version PLUSH PATTERN & TUTORIAL How to Sew a Torus using ONLY your sewing machine (except for hand stitching the stuffing area) * Finished product may have small pieces. * This pattern is for personal use only. No profit can be made on either this document or the item(s) created from it. * If you re-post this file, please give credit or link back to my DA page - thanks much! :)
PATTERN GUIDE Pattern notations key: = stretch direction (direction in which the fabric stretches the most) or = cut line / cut out shapes = sew line / seam line (in various colors - to indicate separate seams) 3 more quick notes before you start: When printing this pattern, do not choose scale to page (or keep size at 100%) in the print dialogue box. All my patterns include a seam allowance, so if you plan on hand stitching your plush, cut out your fabric pieces following the inner dotted lines instead of the outer solid black (or simply trim the seam to your liking). sew here (seam line) seam allowance cut out fabric (and pattern) using this outer line To make sure your plush turns inside-out smoothly (without all those nasty wrinkles in the corners and curved edges), carefully trim the seam allowance with a scissor after sewing. Be careful not to cut the actual stitches. * Finished product may have small pieces. * This pattern is for personal use only. No profit can be made on either this document or the item(s) created from it. * If you re-post this file, please give credit or link back to my DA page - thanks much! :)
PATTERN TORUS (donut) - This page makes 1, ~3.5in wide Great for doughnuts, life preservers, innertubes, wheels, and more! pattern - Torus A B x2 Torus (3.5in) 3/19/13 open * Finished product may have small pieces. * This pattern is for personal use only. No profit can be made on either this document or the item(s) created from it. * If you re-post this file, please give credit or link back to my DA page - thanks much! :)
MATERIALS LIST Feel free to substitute or eliminate some of these according to your own preference - have fun!! FROM YOUR LOCAL FABRIC STORE: (JoAnn Fabrics, Beverly s, Michael s, Walmart...) Your Sewing Machine - For ref, I m using a Singer Merritt 4528 Fabric: - I used blizzard fleece (aka polar fleece), but any fabric or even felt will probably work just fine Thread Regular machine & sewing needs: - Bobbins - Sewing or embroidery needles - Scissors - Seam ripper - Regular Pins - Applique Pins (optional - I found these worked great to pin seam B) - Straight stitch tongue plate (not 100% necessary, but it will prevent your fabric from getting swept into the feed dogs) resource: www.sewingpartsonline.com A small amount of polyfil * Finished product may have small pieces. * This pattern is for personal use only. No profit can be made on either this document or the item(s) created from it. * If you re-post this file, please give credit or link back to my DA page - thanks much! :)
TUTORIAL Tutorial - Torus 1. Cut out the paper pattern, & pin onto fabric (esp around the center circle). When you remove the pattern, keep track of the stretch direction. 2. With good sides facing (and stretch directions matching), place and pin the 2 halves together (just around the center is fine). Use applique pins here if you have them (since the area is pretty small). Then, sew seam B (inner circle) Good 3. After finishing seam B, your torus should look like the left image (the stitches were darkened digitally). With a scissor, carefully make a few cuts from the inner (empty) area to just shy of the stitches you just made. This will make the center area look nice and round after the plush is flipped. (Typically, I d just say trim the whole seam, but this area is too small for that).
4. Flip the plush inside out by pulling half of the torus through the center - it ll look like the right pic (bad side inside, good side out). Good Good 5. Fold a section of the good edges inward to make a 1/4in seam and hold in place with one hand. With your other hand - reach into the open cavity, pull the seam outward, and pin. 6. Keep edging around and pinning the seam - flipping out the torus shape along the way. While pinning, make sure to tuck the other torus half inwards (towards the donut hole area) so you won t accidently sew over both halves. Pin - flip - pin - flip - all along the edge until you re unable to flip any longer (it ll simply be tough). The other half of the torus is tucked in here, away from the seam area you re going to sew in the next step.
7 Bring the shape to your machine and sew HALF of seam A. Only sew the seam edge, do not sew over the open areas on either side. Once you re finished, trim the seam with a scissor. Keep the areas outlined in yellow OPEN 8. At one open end, flip out the finished torus half (when done, it ll look like the middle pic). Then, tuck the finished half just inside the 2 open fabric pieces, and pin the other half of the torus (just like in steps 5 & 6) 9. Just like before, fold over and pin the seam till the fabric will no longer allow you to. You should be able to see BOTH start and finish stitches from step 7. Stitches from the other half should be visible The other half of the torus is safely tucked in here
10. Starting directly on top of one of your other stitches, sew the other half of seam A. Sew around the cresent shaped seam and STOP ~1in before the open stitch on the other end. This will create the opening to turn out the rest of the torus and stuff the shape. leave this open to turn the plush 11. When you re finished, trim the seam - it will look like the pic on the right. This is the open area you ll use to flip & stuff 12. Turn out both halves of the torus through the opening (left pic), until fully inside out (2nd pic from left). Stuff your torus with polyfill, and ladder stitch closed. You re done - CONGRATS & relish in the awesomeness of your torus!!
AUTHOR S NOTES Hi there, thanks for taking the time to download my tut and I hope you enjoyed working on this project! You re probably wondering why in the world one would even both posting a tut for this?! Well - when I started making my plush doughnut prototypes, I discovered both a love and extreme frustration with the torus. There s many ways to go about sewing this shape - some folks use a tube and hand-stitch the open halves closed. Most tend to machine sew either the outer or inner seam of the torus, and hand stitch the other. Die hards hand stitched both seams (good side out the whole time). NONE of the tuts I found had what I wanted - a machine stitch on both the inner and outer seams; something I ve found on many plush items in the store and ones that I own. It just looks nice & even, there s no visible stitches on the display areas (tops/bottom), and I needed the stronger stitches in the center for my particular project (cramming a second plush item in there). Anyway, while experimenting I finally came across this solution - so I m happy to share for all your torus, doughnut, life preserver, plush ring, car tire needs! Enjoy & happy sewing! -cfc