I’ve just completed a set of Pokemon stuffies for my grandson and his little cousin to put in their Easter buckets. I wanted to make a stuffie for them but they are too old for the usual Easter stuffed animal. Since they both collect those Pokemon cards, I thought these little creatures; Picachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, would be appropriate. I’ll save the bunnies and bears for my two little granddaughters.

I bought these patterns from an Etsy Shop, SMASTERILLI. I thought they were really cute. And me, well, I wasn’t content to make just the Picachu, the most recognizable of the lot. Nope, I had to make all four!! And once I make my mind up on something I get kind of, well, obsessive about completing it.

The patterns themselves were sparsely written. I had to keep looking at the photos to put the little creatures together. I’m sure I messed up the assembly more than a few times because I wasn’t sure how to complete a step. However, this being said, I think the owner may have English as a second language so I overlooked the lack of instruction. There were times I felt like I was completing the Technical Challenge on The Great British Baking Show. If you watch this show you’ll know that is the section where the bakers are given a partial recipe and need to complete it based on whatever knowledge they may have about the specifics of baking.

There were so many tiny pieces to each of these patterns and more hand-sewing than I’ve done in ages. The owner does not tell you at what scale to print; 100% was much too small. I printed at 150% and it worked well on 11×17 card stock.  Picachu (the yellow creature) stands about 6” tall, toe to antennae.  This should give a good perspective on the remaining creatures.  At 100% Picachu would have been only about 4” tall!

The hardest part was sewing on the hands and legs…hidden seams they are not! My fingers are not tiny enough for that. The Bulbasaur legs were the toughest. I finally just sewed them on as best I could.

Anyway, both sets of four are finally done. I’m not sure I’d make them again even though they are super-cute. They are very time-intensive and quite a large portion of them required hand sewing which is not one of my strengths. (Please don’t look too closely at my finished products!)

I’ll be making teddy bears (not bunnies) for the granddaughters. I have a cute pattern from Simplicity which I’ll be using for those. Hopefully I can have them done over this next weekend.