Easy! 14 Steps to sew a leaf softie

Children are fascinated by leaves.

All those shapes, sizes, textures, and colors. There’s a lot to discover.

And if your child loves leaves, perhaps they would adore a homemade leaf toy to snuggle up with at night too.

Below you’ll find step by step instructions to help you make a leaf softie with your child. There’s no need to feel overwhelmed if you only know the basics of sewing, this activity is perfect for beginners.

Your children may require some supervision, so I would suggest you work on this project together. This is the best way to create memories.

Okay, let’s jump into how to make these adorable leaf softies!

Leaf Softie Materials

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• Material – I used calico and satin
• Stuffing (we
• Leaves
• recycled the stuffing of an old toy)
• Acrylic or Fabric paint
• Sewing machine (this craft can be hand sewn though)
• Needle and thread
• Plastic eyeballs
• Cardboard

How to make a Leaf Soft Toy

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Check out the video tutorial below

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1. Iron your material first. It’s harder to go back and iron it later!
2. Collect some leaves that have nice prominent veins. While looking for leaves, pay attention to the size and shape you would like your leaf softie to be.
3. Cut your material into two squares. The size depends on the leaves you will use and the size you would like. Mine were approximately 20cm x 20cm.
4.  Mix some acrylic paint to your desired color and paint over the underside of the leaf or the side that has the most prominent veins.
5.  Turn your leaf over, paint face down, onto one side of the material. Place a piece of cardboard over the top and press the cardboard down with your hand. The cardboard reduces the chance of smudging. 
6. Peel the cardboard off carefully and then the leaf.  You should have a beautiful leaf print on the material.
7. You can do the other side of the material if you like so that you have a front and a back but it can make it difficult the material it up later.
8. When the paint is dry, paint on the hands and the smile.
9. Once it’s completely dry, it’s time to add the eyes. Follow the instructions on the eyes that you bought. Mine was really simple. I made a little hole and they screwed through the material, then I put a little cap on the back. So easy!
10. Next, turn the two bits of material together with the painted sections facing each other. Cut around the edge, leaving a 2cm gap from the edge of the painted leaf.
11. Sew around leaf leaving a gap of 1cm between the leaf and the sewing thread. Make sure you don’t join the sewing. You’ll need to leave a gap of at least 5cm, to be able to add the stuffing.
12. Turn the material the right way around. Be sure to use a pencil to push out any tips.
13. Fill your material with stuffing. I recycled stuffing from an old toy the girls didn’t want anymore.
14. Lastly, hand sew the hole that’s leftover.

I let the kids make their own leaf soft toy and I did make a couple of my own too.

I couldn’t help myself! It was so fun!

I hope you and your children enjoy their lead softies.

Want another project? You might like these animals bean bags too with free templates.