Octonauts 'Peso' Stuffed Penguin

For more Octonauts tutorials, go here! 


My son adores Octonauts. Unfortunately (fortunately?) there is no Octonauts merchandise, and won't be any until later in 2011. I have trawled eBay, folksy, etsy, and google and found only cake toppers, potty reward charts, and some very clever but rather pricey wall plaques. Not content to wait until the end of the year when he'll probably (hopefully) have lost interest,  I whipped up a stuffed Peso for him.



I love making stuffed toys with felt. It's super easy, super durable, and holds shape nicely. You could use other fabric, but the felt makes this a really easy and fast project.

Until I learn how to make downloadable patterns (help, anyone?) you'll have to draw your own. Or even better, download and printout a colouring sheet, like this, or this. But if you don't have a printer,  don't worry - it's pretty obvious what you need to make Peso, and I'll tell you just in case. My Peso is quite small, as I didn't have a lot of black to hand. Make yours whatever size you like, but adjust the fabric required accordingly.

You will need:
-black felt, 2 of the rectangular pieces you can get from a craft shop
-yellow felt
-white felt
-light blue felt
-co-ordinating threads for all of the above
-two black buttons for eyes
-stuffing

(this project can be hand or machine sewn)


Step 1: cutting out

For Peso's body, you will need two black pieces that are basically shaped like a number 8. The head is quite a lot bigger than the body (the photo I took is a strange angle, and makes the two parts look the same size but in fact they're not). You also need a white oval for the belly, and a heart shape with the pointed bottom cut off for his face.

Cut four black leaf shapes for wings, and four yellow feet shapes with a tab at the top, and a little yellow triangle for a beak. Also cut two narrow blue rectangles and angle the edges to make Peso's blue collar.

Step 2: applique!

If you are using a sewing machine, shorten your stitch length as though you were doing a button hole and set your stitches to zig zag. Using the appropriate coloured threads, applique the white tummy and face patches, the blue collar pieces, and the beak into place. Hand sew the two buttons in place for Peso's eyes.

Step 3: wings and feet

Set your sewing machine back to its normal stitch. Line up your wings and feet so that you have two wings and two feet, each double thickness. Sew around them, as near to the edge as you can.

Step 4: assemble the penguin

Put the piece of felt with the face and tummy face down on the other figure 8 shaped piece. Tuck the feet  inside the bottom so that only the little tabs you've made stick out and are visible. Do the same with the wings. You may want to pin them just to make sure nothing shifts.

Starting where the penguin's ear would be if penguins had ears, sew all around the body ending up at the other ear. Turn Peso right side out and stuff to the desired chubbiness. Hand sew the opening shut.

I did make a hat for Peso but it didn't turn out brilliantly so I'll leave you to puzzle that one out on your own! You could also make him a little medical bag, and a roll of bandages. And there you go - one Octonaut, made in about half an hour. Much faster than waiting for the toys to come out!