Home Accessory 101: DIY using fabrics for your stuffed toy at home

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Making your own plushie or stuffed toy at home can be fun and therapeutic. Working on a homemade project such as this entails a careful selection of materials to use so as to ensure that the end product or project will surely be satisfying and worth your time. Here are some recommended fabric types for a stuffed toy you did with yourself. Select one accordingly and display it at home to increase the aesthetic of it especially if there is something lacking in your home.

Felt

This is a known fabric most especially to beginners making a project. This fabric is cheap but can be unsatisfying in the end. Well, of course, there are chances a felt fabric may be a successful product. However, the fabrics of felt lack stretchability which makes it difficult to handle – most especially in an occurrence of a mistake. If you desire lack in the ability to stretch, this fabric can without a doubt not fail you.

Cotton

Fabric made of cotton material is known for its availability that comes with a wide range of colors and patterns. This makes people use this fabric for their DIY projects. The thing about cotton is that it is not soft, stretch and it even frays without proper treatment. In addition to that, it is not much of a trend anymore to use cotton.

Minky

The Minky fabric is popular enough with its totally soft, fluffy, and smooth touch that is perfect for your DIY plushie project. The disadvantage of this fabric from the other is that it may be expensive. However, take in mind that the cost of this fabric is worth it with the benefits it can provide as it even comes with a wide range of colors and even textures.

Faux fur

The fabric of this kind is a handful to handle. This is brought by the extreme thickness it provides. Hence, the use of this type of fabric comes in limitations depending on if it suits the project you are working with. It is also very expensive so you must think twice if you really pursue this kind of fabric for your DIY stuffed toy project.

Fabric Checklist

Deciding fabrics that are best suitable for your DIY stuffed toy project is troublesome especially if you have a hard time distinguishing the different types of fabric that are best for it. Here are some checklists to aid you in the selection process.

Naturalness that ensures safety

It is important that our project exudes safety to everyone in the house. By saying this, you should opt for fabrics with natural materials. Hypoallergenic, cotton, and natural fabrics are highly recommended. This can be suitable for guests or family members having children, too!

Quality with satisfactory durability

Most quality fabric that has exceptional durable ability are found in tightly woven fabrics that have a distinct texture which is the tightly woven gabardine or Panama. However, the fabrics mentioned cannot really be machine washed nor easy to remove stains. The recommended way of cleaning the aforementioned fabrics is to opt for chemical cleaning which may not be easy to maintain.

Multifunctional

Like cotton fabric, it is versatile and is even lightweight which makes it easy to handle and maintain. This fabric can be used as an additional accessory to your equipment and toy houses which makes it perfect for soft stuffed toys.

Cuddly

A stuffed toy that provides a cuddly sense is what makes the plushie perfect for your home. It is best suitable to use a fabric that has pleasant textures which could be an interlock or loopback jersey. The aforementioned fabrics are actually soft to the touch which serves well for toys you can cuddle and do not also cause any allergy to anyone. These can even be machine washed without compromising their shape and stretchability.

Do It Yourself!

With the wide variety of fabrics available in the market, it can be a struggle to choose which of them are suitable and at the same time suits your needs and wants. Choosing the right fabric should be able to satisfy both the needs and the wants of the person in order to serve you well.