How To Sew Plush Cat Dolls: Easy Tutorial

Learn how to sew the most adorable fabric dolls! When I came across ragdoll fabric panels from South Korean artist Jae Sun, I had to make a whole litter of plush cats. This easy sewing project is perfect for teaching kids how to sew. The same adorable cat stuffies and pillows were featured in a music video by popular K-Pop band BlackPink featuring Selena Gomez. They make the perfect gift for a teenage girl or anyone who loves cats! Oh, and did I mention that you can make dog stuffies too?

For more fun projects like this, check out all my free sewing patterns.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Cat Plush Doll Tutorial is included in the blog post below and is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

These plush cat stuffies are the perfect beginner sewing project because:

• Only a few sewing supplies are needed
• The adorable cat faces and bodies are printed on the fabric
• Cutting them out is simple to do
• All of the sewing is very forgiving if you mess up

Where to get the Cat Doll Fabric Panels

This free tutorial will show you how to sew any of the cat or dog plush toys using fabric panels from Jae Sun Shop.

Lots of other fabric companies make printed plush doll panels too. You can use this tutorial to learn how to sew any fabric doll panel. Check out these gnome dolls!

The fabric doll panels from Jae Sun Shop come in lots of different sizes. Some include a printed back side of the doll, but most do not. Some have the cutting line printed on the fabric, but that doesn’t really matter. This tutorial will show how to use any fabric panel with a doll (or animal head) printed on it.

Printed Fabric Cat Doll Tutorial

You will need:

• a fabric cat doll panel from Jae Sun Shop or another fabric line
• fabric for the back of the doll,
• sewing thread
• polyester fiberfill (Silky Poly-fil is my favorite)
• scissors
• a sewing machine
• sewing pins
• pinking shears are very helpful, but optional
• a chopstick or point turner
• an iron and ironing board

Cutting

1. Cut the fabric away from around the doll shape. If there is a dashed line around the shape, you can use that as a cutting line. On the cat panel shown above the dashed line gives me a 1/4” seam allowance. If I wanted a larger seam allowance, I could cut outside the dashed line.

Some kitten or puppy doll shapes and some of the cat head shapes don’t have dashed lines. Cut around the printed dolls and faces, leaving 1/2” of fabric all the way around.

2. Place the cut out doll shape right side down against the fabric for the back of the doll (right sides together). Pin around the edges.

If the panel includes a printed image for the back of the doll, place the front piece right sides down against the back piece, matching the edges of the shape as best you can. Pin around the animal or face shape.

3. Cut around the shape of the front fabric, removing all of the extra back fabric.

This step is the same for the small plush animals too.

Don’t remove the pins yet. Your pieces are ready to sew.

Sew the fabric doll front and back pieces

1. Start at the bottom of the doll and sew all the way around with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Leave an opening at the bottom for turning and stuffing. On my large stuffies, I left a 4” opening.

On the small ones, the opening is only about 2”.

2. Make clips into the seam allowances around the curves to help them turn nicely, or trim the seam allowances with pinking shears. I love using pinking shears because they do the job so fast. Take care not to cut the stitches.

Turn and Stuff your Rag Doll!

1. Turn the doll right side out through the opening at the bottom.

Use the chopstick or turning tool to help you gently push out all the the points and seams.

2. You can make it easier to sew the opening later by pressing the edges of the opening to the inside now.

3. Stuff the doll with polyester fiberfill. I like my panel dolls to be a little bit squishy so I don’t add so much stuffing that they are tight and hard.

4. Pin the opening edges together.

Sew the Opening Closed

You can use your sewing machine to sew the opening, or hand sew the edges together.

If you use your sewing machine, use thread that matches the fabric and sew close to the edges of the folds.

Hand sewing with small stitches takes longer but won’t show as much.

These easy cat stuffies are so fast and fun to make – you are going to make lots more and give them away to all your friends!

As always, I love to see what you make with my tutorials. Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe or #sewcanshe so I can see!

Are you looking for sewing projects for kids? Check out:

• My easy One Yard Pillowcase Pattern
• How to sew a doll skirt
• The Easy Peasy Drawstring Backpack pattern

Or see all 10 Best Sewing Projects for Kids.

Happy sewing,