Repairing a Stuffed Animal-A Handmade Childhood

I have never purchased a single stuffed animal for any of my children, not one. Despite this, there seems to be a zoo overtaking their bedroom. We sort them once in a while, and get rid of some, and are left with a great collection of high quality, and beloved animals to play with. Every once in a while one of these creatures needs to visit the vet! Most often tears in the stuffed animal happen right along the seams, which make it super simple to fix in a imperceptible way! Just the kind of repair work this vet likes!

Here’s how I fixed a recent tear to a beloved stuffed elephant “Lala”. (That’s how Spencer said Elephant when he first got it, and it stuck…!)

1. ) Pull the original stitching string taught and tie it off close to the seam. Be sure not to pull the string so tight that it (1) breaks, or (2) puckers the seam. Tuck the excess string right back into the animal.

2.) Thread your needle with nice strong thread…I like to use quilting thread or craft thread. Coming from the inside, pull your needle through the fabric right along the seam. Make one stitch along the seam on one side of the hole, and another along the seam on the other side of the hole. Repeat this for several stitches, keeping the thread relatively loose. (I’ve included a sketch which might make this a little easier to understand. )

3.) After several stitches pull the thread tight and the two sides of the seam will pull together and close the hole perfectly. Repeat until the hole is closed.