A new series of plushes were added to the shop today:  Moustache Octopus Plush Series.  In honor of Movember, we’ve made little octopi plushies with moustaches.  They’re a little smaller than the baby octopi, measuring 4″ x 4″ x 4″.  Made with fleece, felt, safety eyes, and new poly-fil stuffing.  Machine and handsewn.  These little octopi are perfect to put on your desk or shelf.  Available in 5 colors:  yellow, pink, blue, green, and purple.  Take a look:

Yellow Moustache Octopus

Fuchsia Pink Moustache Octopus

Blue Moustache Octopus

Lime Green Moustache Octopus

Purple Moustache Octopus

See them all in the shop!

Hello everyone!  We are having our first Cheek and Stitch giveaway:  Win a Totoro or Baby Octopus Plush!  If this one goes well, we have giveaways more often.  There will be two winners:  one will win a Totoro and the other will win a baby octopus.  Winners will be chosen at random.  This giveaway is open internationally.  To enter, follow the steps below:

How to Enter:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Follow us on Twitter 
3. Go to our shop and in a comment below, link your favorite item!  (Optional): Favorite our shop

• Leave your name & twitter name if you do 1 & 2.  If you don’t have a facebook or twitter, just do 3.
• If you do all three, you will be entered 3 times! 

Rules:

• This giveaway will be open until November 14th. 
• There will be 2 winners:  1 will win a Totoro and the other will win a baby octopus
• Winners will be contacted by email on the 15th.  When leaving a comment, please put an email you use regularly.  If you do not respond within 2 days, another winner will be chosen.
• This giveaway is open internationally.

Here are the prizes (Updated with better photos):

Good Luck!

Hello all!  Today, I put together a fun tutorial for you:  DIY Totoro Plush Tutorial.  It’s a little different than the Totoros I made earlier, but still just as cute.  The pattern I created is more simple and the materials are cheap and easy to find.  The finished plush will be 6.5″ wide and 8″ tall (not including ears or arms).  I hope you find this tutorial enjoyable and make a Totoro plush for yourself or as a gift!  To make your own Totoro, keep reading…

Materials you Will Need

1.  Pattern:  Download PDF Pattern HERE  Big smiling mouth pattern HERE (Requested)

2.  Pen or Chalk Pencil

3.  Felt:  1 Sheet of Black, 1 White, 1 Beige, 3 Gray

4.  Scissors

5.  Thread:  Black, White

6.  1 Needle

7.  Pins

8.  Cardstock/Chipboard/Posterboard

9.  Poly-fil Stuffing

These materials can be found at your local craft store like Michaels, Joann, etc…

Ready?  Let’s Begin!

Step 1:  Download the Totoro Pattern (See materials) and print it out

Step 2.  Cut out templates and trace onto cardstock.  It makes tracing on felt easier.  If possible, print directly on cardstock to skip this step (I did this)

Step 3:  Cut out cardstock templates:

Step 4:  Trace templates on felt with pen or chalk pencil:

Step 5:  Cut out belly, eyes, nose, and belly marks directly on traced line:

Step 6:  Pin 2 sheets of gray felt (for body) inside traced line before cutting.  Cut out pieces leaving 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Do the same for the ears, arms, and tail:

Step 7:  Sew marks onto the belly with black thread using a basic or whip stitch

Step 8:  Sew pupil on eyes with black thread using a basic or whip stitch:

Step 9:  Pin belly onto body and sew it on with white thread using a basic or whip stitch:

Step 10:  Sew eyes onto body with white thread

Step 11:  Sew nose onto body with black thread:

Optional:  Sew on a small mouth using black embroidery floss with a stem or split stitch.  Or sew on big mouth.

Step 12:  Sew ears on traced line leaving an opening at bottom for stuffing.  Do the same for arms/tails leaving an opening at tapered end:

Step 13:  Turn pieces inside out and stuff each piece.  For the arms, put less stuffing towards the top:

Step 14:  Take the back side of body and place down.  Take the stuffed ears and place them upside down at the top of body.  Take the other side with the face and belly sewn on, and place it over the ears with the belly side facing down.  Align accordingly and pin pieces together:

Alternative:  You can also sew on the ears later by hand for better control of placement.

Step 15:  Sew body together by hand or machine, leaving an opening at the bottom.

Step 16:  Turn body inside out and stuff.  Put more stuffing towards the bottom, so it sits better:

Step 17:  Sew up openings on body, arms, and tails with black thread using a hidden stitch:

(Don’t worry about the bottom not looking so perfect since no one will really see it)

Step 18:  Sew arms and tails onto body using a whip or hidden stitch.  Place tail about 2″ above bottom seam, so plush sits on its own:

You’re Finished!

This what you should end up with:

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  If you try this, I’d love to see how yours turned out.  Upload a photo and post it on our facebook wall, or link it in a comment!

***If you upload your results on your blog/deviantart/flickr/etc, please credit us with a link back to this tutorial.  A lot of time went into making this.  Thanks!***

TERMS OF USE:  This pattern and anything made from it may not be used for commercial purposes. You may not sell anything made from this pattern. You may not resell or redistribute this pattern in part or in whole.  This pattern and items made from it are intended for your personal use only.

We will be having a giveaway with this Totoro plush next week along with a baby octopus, so please follow us on twitter and facebook to stay updated!

& don’t forget to check out our shop!

A new item was listed today!  You can now choose your own colors for the baby octopus plush.  It will still be made with soft fleece, safety eyes, and new polyfil stuffing.  The approximate size is 5.5″ x 5″.  It will be machine and hand sewn.  To order a custom baby octopus, follow these simple steps:

Please note to seller when checking out with the following:

1. Body color
2. Underside color
3. Optional accessory:  bow, hat, glasses, etc..

Here are some images to help you out:

Custom items will take 2 days or less to be made and shipped the next day.  Can’t choose colors or want the item sooner?  Check out the other octopus listings in my shop that are ready to ship!

See this octopus in the shop!

There’s a new item in the shop today:  Baby Octopus Plush in Aqua Blue.  Meet this cute baby octopus who needs a new home.  It’s made with soft blue and purple fleece, safety eyes, and new polyfil stuffing.  This adorable octopus is 5.5″ wide and 5″ tall.  It’s carefully machine and hand sewn.  Its short, but cute tentacles are floppy and fully moveable.  More colors coming soon.  Here are some photos:

See baby octopus in the shop!

Hello everyone!  Recently, I had a custom request to make two Totoro plushies for a baby shower.  She wanted one in aqua blue and the other in light purple.  I decided to make them have different facial expressions.  The Totoros are made with fleece and felt.  They are mostly hand sewn except for the body. No safety eyes were used since they are meant for babies.  Each plush is about 10″ x 8.5″ (not including ears or arms).  I think they turned out well and I hope she likes them!  Take a look at the photos and let me know what you think.

If you want to make a custom request, please email me at cheekandstitch@yahoo.com for more info!

There are so many amazing sellers on Etsy.  But today, I am going to show you 6 Etsy Plush Shops You Should Check Out.  These are some of my personal favorites.  Some are already popular, while others are not getting the attention they deserve.  You can tell they’re all made very well and you’re getting a quality item.  Take a look and let me know if you like any of them!

1.  Bambaks - “hollywow huggable creatures and variety of paper goods!”

2.  bijoukitty - “plush kawaii & zakka shop”

3.  MrSogs - “Handmade Creatures”

4.  TheJaeBird - “Handmade Plush Monsters, Critters, and Assorted Softies”

5.  sleepyking

6.  knittingdreams - “handmade teddy bears and amigurumi plushies shop”

The “Monchi Monsters” is our first plush collection for Cheek & Stitch.  There are 12 different monsters, each with their own personalities.  A lot of planning and editing went into this collection.  With any project I do, I always start out by sketching and then bring them into the computer.  Here are the vector illustrations I made before actually sewing the plushies.

I will go further into my design process in a later post.  For now, meet the monsters:

Materials:  fleece, felt, safety eyes, poly-fil

Approximate size:  10″ x 9″ (not including ears and limbs)

Hand and machine sewn.

I hope you like them!  To see more views of each one, please visit our shop!

Hello and welcome to our newly launched website.   In this blog, there will be news about upcoming cheek & stitch projects, illustrations, a look inside our work process, featured etsy shops, exclusive giveaways, tutorials, and much more!   I hope you keep this blog bookmarked as exciting things are soon to come!

Be sure to follow our twitter for the latest updates!