search on google and I found these two free patterns –

• Teddy Bear Pyjamas – Which I used to make the shorts. I didn’t have to alter anything for these. They fit straight away.
• Pixie Faire Polo Shirt – This is a polo pattern for an American girl doll.

As said above, I didn’t have to alter the shorts pattern but I did have to alter the polo shirt. I blew up the pattern by a third of its size and cut off about half of the shirts length. I also shortened the placket by about half as well.

I’m pretty happy with how these guys turned out and I think I might venture in to making more toys in the future. I did just buy a whole bunch of vintage toy patterns from the second hand store yesterday.

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Difficulty : **
Time : Roughly 4 hours