Wenk wenk! I haven’t done some Adventure Time fanart in a little while so I was starting to have withdrawals. I’ve wanted to try out making a Gunter plush for a while and since I had all the right colors in my fleece scraps I decided to jump at it while I could! I just love how fat and huggable this little guy turned out. He’s just the right size for squeezing or lounging beside you. All that’s left to do is make a whole army of them and then retreat to a magnificent ice cave :B
Difficulty:
Pretty easy to handle except for some curved sewing and a good deal of hand sewing.
Makes one plush that’s about 6” long, 6” wide, and 9” tall
Materials & Tools:
• 1/3 yd. of black fleece
• 1/3 yd. or 12” x 12” scrap of white fleece
• 10” x 10” scrap of yellow fleece
• Batting
• Poly pellets (optional; see step 10)
• Matching sewing thread
• Basic sewing tools (sewing machine, scissors, iron, needles, pins, fabric marker, seam ripper)
Appliqué Supplies:
• 5” x 2” scrap of white appliqué fabric
• 2” x 3” scrap of black appliqué fabric
• 4” x 3” scrap of light or heavyweight fusible web
Before you begin:
1. Print out the project pattern here
2. Assemble the pattern pieces, see the page here for more help
3. Lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric and cut them out (be sure to follow the grain lines so everything stretches in the proper direction)
4. Mark the fabric pieces with the markings from the pattern
1. Like with most of my projects, first you start off with the appliqué. Trace the appliqué outlines onto your fusible web and fuse them it to your appliqué fabric. Cut out the shapes, then fuse the fabric shapes to Gunter’s face. Follow the guidelines shown in the paper pattern to get the right placement, then iron them. If you used lightweight fusible web you’ll need to sew the pieces in place as well. I did a zigzag stitch around the edges. But if you used heavy duty fusible web you don’t need to do any sewing.
2. Next up is to sew the dart at the top of Gunter’s head. Fold the face piece in half lengthwise to match up the diagonal lines that form the “legs” of the dart. Sew along this line to complete the dart.
3. To wrap around the top of Gunter’s head we need the top front pieces. Align those together, matching up the short straight edge and sew them along this edge. Press the seam open when complete.
4. When you open up the top front pieces, you should see a nice little opening for Gunter’s face to fit. Stretch that inner edge around the white piece, matching up the ends and the middle seam with the dart (as in step 2). When all pinned, sew the pieces together.
5. We’re about to add the other side, but before that we need Gunter’s wings. Align two of the wing pieces together with right sides facing, then sew around the shape leaving the straight edge open for turning right side out. Turn the wing right side out when finished.
6. Once the wings are done, baste them in place to Gunter’s front where the guidelines indicate on the pattern.
7. Now for the back! To form the back piece, fold the back in half lengthwise with right sides together, matching up all the edges. The curved edge right above the fold is kind of like a large dart, we’re going to sew that the same way as we did in step 2.
8. Now we can finally attach the back to the front. Line up the two pieces matching up the curved raw edges and pin them together. The bottom corners and middle seams should match up, ideally. When it’s all pinned, sew the two pieces in place. Be sure to leave an opening near the bottom (beneath the wing) for turning right side out later.
9. Now to add the bottom. To make sure it’s rightly aligned on the oval, you’ll want to make sure the side seams (where the front meets the back) line up where the circle markings are on the paper pattern. Other than that, pin it in place all the way around and then sew. The stretchiness of the fleece should help you get around the curves without any puckers.
10. Turn Gunter right side out and now we can finally stuff him up! I wanted some insurance to be sure that he stood up on his own, so I put a few spoonfuls of plastic pellets in his bottom and then filled the rest with batting. Be sure to stuff him really firmly with batting to get a nice round shape and make the most of the stretchiness of the fleece.
11. When he’s all stuffed, sew Gunter up by tucking in the seam allowances in the opening and sewing it closed with a ladder stitch.
12. Now he needs a nose. Take the beak piece and fold it in half, matching up the diagonal edges. Sew down this triangle shape to start the beak. Turn the piece right side out and poke the end with a chopstick or something similar so it looks nice and sharp.
13. Stuff the beak lightly so it retains its conical shape. Run a hand-sewn gathering stitch around the opening of the beak and cinch it up to bring in the edges.
14. While the edges are tucked in like that, sew the beak to the front of Gunter where the pattern guidelines indicate using a ladder stitch.
15. Onto the feet! To make these, sew two feet pieces together with right sides facing, all the way around the perimeter. To turn the pieces, cut a small 1” or so hole around the heel area. Clip and trim the curves (especially near the toes) and turn the feet right side out.
16. Align the feet around the bottom of Gunter according to the pattern guidelines. Ladder stitch them in place around the heel area, going around the cut you made in the previous step. This is so that his toes remain free and floppy :B
He’s all finished! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! It was a blast seeing one of my favorite characters come to life 😀
If you do try making the project, I’d love to see it! Send me a photo and I’ll send you exclusive free patterns as a reward!
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1 thought on “Freebie Friday! Gunter Plush”
Ha! Had a little issue finding Gunther but I’m glad you linked it to the penguin pattern! My 12yo daughter just asked me to make a Gunther penguin! Lol it took a bit to find you. But soo glad I did! Hope I can show you the results. FYI, lol he’s ‘in my que’ lol so it’ll be a bit before I can’t eat to him.