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Just in time for Easter, meet our Sweet Softies friend, Eggy Pop. I dare you to look at Eggy for any length of time without smiling. Nubby chenille combines with the smooth, retro-inspired cotton of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane for a sweet and soft vintage look, like a treasured stuffed toy you might have found in Grandma's attic. The super-plush minky we used for his hands, feet, legs, top knot and beak make our darling Eggy irresistibly squeezable.
Eggy would be best as a pal for younger children and young-at-heart adults. We don't recommend him for babies because of his button eyes.
We found our chenille and minky at Chenille Magic. You can find Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane at most online and local retailers. It's in-stock all over for Spring sewing.
Eggy Pop is one-of-a-kind, so the list below gives the exact elements you need to clone him. If you'd like to use your own collection of fabric scraps, you go right ahead; Eggy would love to know he has friends with different outfits.
Sewing Tools You Need
Fabric and Other Supplies
- ¼ yard of Cotton Chenille Wavy Stripe in Natural White
- ¼ yard of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane in Tangerine Hop Dot
- ¼ yard of Minky Petite Lambie in Camel
- Small bag of polyester fiberfill
- ½ cup small dry beans (optional)
- 2 small round black buttons
- All purpose thread to match all fabrics and the buttons
- Sharp scissors
- Straight pins
- See-through ruler
- Fabric pencil or marking pen or chalk
- Hand sewing needle
- Large safety pin
- Iron and ironing board
Getting Started
- Download and print out our two pattern sheets: Eggy Pop Pattern A and Eggy Pop Pattern B.
IMPORTANT: You must print these PDF files at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page.
- Cut out the pattern pieces along the solid lines: legs, top knot, body, base, beak, feet/hands. Set aside.
- Cut four 4" x 6" rectangles from the chenille.
- Cut four 4" x 4" squares from the Tangerine Hop Dot.
- Cut two 3½" x 9" rectangles from the minky.
- Pin the top knot pattern piece, the legs pattern piece and the beak pattern piece to the remaining minky and cut out all three pieces.
NOTE: The Minky Petit Lambie is basically a knit fabric, so it will not fray. It will shed like mad at first, but once it stops shedding, it will be stable. The strip for the top knot and the square for the beak are cut to size with no seam allowance.
- Pin the base pattern piece to the remaining Tangerine Hop Dot and cut out.
At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board
Body and beak
- Collect the four rectangles of chenille and the four squares of Tangerine Hop Dot and match them up into four sets of two - one chenille and one Hop Dot.
- Pin each set together along one 4" side and stitch together, using a ½" seam allowance.
- Press all seams open.
- Place the body pattern piece on the right side of the sewn two-piece set, aligning the horizontal line on the pattern piece with the sewn line. Pin in place and cut out along the solid line.
- Repeat to create the other three body sections for a total of four sections.
- Find the beak fabric piece. Fold it in half, corner to corner, to form the beak shape. Place it along the edge of one body piece. The bottom edge should be about ½" from the seam line with the end of the beak pointing in to the middle of the egg.
- Pin in place and then baste in place.
- Match this body piece with another body piece, right sides together. Pin, making sure the seam lines of the two pieces line up exactly.
- Stitch together, using a ¼" seam allowance.
- Match up the remaining two body pieces, right sides together. Pin, again making sure the seam lines of the two pieces line up exactly.
Legs, hands and feet
- Fold the minky leg piece in half, pin, and stitch the long sides together, using a ¼" seam allowance. This will create a long tube open on both ends.
- Clip a large safety pin to one end, feed it back in on itself, and pull the pin through the other end to turn the tube right side out.
- Cut the tube in half to make two legs.
NOTE: Minky can be hard to work with, and it's downright maddening if you're trying handle itty-bitty pieces, like Eggy's hands and feet. Instead, you're going to stitch around the pattern piece first and then cut it out.
- Place the two 3½" x 9" rectangles of minky right sides together. Pin the hands/feet pattern on top of these two layers, toward one end but with at least ½" - ¾" of space all around it.
- Stitch around the pattern piece, approximately ¼" from the pattern itself.
- Remove from your machine, remove the pattern piece, trim ¼" from the stitching, and clip the curves to make turning easier... but, be careful not to clip through your stitching.
- Repeat three more times, moving the pattern piece to a ‘clean area' of the minky each time, to end up with two hands and two feet.
- Turn the hands and feet right sides out. A pencil with an eraser is helpful for turning such small pieces.
- Take all four pieces back to the swing machine and topstitch two short (about 1") lines from the top curved edge of each. These are Eggy's ‘fingers and toes.'
- Set Eggy's two feet aside for now. They will be sewn onto the legs by hand later.
- Find the FRONT body piece of Eggy (the one with his beak). Lay it flat on your work surface, right side facing up.
- Cut the 9" strip of top knot strip of minky into three 2" strips. Pin these three little strips to the very top of the front body piece for his top knot feathers. Hand or machine baste in place.
- Pin the hands to each side of the front body piece, referring to the photo for placement. Hand or machine baste in place.
- Pin and stitch the legs to the bottom edge of the body, referring to the photo below for placement. Pinch the tops of the legs flat so that the seam is centered to the back. Hand or machine baste in place.
- With the legs folded up, pin the bottom edge of the front body piece to the front edge of the base fabric piece. This fabric piece is a diamond shape; position one corner in line with the front seam of the body.
- Using a ¼" seam allowance, stitch through all layers just along the front sides of the base (that's one half of the base piece).
- Tucking the legs, hands and top knot to the inside the egg, pin the back of Eggy to the front of Eggy and stitch around the sides, capturing the hands and top knot in the seam, but leaving the base open for turning and stuffing.
Finishing
- Turn Eggy right side out and pull out his top knot feathers, hands and legs.
- Thread a hand sewing needle with thread to match the minky.
- Find Eggy's feet. Tuck the raw edge of one leg inside the back of one foot, making sure his feet are pointing up! Also tuck in any remaining raw edges on the back of the foot. Pin in place if necessary.The minky is nice and plush and will cover up all necessary tucking and stitching. Hand stitch Eggy's foot securely in place.
- Repeat for his other foot.
- Turn Eggy upside down and stuff firmly with the polyester fiberfill.
NOTE: You can fill the last inch or so with small dried beans for extra weight; this will help him sit up more securely.
- Re-thread your hand sewing needle with thread to match the Tangering Hop Dot.
- Hand stitch the remainder of the base closed with a small slip stitch.
- Re-thread your hand sewing needle with black thread and sew on Eggy's eyes.
- Trim up his top knot feathers if needed to create a floppy look. We preferred them sticking straight up.
- Below is Eggy hangin' with a few of his friends.
Contributors
Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation, Patterns and Instructional Editing: Kathy Andrews, What Sew Ever
Other machines suitable for this project include the Elna 7300 and the Bernina aurora 430.
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