It's 2026 and guess who learned to embroider!!
So this new year has found me learning embroidery. I've been following DIY plushie Youtube channels and bookmarking doll patterns for some time, but I never actually thought I would do it, LOL (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ)) The desire took over after watching a couple Vtubers from FSP EN and wanting to show my creative support to them. Since I don't really have the drawing skills I figured I could make something!
 |
| Completed Zander Netherbrand plush. |
This little guy is inspired by Zander Netherbrand! I cannot tell you when and how he became part of my daily routine, but my 2025 Youtube Recap informed me that I was in the Top 0.3% of his viewers and (somehow) watched ~275 of his videos.
To be fair, this guy is known to stream twice a day! Σ(゜ロ゜;) But he's silly and has his charms points, which is why I find myself keeping his streams on practically every day. (Unless it's a scary game or ASMR, pfft!)
Before I started working on the plush, I tried out a little holiday embroidery kit of a Christmas stocking and flora. I wanted to make sure that I could understand what I was doing and also make sure this was a craft I could finish. ｜−・;）I got the hang of it, and even finished it (!!), which meant I could move on to plush making!
 |
| From left to right: First test plush, Second test plush, and Completed third plush. |
I used the Poinui and Konuicha patterns. I really like the body shape of the Poinui pattern, and the chubby cheeks of the Konuicha! The latter also has an option for the push head to be swappable, so I was super interested in that! I used the left over embroidery thread to make their faces.
The first attempt was a mix of the Konuicha face and removable head + the Poinui body with a modified neck section. Very foolish ambitious of me to do all of that when I haven't sewn anything in...who knows how long. (*ﾉωﾉ) But I did learn that the removable head option might not be the best for me, especially since I always have a plush on me when I leave the house.
 |
| From left to right: Second test plush (Poinui pattern), First test plush body (modified Poinui body for head swapping), and [technically] First test plush (Konuicha head and taller body pattern). |
The second attempt uses the Poinui pattern but, of course, I altered it a bit so the arms and legs are longer. The height reaches around 15cm. (Although, looking back at the sample dolls made with the pattern I wonder if I originally printed it too small? Who knows!)
These two helped me a lot with taking fabric placement into account when I'm sewing the head area. I also discovered that I was sorta kinda using the wrong stabilizer... I was using a tear away, medium weight stabilizer over the fabric. Which! Was sort of fine! I was able to remove most of the stabilizer paper without damaging the stitches (except for moving the mouths or eyelids a little). Then I picked up a washable, topping film and understood why other DIY pictures and videos used this, LMAO
We are always living and learning!
At this point I gave myself two options: Work on another test plush or Work on the actual Vtuber plush. Even though there's no harm in practicing more, I'm...impatient and can't feel when I'm running out of steam/interest in something until it's too late.
And it's a miracle to me that I've kept up embroidery since December?
 |
| Early embroidery of plushie face. |
 |
| Unstuffed body and jewelry wire. |
 |
| Stuffed body with wire inserted. |
 |
| Unfinished plush on top of project notes. |
 |
| Using jewelry wire to make his earrings. (Very silly and twisted of me to do something so tiny at roughly 1-2am.) |
 |
| Finished plush face and earrings. (His beauty mark under his right eye is soo tiny, oops.) |
 |
| Finished plush sitting and holding dice. (If you want to listen to a guy nerd out about TTRPGs, consider giving him a watch!) |
Comments