Make A New Friend With This Free Narwhal Plush Pattern

Blue Narwhal

Lately I’ve been amassing a bunch of free patterns for plushies (or stuffies, as the Canadians say). While I’ve not gone beyond dolls quite yet, I’ve found some easy, beginner plushie patterns that I’d like to use to make gifts for friends and their kids (and who am I kidding — myself as well. I adore plushies). There is one particular pattern maker that I adore because of their simple designs, excellent written tutorials (with several pictures to illustrate), and adorable creations. Choly Knight (or Sew Desu Ne? on DeviantArt) has several free patterns for plushies that include projects for the beginner who has never made a plushie before to those advanced enough to try something a little more ambitious.

I’m particularly fond of the Narwhal Plush, which is rated 2/10 for beginners who have little to no experience constructing stuffed animals. It’s one of the easiest to make and will not take more than a few hours. If you like you can leave the horn off the Narwhal and make it a whale, or you can make it and then make it a buddy with Choly Knight’s free dolphin plushie pattern.

If you’re going to make your own unicorn of the sea, you’ll need the following materials: fabric in two colors (the pattern suggests using slightly stretchy fabrics like fleece or minky, as felt and cotton will not stretch and will make the wrong shape), felt for the eyes, fusible web, sewing notions (scissors, thread, needle, seam ripper, pins, etc.), and a sewing machine. You’ll also need to be familiar with the gathering stitch, the ladder stitch, basting, and sewing darts. If you’re unfamiliar with the ladder stitch, it’s the stitch used by employees at Build-A-Bear to sew up the back of their plushies. Once the string is pulled tight, the seam is pulled close and the thread disappears.

The free PDF comes with the pattern (the pieces appear on the last two pages), so I would suggest either printing the pattern pieces out or putting the whole thing in a sewing notebook for reference and later uses. The trickiest parts according to the tutorial are placing the fins and sewing the smaller pieces together. As long as you take things one step a a time and go as slowly as you need to in order to avoid rushing, you will be able to craft an adorable little pocket friend for yourself and your nearest and dearest.

Do you hear the call of the sea? Do you delight in whimsical creations? Then this little narwhal might be the perfect companion for you. You can try out different fabrics and even add buttons, ribbon, and lace to make it a little more fancy (you can use buttons for eyes which will cut down on the assembly time, and you can add a little lace or ribbon bow to the narwhal to make it feel extra special).

If you’d like to make your own pocket narwhal, you can find the free PDF pattern and photo tutorial on Choly Knight’s website, Sew Desu Ne? Be sure to check out her other free patterns as well as her Etsy shop.