Today’s pattern is one I designed many years ago for my son.  He left for college this past week, leaving behind some things to be sorted.  I found the “original” dinosaur among his things & thought it would be fun to share the pattern.  This stuffed dinosaur pattern will be great for upcoming Christmas gifts or birthdays.  I think I may make some more little stuffie patterns & maybe some larger ones too!  If y’all have any suggestions, just let me know in the comments.  Now, let’s make a dinosaur!

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The Original

My son had a fascination with dinosaurs from an early age.  He used to ask me to read dinosaur fact books as bed time stories – which almost put me to sleep!  The original dinosaur has lost it’s hind legs over the years.  I designed the legs to be movable, so maybe they were twisted a little too far!

The finished dinosaur measures about 5″ tall by 8 1/2″ long.  Here’s what you’ll need to make one ~>

Pattern
  • the pattern
  • a fat quarter ~ more than enough!
  • stuffing ~ just a little needed
  • needles ~ regular sharp & upholstery needle
  • button thread ~ for sewing on the legs
  • buttons {optional}
  • ballpoint pen or favorite tracing tool
  • fabric scissors
  • pins {optional}

 

 

 

I like to trace my pattern onto a piece of light weight cardboard.  An old cereal box or gift box is perfect!  I find a ball point pen works great for tracing templates where the traced edge won’t be seen.  My fabric is folded in half & I just placed a pin in the centers to help hold things together when cutting.

You will need to cut two body pieces & 8 leg pieces – this is on the pattern.  Once everything is cut out, it’s time to sew it together!

Sewing the Dinosaur

I used my 1/4 foot to sew this, to help keep a more accurate seam.  When going around curves, keep an eye on the back edge across from the needle.  This will help maintain that 1/4″ seam.  I also go slower around the curves, taking a few stitches & then turning slightly.  When you come to an inside curve the edge will want to go over the foot.  Make sure the needle is down & lift up the foot to get the fabric back under it.

You will need to leave an opening in each leg & the body, backstitching at each end.  I left my opening on the bottom of the body & legs, however, I suggest leaving an opening on the backs of the legs.  The opening on the bottom of the legs was too small & it was a booger trying to turn everything!

I used a bodkin & “that purple thang” to help turn things right side out.

The purple “thang” also came in handy when it came time to stuff everything.  I found the square end helped grab the stuffing & push it into smaller spaces.

Once he was all stuffed, I slip stitched the openings close with regular needle & thread.

Attaching the Legs

You will use the upholstery needle & button thread for these steps.  I double threaded the needle & knotted the end.

  1. Insert the needle about centered on the top of one leg & pull through to the knot.
  2. Take a small stitch & pull the needle back through the back side.
  3. Insert the needle about midway through the upper torso, just behind where the neck meets the body & pull through to the other side.  There are no location marks for this, since I just eyeball it.
  4. Grab a second leg & insert the needle through the back, pulling everything closer together.  Take a stitch & go back through everything to the opposite side.
  5. I went back through to the other side, over the same stitch & came back thru once more up behind the leg to knot the thread.  Basically you’re going through everything twice.

Repeat steps 1 thru 5 for the back legs.  These are attached close to where the tail starts to taper.

Finishing Up

Now my dinosaur has legs to stand on!

These legs a movable, which means he can do downward dog!

I decided to add buttons to cover the stitches & now my dinosaur is ready to strut his stuff!  ; D

The buttons can be added when stitching on the legs, but that was too much for me to juggle at once.  ; )  This was fun to make & didn’t really take that long.  Maybe I’ll sneak one in my son’s Christmas stocking this year – just for fun!  Hope y’all are having a marvelous Monday!

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10 Comments on Little Stuffed Dinosaur Pattern

  1. Oh my goodness, he is just too cute! I just love that fabric you used for him too :). My older boys were also very much into dinosaurs…I think it’s a boy thing! I used to know the name of every dinosaur because we read SO many dinosaur books…

  2. Well Kristie and Monique I hate to tell you, but my daughter Jennifer was dinosaur crazy too, so its not just a boy thing. In fact she used to have a fairly large dinosaur made out of hard plastic (a hand me down from her brother) and he went everywhere with us. She used to cry when we played the Godzilla movie with Matthew Broderick and Godzilla died. Love your sweet dinosaur, thanks for sharing.

    • Haha! Now that I think about it, the “Land Before Time” movie came out when I was younger. My friend had a stuffed character from the movie & I really wanted one too! At a younger age it was all about unicorns even though I was not a girly girl. 🙂

  3. He is adorable! And love that plaid!!! I also love your idea of gifting another to your son for old times sake ? I’ve found recently that I really like using thick tear away stabiliser for templates, I have a big roll that I don’t really use – I prefer the thinner stabiliser – and tried it for patterns and yep, that’s it’s new use ?. Another thing I must add, your yoga master dinosaur reminds me of a fabric panel I found and had to buy of farm animals doing yoga ???

    • Thank you Skye! I’ve found all sorts of things to use for templates, it really depends on what I’m doing with them. I have that fabric pinned on my “fabulous fabric” Pinterest board!! It’s awesome! ?

      • After some trial and error, I got into Pinterest and yes!!! That’s the panel I bought ? I didn’t really have a plan in mind with it other than I likey alot ??

        • You have been converted! ? Welcome to the pinning fun! ? Some fabrics are just fun to collect even if you have no idea what they will be used for. ?

  4. This is just so stinking cute. I can see myself making a few for the great nieces and nephews. They would love them. Maybe I’ll make one minus the bottoms for the dog. She loves carrying stuffed animals around and always greets us at the door with one as an offering.

    • I would love to see your makes! I think a dog toy would be fun although my dogs just like to pull all the stuffing out! 😉

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