This tutorial video has been one of the most-requested crafts in the comments of my videos ever since
the first Fantastic Beasts movie came out. Today, I am so excited to show you how to
make your very own Niffler plushie, complete with a tiny pocket perfect for hiding shiny
things.
I thought the Niffler in Fantastic Beasts was adorable and hilarious and as soon as
I saw the movie, I knew that I had to go home and design a plush version of him in my style.
Give this video a thumbs up if you loved this mischievous little critter as much as I did!
I also designed a bowtruckle plushie so be sure to stick around to the end of the video
to see how that one turned out and learn how to make that as well!
And if you're new here, I'd love if you would subscribe so you can join my nerdy and
crafty little online family.
Check the video description below for a list of materials and a link to the free pattern
pdf, and here's how to make a super cute Niffler plushie with a teeny little pocket.
Start out by printing out the pattern pdf I linked to in the video description and cut
out all of the pieces. Then, take a small piece of beige fleece, place the heart shape
on the good side of the fabric, and cut around it.
Do the same for the paw shape! Then for the second paw, flip the template over and cut
it out that way so you'll get a mirror image. Next up is the nose! Give the fabric a tug
to find the direction that the fleece stretches - see how one way is much stretchier than
the other? Place the nose shape so the long nose is pointing the same way as the stretch,
because we want it to stretch out longer when we stuff it. AND we'll need two of this
shape, so fold the fabric in half with the good sides of the fleece facing out. That
stretch should still be there.
Pin the template to both layers of fabric, and carefully cut around the shape. This is
where some nice, sharp fabric shears will come in handy. When you're done, remove
the pin and you should have two nose pieces. Put the top one aside, then cut like this
across the larger round edge on the bottom piece. So the top still has the round edge
and the bottom of the nose will just have a normal, straight edge.
Cut out two little round eyes on black felt using the tiny circle template and once we
have all of those little details set, we can move on to making the body shape and the pocket.
You'll need some dark brown fleece! Place the pocket shape onto a small piece of it, leaving
a little space above the straight side, then cut it out with maybe an extra half an inch
or more above that straight edge, which we'll need for seam allowance, juuust like that.
Now, fold that straight edge back so we can hem it for a nice, finished open edge on the
pocket. Pin it in place, and be ready to sew one line across that edge through both layers.
Pop it into your sewing machine if you have one and remember to sew forwards and backwards
in the beginning and again at the end to keep it from unraveling. If you want, you can also
sew this by hand using a back stitch. I'm going to link to more detailed tutorials for
every stitch I use in this tutorial so read the video description if you need help.
Trim the extra threads and your pocket should look like this! Next, grab the main body shape
and note the direction of the arrows printed on the template. Here, I have a bigger piece
of the same dark brown fleece as the pocket, folded in half with the good side facing in,
so the wrong sides are facing out. Now, give the fabric a tug in each direction to see
which one is stretchier - you'll want to put the template so the arrows are pointing
in the stretchy direction.
Mark each side of a two inch spot at the bottom of the pattern so you'll know where to leave
a gap when sewing, then flip the template over and put it face down onto the fabric.
Trace around the pattern with a marker and make sure to mark where that gap will be;
it should look like this.
Cut loosely around the shape, I just do a rectangle giving myself plenty of space to
sew because fleece is a little tough to turn in a sewing machine. And now for a bit of
a tricky part - placing the pocket! Take your front piece, which is the one that has the
marker outline on it, separate it from the back piece, and flip it so the front side
is facing up.
Now, we're going to want this to be placed right in the middle of the body section of
the Niffler, but on the front side - so we won't really be able to see the outline
we drew for reference. To get the placement right anyway, I like to put the pocket where
I want it to go on the side with the outline, then poke a few sewing pins through the fabric
at the corners and along the bottom edge. That way, when you remove the pocket and flip
it over, you can place the pocket, right side up, inside those pins. Pin the pocket itself
to that front piece, remove the guide pins from before, and we're ready to sew it on,
close to the edge and all around the curved part of the shape - leaving the hemmed straight
edge open.
Start at one corner of the pocket, go forward a few stitches and then back a few to secure
it, then really carefully sew the curved edge of the pocket to the front fabric piece. Make
sure you don't get too close to the edge because you could end up with a hole and you'll
have to go back and stitch over it again. Once you've reached the other corner, stop
and go backwards again to lock those stitches in.
It should look something like this now! Trim off the excess threads and you can also trim
the edge of the pocket a little if the fold was awkward like mine was right here. And
yay! A cute, tiny pocket. Now, bring back the other piece of fabric you separated earlier,
make sure the good, fuzzy side is up, and flip the side with the pocket over, face down
onto that. The edges should match up because you cut them together before and the outline
should be right there on top.
I'm adding one of my logo tags to the seam here, but don't do this unless it's on
a plushie you've designed yourself. And now, just pin those two layers together inside
the outline but not too close to it. For the next step, we'll be sewing them together
starting at one end of the gap, going all around the body shape and the head, back down
the other side, and stopping at the other side of that gap. Don't sew through the
gap we marked; you'll need to leave that open.
Back on the sewing machine, I'm sewing right on that line we drew, stopping to turn the
piece at the corners. There's a spot at the top of the head where the hair is that's
a little tricky to see, but other than that, it's a pretty simple shape to sew around.
Stop when you reach the other end of the line, and there we go! It should look like this.
Trim the long threads and pull out the pins.
Next, trim around the seams, being careful not to cut into any of your stitches. To keep
the shape smooth when I turn it right side out, I also like to clip these little v-shapes
into the curves and corners. After that, open up the gap we left at the bottom and turn
the whole piece right side out! You can use a stick to push the seams and poke out any
corners or details.
Then, stuff the plush using small handfuls of fiberfill. I start by pushing the stuffing
into the far end and I keep going until the piece takes shape. When you're happy with
the way it's stuffed, press the gap shut and pin it like this. We're going to use
ladder stitch to sew it shut.
Thread a needle and tie a big knot at the end, then start by pushing the needle down
into the gap and up through the folded edge on one side where you want the stitching
to start. Flip the piece around, then push your needle down into the opposite folded
edge, straight across the gap before pushing it back up again on that same fold, just a
little bit over. When you give it a tug, that's your first stitch! Ladder stitch continues
by going back and forth across the gap and up the sides until you've closed the whole
thing, and again, if you need a more detailed tutorial for this stitch, I'll link to my
ladder stitch lesson in the video description below.
When you reach the end, tie a knot by grabbing one of the stitches at the end with your needle,
and hook the needle through the loop in the thread that forms so it'll make a knot.
Tie one more for good luck, then hide your excess thread by pushing the needle down into
the plush right where the knot is and push it out over here somewhere. That way, once
you tug on it and cut the extra thread, it'll get lost inside the plush. Now we're ready
to add all of the details!
Let's start with the nose. I've got the two pieces together with the right sides out
and I'm going to sew starting at one corner, around the long nose side, and stopping at
the other corner leaving this side open. Hold them together with a pin, thread a needle
with some matching thread, tie a knot at the end, and start between the two pieces of fabric,
pushing your needle down and out so the knot will stay hidden inside the nose.
For this part, I'll be using whipstitch and I've linked to a tutorial for that as
well if you need a refresher! Basically, you wrap the needle around the side and push it
down diagonally so it comes out next to your previous stitch. Keep repeating that motion,
wrapping around then push down diagonally, so you get these stitches that are parallel
to each other, attaching your two nose pieces together right at the edges. Don't tie off
the thread this time though because we'll need it later to attach it to the face! Just
kind of drop it for now.
It's starting to look more like the niffler's long, rounded nose! I decided to add two little
nostrils by stitching one short line on either side of the top half with some pearl cotton
thread. To tie that off, I kind of grabbed onto some of the thread on the inside and
tied a double knot on there before trimming the thread. Take a couple small whisps of
fiberfill and gently stuff the end of the nose, using a stick to push it in there.
So just for reference, the nose is going to be attached to the heart shape, which I use
for many of my plushie faces. Take those two black felt circles and decide where you want
the eyes to be placed in relation to the nose, which we'll be stitching on later. Then,
using a needle and some black thread, whipstitch each eye to the heart shaped face. For these,
start your needle going up from the back of the heart so the knots stay on that back side.
It looks similar to the whipstitch we did on the nose earlier, but the motion changes
a little when we're adding a flat appliqué like this. Once both of those eyes are secure,
flip the piece over and tie two knots onto one of the threads on the back and trim the
end.
To add highlights to the eyes, thread and knot some white embroidery floss and embroider
a french knot onto the upper inside corner of each eye. These are a little tricky and
can take some practice tries, but like before, I'm adding a more detailed tutorial for
that to the video description. Poke the needle up from the back where you want the knot to
go and pull it tight. Wrap the thread around the needle twice, close to the fabric, then
without unlooping the thread, push the needle back down pretty close to where it came up
and carefully pull it so the wrapped thread eventually makes a little knot right
up against the fabric. Repeat this on the other eye, then tie a knot on the back in
the same way we were doing earlier to secure it.
Now, gather all of the pieces because we're ready to attach them all together! Start by
pinning the paws to either side of the pocket and whipstitch each one in place. For this
one, start the knot under the paw so it gets hidden between the paw and the front of the
body shape and stitch all the way around.
To secure this kind of appliqué when you get back around to where you started, use
your needle to grab that first stitch, pull until you get a small loop in the thread,
and put the needle through that loop before you pull it tight - this will give you a small
knot along the edge and you can hide the excess thread by pushing it into the plushie and
snipping off the excess over here so it gets lost inside.
Then you can start on the other paw! When you're sewing on the claws, make sure that
you don't stitch the pocket shut if they overlap with the pocket like mine do. Just
make a shallower stitch and check occasionally to make sure the pocket still opens. Tie it
off at the end, and look how cute this is! The pocket takes a fair bit of work but I
think it gives it so much personality.
Next, put the face where you want it to go on the head and pin it into place. We'll
be whipstitching this on the exact same way as the paws, but there are less little details
and no pocket to worry about so it's quite a bit easier. Once that's all tied off,
we can add the nose! Push to make sure the stuffing stays inside, then place the open
edges flat against the face shape with the rounded part on top, closest to the eyes.
This one's kind of tough to pin down because it's already stuffed, but it'll make your
life a lot easier if it stays put while you're sewing.
Using the thread that's still attached to the corner of the nose piece from before,
carefully whipstitch up the top rounded half of the nose piece where it touches the face.
When you reach the opposite corner, stop for a second and take the opportunity to add a
little bit more stuffing if you need to. This is easier now that half of it is already attached.
Then, continue stitching along the remaining edge until the nose is totally attached to
the face. Tie one last double knot, hiding the excess inside the plush, and admire your
work because we are all done!
I am so excited to have this plushie designed and made and ready to share with all of you
because like I said earlier, it has been so highly requested and I've been wanting to
do it for a while. And now you can have your very own little niffler buddy to get into
trouble with!
I had so much fun making this little guy! It was kind of a challenge figuring out how
to do the pointy nose and the claws and I knew that he needed a pouch just like the
one in the movie, but I ended up being really happy with the finished product and I hope
you are too!
If you make one of my niffler plushies yourself, I would love so much if you'd post a picture
of it on Facebook, twitter, or instagram and tag me @laurenfairwx so I can see how it turned
out! And if you loved this tutorial, definitely share it with any wizarding world enthusiasts
you know.
Of course, there are so many magical creatures in the Fantastic Beasts series and I want
to make a bunch of them into plushies, so I also made a bowtruckle! This guy was probably
my favorite creature in the first movie so I couldn't resist designing my own version
of him.
To watch my bowtruckle plush tutorial next, click the link in the card above or in the video
description below! And if you have a request for what my next plushie should be, tell me
in the comments!
Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you soon!
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