here

How to make your own
fuzz
(the DETAILED guide!)
If you are like me and you appreciate the task analysis level of detail in a guide, youʼre in the right spot.
More of a TL;DR person? See the abbreviated “figure it out yourself” four-step guide.
This fleece version was created by Ms. Jen Gilbert
to give to her coding club students. It is an
inexpensive and easy way to make your own fuzz.
May not be a practical project for young kids without adult
help, but can be fun as a family project (just ask my mom!).
If you know how to make a no-sew fleece pillow (or
blanket), you are in good shape!
More info on the Kodable app or other fuzz projects
can be found on their website.
Materials Used
1. Fleece - makes the fuzz itself, using a no-sew method
2. Felt - used for mouth and tongue
3. Wiggle Eyes - glued on to front of fuzz, other options for eyes seemed too time consuming
4. Thread - used to sew pink felt to black felt for mouth and to sew mouth to front of fuzz
5. Safety/straight Pins - used to hold the two pieces of fleece together during fringe cut/tie process
6. Stuffing - poly fill stuffing from any craft store or even fleece fabric scraps would work
* OPTIONAL*
7. OLFA Rotary Circle Cutter - used for fleece and felt circles
8. Self-Healing Mat - makes cutting the circles much easier
9. Fabric scissors - purchased a nice pair of fabric scissors to make fringe cutting easier
You need scissors and tape if you follow the method I describe. These tools, along with
the type of glue, stuffing, felt and thread can vary widely. You will still end up with a cute
fuzz at the end of this project, so get creative!
Jump To:
1. Introduction
2. Step-by-step guide
3. More on Materials Used
4. Kodable app information
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Make your own fuzz - Jen Gilbert
Step-by-Step guide
Measurements given will be for the fuzz project I did - these can be changed to suit your project!
Step 1
Using the rotary circle cutter on a self-healing mat, or with scissors,
cut two identical circles from the fleece.
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Diameter of the circle = 6 inches
Rotary cutter set to 3 inches to create the 6 inch circle
See example of rotary cutter in photo below (from their site)
Rotary cutter/mat are optional, makes circle cutting very easy
Step 2
Pin the two fleece circles together so they are evenly lined up.
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Keeps the fringe together
Cut the fringe from both layers at the same time, all around.
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The longer the fringe, the smaller the “face” of the fuzz will be
Fringe was around 1.25 inches for most of them
Found slightly longer fringe was cute too
Far right photo shows small fringe (green) and longer (tan/purple)
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Make your own fuzz - Jen Gilbert
Step 3
Tie the fringe pairs off in knots all the way around, leave opening.
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Take note of each pair (top and bottom) of fringe pieces
May need to pull a strip out of the seam if it is being pulled in as you go
If not it causes the fringe to be mis-aligned (leaving untied fringe)
The opening should be big enough for stuffing
Sewing anything on may be easier if your hand can maneuver through
the opening
Step 4
Assemble the mouth from felt.
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If using the rotary cutter, change it to the smallest size (1.5 inches)
Cut a circle* out and then fold the circle in half and cut across the fold
You end up with two halves (works well if making more than one fuzz)
*If using scissors you can cut the mouth and tongue shape by hand
Cut the curve into the top (wider) half of the mouth to form a smile
Cut a circle out of pink felt, leave it whole (can use over and over)
Tape the pink circle to the black felt, at the bottom - this is the tongue
Flip the two pieces over (far left photo) and cut the pink felt
The pink piece taped to the black felt is the tongue
Use matching pink thread to stitch the tongue to the mouth
Can use running free stitch, no knotting needed
Tape can be removed as you go
Note: This may not be the most efficient for you - I was making many at once, so
this method allowed me to mass produce the features and keep them
relatively the same across each fuzz
✂
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Make your own fuzz - Jen Gilbert
Step 5
Assemble the remaining features.
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Lay out the eyes and mouth
Positioning the mouth near the open fringe can make it easy to stitch the
mouth on - a straight pin can help hold the mouth in the right spot
It may be helpful to try stuffing the fuzz to ensure the features will be
aligned the way you want in the finished product
Stitch the mouth to the front of the fuzz (do not sew top and bottom
layers together!)
Glue the eyes onto the fuzz, can let it sit to dry if needed
One major problem has been the eyes coming off - let me know if you
find a safe, better way to adhere them!
Step 6
Finish your fuzz and enjoy!
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Stuff the fuzz with standard poly fill or fleece scraps
Tie the remaining fringe
Can add a hanging hook using yarn etc.
The plastic hooks I purchased were not very durable so I chose not to
use them for the project (they were returned)
Congratulations on your fuzz...enjoy your very own fuzz family!
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Make your own fuzz - Jen Gilbert
More on Materials Used
Item
OLFA Rotary
Circle Cutter
Note
Do not pay more than $16 for
this!
* See it in action!
Where to Buy
* Wal-Mart
* Amazon
* Jo-Ann or Michaels
Self-Healing Mat
I used this nifty 12x12 hot pink
mat because it was relatively
inexpensive or I had a coupon
(forget which, maybe
combination of the two) from
Jo-Ann Fabric
Wal-Mart has a reasonable price
Wiggle Eyes
I preferred the colored iris
version and could only find
them at Michaels - alternatives
could be stickers or make your
own by coloring/sewing felt
pieces
Found them at Michaels - Item #
* Hobby Lobby
Felt & Thread
(black and pink
for mouth)
Comes in 9x12 sheets and
purchased thread at the same
time to match pink tones
* Wal-Mart
* Jo-Ann Fabric
* Michaels
* any other craft/school supply
store
Aleeneʼs Tacky
glue
8 oz is a lot if you are not
going to use it for other
projects - can buy a smaller
bottle at most stores
Any craft store/Wal-Mart should
have this
* Amazon
Fleece
Chose this option to use the
no-sew method and make
these cost-effective
Tie-dye effect was nice to mix
and match
Picture
Purchased at Jo-Ann Fabric
during 50% off sale
* Jo-Ann Blizzard Tie-Dye
Kodable app info
Kodable is an app for the iPad. It is designed to introduce young learners to programming basics,
through an interactive visual format. Even though the app is excellent for all ages, I found it fantastic for
Kindergarten through third grade students. Please check out their website to stay up to date on new
features or find out when Kodable 2 is released!
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