My little girl had a birthday in October and I crocheted her a little stuffed cat. I always make up my own patterns though this little cat was inspired by something I saw at Joann’s fabrics. I can't remember the name, but if I find out I’ll let you know. This one took me a few weeks of working here and there on it. I started crocheting animals when I was expecting my first child. I made a little blue dog but it came out looking more like a pig. This one, the cat, looks more professional.
The dog/pig Is still one of my sons favorite toys though, and he will always know that I made it with love. You should never feel like you're not good enough to make things for your kids. That is how you learn, and they will want to create by your example. One thing I learned with this project is that you cannot substitute toy stuffing with regular pillow stuffing. I thought I was saving money but the toy just goes limp with pillow stuffing. They cost about the same anyway.
Each part is stuffed individually. I made the body the same way as the dog, adding and subtracting stitches to get the right shape. On the face I just stitched lines for eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. For the ears I made little cone shapes and stitched them on flat. The arms and legs are strait cylinders. Long enough for the cat to cross them. The tail was not easy. I did a really thin cylinder(hard) and then I stitched sightly along one side of it all the way up to get it to curl and then I stuffed it.
My daughter loves it. She holds it in her chubby little arms and rocks it like a baby. crocheted toys are great for children but it is time consuming. I personally would save it for very special gifts for my family. Happy crafting.
