How to Make a Round 3D Tail for Felt Animals
Hi, my name is Alyona and if you are a person who loves to add cute touches to every creation you make, then this article is definitely for you. I am the kind of person who wants a creation to look beautiful not only from the right side, but from the opposite side as well. That is exactly why I write these articles, so your cuties look cute on both sides 🧸😉.
In my previous article I was talking about the braided thread tail, which you can usually use on cows, giraffes, elephants and animals like that. If you want to read it, go to How to Make a Braided Tail for Your Felt Plushies. In this article we are doing the round tail. I mostly use this tail on bears and bunnies, it is 3D, very easy to make, and you do not really need much.
If you are new to craft and you are not sure yet, do you really want to get into it, is it really your thing or not, then here is my Free Sewing Pattern. You do not need to waste your money on purchasing a pattern if you are not sure. Just grab the free pattern, print it and try, and let me know in the comments if you like it 🧵🫶.
What You Need for This Tail
For the base, you will need Soft Felt. You will also need Sewing Needles and thread, plus a little bit of Stuffing/Filling to make the tail properly round and firm.
One more thing that will save your nerves is Tweezers. With hands it can be very challenging to stuff because the element is very small, tweezers make the stuffing part much easier and much more accurate.
Step 1: Cut Your Circle and Pick the Right Size
First step, you need to cut a round circle. Depending on the size of your toy, I would recommend you test a few. You can create circles in the diameter like 2, 3, 4, 5 centimetres, make them all, test them, and then decide what size you like more. After that, just stick with the diameter which feels more comfortable for you.
Most of the tails I am making are usually between 3.5 and 4 centimetres. But keep in mind I am creating small felt creatures, usually for cot mobiles, Christmas ornaments or home decorations. If your creation is bigger, obviously you will need a bigger diameter for the tail.
Step 2: Stitch Around the Edge and Create the “Pouch”
When you cut your round, grab your needle and thread. Here it does not really matter what thread you are going to use because the element is not big on itself. You can use Gutermann Thread or a normal Polyester Sewing Thread.
Make a knot at the end of the thread and make sure your thread is folded in half, so you do not have one line, you have double. You will need to squeeze a lot, and if you do not reinforce it, your thread can snap. If you want to feel even more comfortable, you can fold this double thread in half and have four threads at the same time while you are sewing.
Now stitch everywhere around the border of the round, about 1 millimetre before the border finish. You stitch all the way around and come back to the place where you started. Then pull your thread and squeeze the round felt element so it becomes empty inside.
Step 3: Stuff It Well (And Why I Only Use Synthetic Filling)
Now you need to grab the tweezers and start stuffing. I recommend tweezers because with the hands it sometimes can be very challenging, and especially when the element is very small. Put a small amount of stuffing inside your future tail, then squeeze again so your hole becomes smaller and smaller.
I am using a synthetic stuffing, and there is a reason for it. If the toy will go to a child, natural stuffing can create allergy, so be careful with materials that contain wool inside, or maybe feather of some birds. That can cause allergy if you give this to a child, so that is why I use only synthetic.
Keep stuffing until your tail has a round shape and it is not loose or empty inside. It needs to be really stuffed well inside, so it feels solid and looks neat from every angle.
Step 4: Close It, Block the Thread, and Attach It Safely
When you finish stuffing, pull the thread to the maximum and block the thread by making a few stitches back and forth. Do not rush to cut it off, because by using the same thread we are going to attach this tail to the animal itself. If you are planning to attach it by sewing, keeping the thread is simply the easiest way.
If you are planning just to stick it by using hot glue gun, then you obviously do not need this thread. But if you are planning to give this toy to play to the child. Then I recommend to do both: gluing and stitching on top of that. The element is very small. So you do not want any accident to happen, and I personally love to reinforce it 💪.
If you are creating a Christmas ornament, decorating home. Or maybe doing some garland and it is not going to be accessible to the kids to play with. Then technically you can just stick it.
A Few Ideas for Where to Use This Tail
This round tail works beautifully on whatever you are making. Whether it is a bear, deer or a bunny. And you can attach it the same way whether you are making something tiny or something bigger. The main thing is to test the circle diameter first. Because the tail size changes the whole look of the toy. Small change, big difference 😉.
I hope this article was very useful for you. And as I recommended above, you probably would be interested in the braided tail as well. So go and read that one too. If you want to see more creations. Like the ones you could see on the images when I was showing the process above. Then here is my Sewing Patterns Collection. Thank you for reading, and I see you in my next article. Bye 🫶.
