It doesn’t matter whether your kids are five years old or fourteen years old. It doesn’t matter if they’re boys or girls. Zenkis are the best sewing projects you’ll ever make. They’re simple-to-sew softie projects with a huge creative potential. Every kid will make something different. And something they love. That’s absolutely true. I’ve seen it happen over and over.
So obviously I am kicking off this year’s Sew a Softie in July with a zenki. So come on over to instagram and enjoy a month of over 65 free softie and stuffie sewing patterns.
Last week I found a little alien camping out in my backyard. That’s pretty magical.
He is an odd little fellow and has a peculiar belly button that is distinctive to his species. Everyone on his planet has a uniquely patterned belly button, apparently. It’s the mark of who you are and where you come from.
They are very proud of their belly buttons on his planet. And rightly so. Their belly buttons are the source of the energy that allows them to travel between star systems in the twinkling of an eye, or as they say, in the flash of an antenna light. And that’s pretty magical too.
So here is Little Alien Zenki, my offering to Sew a Softie in July and to its call to Make Softie Magic Happen. If anyone can do that, I think this fellow can.
What You Need to Sew Your Little Alien Softie
Yellow felt for antenna endings
One button
Thread
Pins or Stuffing
Circle template (just for fun)
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How to Sew Your Little Alien
Trace template for front of Little Alien’s body onto green felt and cut out. Trace template for the back of his body onto pink felt and cut out. Trace circle template for eyes onto white felt and cut out two eye circles. Cut or punch out the eye pupils from black felt. Punching is an easy way to make small circles. I used a hollow punch. This video on cutting out circles from felt shows you how. Cut or punch out the antenna endings from yellow felt.
Position the eyes and glue into place. I’ve used a single black stitch to make Little Alien’s mouth.
Position and sew your button onto his belly. You might like my Youtube video on cute and creative ways to sew on buttons!
The belly button of every Little Alien is unique. It’s like a fingerprint, so use your imagination. And if you need some help, the photos of Little Alien below include a few more examples of simple ways to sew on a button with decorative stitches.
Pin or clip the two sides of his body together. Use a running stitch to sew around the body leaving a opening for stuffing as shown in the template.
I’ve used Aurifil’s Mako 12 thread. It’s slightly thicker than normal sewing thread but not as thick as embroidery floss, so I can still double the thread over and knot the ends together.
Fill the bottom part of his body with rice or any granular weighting material. He doesn’t need much. I filled him to just above the top of his arms. Just enough to help him adjust to gravity on our planet.
Fill up the rest of him with stuffing. Don’t pay any attention if he complains. In the end he’ll thank you!
Sew the opening closed and glue on the antenna endings.
Lastly, you will have to listen very carefully so your Little Alien can tell you his or her name. The name of my little fellow is Ngnnn-aaa-toki. But his friends just call him Tok. So Tok it is.
I love collecting buttons.
Wherever I travel I always go to thrift/op shops. And the first question I always ask is do you have any buttons? And they usually do. Suddenly from under the counter comes a large bottle of assorted buttons. I love to sift carefully through the buttons choosing all sorts of colourful and unusual buttons to add to my collection. And as my jars of buttons get larger and larger I always assure myself that you can never have too many buttons…can you??
Hoping you and your kids have lots of fun.
Happy Sew a Softie in July, Trixi
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