How to Make a Felt Lion Toy

Last week, I made my nephew a safari-themed mobile. My brother had looked at a few on Etsy that he liked, but they were quite costly. He asked if I would be able to make one. It was super easy and it turned out pretty cute. The entire mobile costs less than $5 to make! Each animal costs less than $1 to make!

Today, I will show you how to make the lion. I made mine basic colors, but you can make yours any color that you want.

Needed Materials:
Light Brown Felt (head and body)
Dark Brown Felt (mane, nose, and tail)
White Felt (outer eyes)
Black Felt (inner eyes)
Small Amount of Polyfill Stuffing
Sewing Needle
Thread
Craft Glue

Step 1: Make a template. I looked through several clip-art lions for ideas and then drew up a template. I am not artsy at all, so you may want to come up with your own ideas. Here is pdf file of the lion template that I used.

Step 2: Using your template, cut the lion out of the felt.

I did find that it was a little easier to cut out the template if I pinned the template to the felt and then cut around it.

Step 3: Staying close to the edges, sew around the head and the mane. Be sure to leave an open space to put in the stuffing.

Step 4: Lightly stuff the lion's head and mane.

Step 5: Once you are happy with the amount of stuffing, sew the hole shut.

Step 6: Follow the same process for the lion's body that you did for the head and mane. Be sure to put the tail pieces in place as you sew around the body. 

Step 7: Sew the head to the mane.

Step 8: Sew the head to the body.

Step 9: Glue or sew on a face. I did not make a template for the eyes, because they are just ovals. However, you might choose to use safety eyes or googly eyes or whatever you want. I did not make a mouth on this guy. I tried a few different versions, but I did not find one that I liked. I thought he looked ok without a mouth, so I just left him without.

I think the lion turned out pretty cute. These felt animals would also make great toys or even decorations. You could also skip the stuffing and use them as embellishments.

Tomorrow, I will show you how to make the giraffe.