Sewing Pattern
Walter the Whale
Animals Toys
This friendly whale by Cheryl Owen is the perfect companion and proves a great way to recycle old jeans. Choose a bright contrast fabric for the belly and underside of the fins and tail. You’ll be riding the waves in no time!
Essentials
- Denim fabric
- Patterned cotton
- Lightweight wadding
- Fusible interfacing
- Toy stuffing
- Black embroidery thread
- Coordinating thread
- Crewel embroidery needle
Dimensions List
- 25cm x 35cm
Download and print the templates. Cut out one pair of bodies, one pair of fins plus one tail on the fold from denim and one pair of fins and one tail on the fold from interfacing. Cut one pair of tummies, one pair of fins and one tail from patterned cotton, plus another pair of tummies from wadding.
Use the template to draw eyes on the right side of the bodies with a pencil. Embroider in satin stitch using black embroidery thread and a crewel needle. With right sides facing, pin the bodies together and stitch the centre back seam from points A to B. Snip the curves and press the seam open.
Press interfacing to the wrong side of the denim fins. Pin each denim fin to a patterned one and stitch the outer edges, leaving the notched ones open. Snip the curves, turn right side out and press. Pin and tack the fins to the body with the denim sides facing, matching dots C and D.
Mark the broken lines on the right side of the tummies with a pencil. Pin and tack the tummies right side up on wadding. Use white sewing thread to stitch along the drawn lines to quilt the tummy. Place the centre front edges together, right sides facing and pin either side of the notches. Sew the centre front seam A to B, leaving a gap. Snip the curves and press the seam open.
Pin the body and tummy together, and stitch around the outer edge starting from point A. Snip the curves and turn the whale right side out. Stuff evenly with toy filling and slipstitch the gap closed.
Press interfacing to the wrong side of the denim tail. Pin the tails together and stitch the outer edge, leaving a gap to turn through. Carefully clip the seam allowance to the inner corner, snip the edges and turn right side out.
Press the tail and slipstitch the gap closed. With the denim tail facing up, pin the end of the whale to the centre of the tail, overlapping by 2.5cm. With a double length of thread, hand stitch the tail in place using small, discreet stitches.