Yoda Softy

My oldest with his new Yoda friend

Out of nowhere, my oldest son has become smitten with Yoda from Star Wars. I don't know how this happened (since he has never seen any of the shows) but I can't say that I blame him. I was always rather fond of that green cutie when I was little and spent many hours playing with my Yoda toy with my brothers. Yesterday, while my babies took their naps, My four-year-old and I got to work on making the Yoda softy that had been on his mind. He was in charge of removing all the pins out of my way while I sewed it on the machine and helped with all of the stuffing and turning of the fabric. He was thrilled! Who needs a daughter to have a sewing partner?!!

If you are wanting to make Yoda of your own, here is how we did it:

First, we made a quick pattern and cut out our pieces:

 I conveniently had light green flannel already on hand so we used that for his skin.

 After ironing all the parts, take two ear pieces and layer with wrong sides facing out. Add one piece of interfacing and sew around edges (as shown on left). Turn right side out (ear on the right).

Iron ears again and fold base inward:

 Sandwich ears in between the two head pieces. Pin and sew.

Turn out (I had to do this several times since my years were WAY too long):

Set head aside and take the back piece of the body and sew together the V shaped cut together at the top of the neck. This creates Yoda's hump on his back. A must-have for any Yoda fan.

When done, place right sides of body together, pin in place and sew around edges. Then turn right side out and stuff.  Stuff the head as well. My trusty helper and I like to use knitting needles to help push out all of the tiny edges and stuff in the hard to reach places.

 Take pins and place them where you want your eyes to be. Once you are satisfied, make very small holes with small scissors.

I bought a pack of animal eyes. They came in a pack of 6 for 99 cents at Joann's. I like them because once the back piece snaps all the way down, I don't have to worry about my little men pulling them off and chocking on them.

I didn't want his eyes to be so wide open, so I took a small piece of green flannel, folded over one edge and super glued it in place:

After that was done, I carefully cut and glued and cut and glued until I got it just right. I went through several eyes because I had it too bulky on the back with all of my fabric and glue and it wouldn't snap down far enough to hold in place.

 Put your eyes in your head and snap the white plastic pieces onto the backs so that they hold in place.

I used embroidery floss to make wrinkles and his nose and mouth. My son wanted him to be happy. Needlework is not my finest strength so I did the best I could. :) Then I stitched the head onto the body.

At that point my babies started squawking in their cribs upstairs so we had to move fast. That meant that there are not anymore pictures of the creation process from here on out. Sorry! While the babies played in their cribs for an extra ten minutes, we whipped together his clothes and a sword (at the request of my son. I know his sword is supposed to be green but he loves the color blue). The sword is held by the wise Yoda with velcro so that he can hold it when he is ready to fight but take it off when he is in need of a good snuggle.

 Now my son is in hog heaven with his homemade Yoda. It was all done in one nap session and would be easy to make for a Star Wars fan in one (2 hour) sitting. If you are going homemade this holiday season, I certainly recommend this snugly little friend!

Linked to: Sew Can Do, Making Lemonade, Tatertots and Jello, Nap Time Crafters, Southern Lovely, House of Hepworths