Kids Can Sew: Kawaii Kuties Easy Funky Baby Fox by Funky Friends Factory
/I was lucky enough to attend Quilt Market in St. Louis (my hometown!) this spring and met Pauline from Funky Friends Factory and immediately fell in love with her adorable stuffies. She has several patterns that are perfect for your little sewists and today we are showing off one little guys project with the Kawaii Fox pattern. This stuffie is just perfect for your sewing beginner and results in an adorable new friend for them to treasure. As a bonus, Funky Friends Factory is offering 25% off the Kawaii Fox pattern using the code FOX25 for the next week! Special thanks to Mr. A for sharing his sewing talents with us this week and mom, Jackie, for helping foster his love of sewing!
-Sarah
Jackie's (and Mr. A's) project
Hey, y’all! There’s been some discussion in the online sewing community about boys learning to sew too. Let me tell you, I am firmly in favor of it, as is my boy! He asks as frequently as his sister to sew various projects. He’s sewn pillowcases for charity and as gifts, and he’s sewn pajamas for himself and his dad. He is also the stuffed animal collector in our house. No kidding, he had just asked me a day or two before if he could sew a stuffed animal while his sister was at camp this week. So when Sarah asked if either of my kiddos would be interested in taking on the Funky Friends Factory Funky Kawaii Fox, I knew Mr. A would be my most enthusiastic taker.
As soon as I printed off the Kawaii Kuties Baby Fox pattern, he sat down to cut out the template. While I prepped our sewing space, he read the instructions. He chose brown felt for the body, cream felt for the face, and blue digicam for the ears. He concentrated on tracing the templates onto the felt, making sure he was precise. While I am used to cut-then-sew projects, this was a sew-then-cut project, which was much more forgiving for a student maker.
For this project, I had him sew using the zipper foot. It may not be the ideal presser foot for sewing applique, but it gave him the best visibility to see what he was stitching and ensuring that he was staying close to the edge of his applique without going off of it entirely. It kept him confident and kept our frustration level low. He wanted to sew on buttons for eyes, so we only used the face and nose applique pieces.
The next day, he sewed the seams for the stuffie, carefully following the lines he had traced the day before. He learned firsthand that sewing tight curves, such as arms and legs, can be a challenge, especially when his fabric choice was pretty stiff. But he never got frustrated or gave up, and became used to plant and pivot, calling it “stop, drop, and roll.”
We trimmed it with pinking shears then got to work turning the stuffie and then stuffing it. He seemed to have a lot of fun stuffing it. Finally, he stitched up the side seam, and delighted in his creation!
He wants y’all to know that it was really a pretty easy project and that he thinks it’s great for anyone learning to sew. I agree with him. As a parent teaching my kids to sew, I look for projects they can use and love and be proud to show off that also expand their skill sets. He learned how precision matters when sewing, about stitching curves, and hand stitching buttons and closures. And now he has a funky little fox to show for it. He says “maybe you’ll want to make one too!!”
How amazing it is when moms and daughters develop a passion together? This Sage pattern by ModKid is awesome and the mother and daughter bonding time can’t be beat! The best part is that its school approved for this young lady!!