Bookpiglet

Bookpiglets guard your books and the page you're reading whilst being adorably pink.

The bookpiglet is an adaption from the bookmonsters instructable I made earlier.

This project is sewed by hand and really isn't hard to make!




Have fun!

Step 1: Cut Out the Shapes

What you will need

• Felt and thread in black, white, red and (dark) pink
• (Fabric) scissors
• Needle and pins

To make a bookpigletyou will need to cut out eyes and pupils, a nose and it's nostrils, cute ears and a square and triangle for the head. Last but not least, don't forget the tail like I did at first.

I have made a templateavailable that you could use, or you could wing it ;)


I used a darker pink thread (second from the bottom, and from the left, in picture 4) so it would stand out nicely against the felt. But with your colour of felt a red thread might just be prettier, just check it out and see what would be nice.

When you are using a cutout from the template you can attach it with a paperclip in a paper-felt-paper sandwich, so it doesn't slide away. Or use a little peace of tape you roll up and stick between the felt and paper (so you don't cut into the tape with your fabric scissors).

Step 2: The Pupils

With a black thread sew the pupils on the eyes. Start from the middle to make it easier for yourself :)
Look at the pictures to see how you could do this.  

Step 3: The Nostrils

To sew on the nostrils you could try to pin them on the nose first, but I find that pins aren't the most practical choice when working with small objects. An easier thing could be to stitch the top and bottom on and then work your way around them. This way you won't be bothered with pins in your way, as you can see in the second picture. 

The stitch I used can be seen in the last pictures.

Step 4: The Nose

Before you start to sew stuff on your bookpiglet's face, first see where you want the eyes and nose to go as seen in the second picture. Hold in mind that you leave some room at the sides of the head for the ears (in steps 6 and 7).

You can use the same stitch as you've used in the previous step to sew on the nose.

Step 5: The Eyes

To sew on the eyes you could choose to repeat what you've done in step 3 when sewing on the nostrils. 
I recommend to cheat a little by using an extra thread and temporarily sew on both eyes (picture 2). You don't have to make a knot, when you stick the needle into the felt and pull the tread trough it will stay in place for the time being. After you sewed on the eyes just remove the extra tread and you will be done in no time!

Step 6: The Head (and a Part of the Ears)

Using a blanket stitch (shown in pictures 3-5) sew the front and back of the head together. When you get to the ears it gets a bit tricky, until then the stitch will do just fine (picture 7).

I wanted the stitch to look the same, but with a regular blanket stitch the ears will be in your way. 
(The pictures of the second ear came out better, so don't be alarmed now the eye has appeared to switch places ;)

Alternative blanket stitch (pictures 8-10)

1. Stick your needle into the felt from the front, into the ear
2. Let it come out on the bottom (where you would normally start a blanket stitch)
3. Then pull the needle trough the loop that you have now made
4. Repeat until you have no more ear in your way
5. Go on with a regular blanket stitch

To let the top of the head look nicely you can hide the thread that goes on top between the two peaces of felt and start a new stitch in the same hole as the previous stitch (picture 11).

Step 7: The Ears

To temporarily attach the rest of the ears you can use both a pin or a tread, I preferred the second choice.

Use the stitch shown in pictures 2-4, and make sure to only sew onto the front of the head. I forgot to make a picture of the back for this step, so the last picture has also a little tail sewed on, as a preview for the next step ;)

Step 8: The Tail

Using a running stitch attach the tail to the back of your bookpiglet. You can choose to also 'go back' and make a double running stitch, the difference is shown in pictures 2+3.

Make the final knot on the downside of the tail, between the tail and the body, so the front and back both will look nice. 

Step 9: Use It!

Congratulations! You've made your own bookpiglet! 

To keep it happy and healthy let it nibble on as many books as you could read, or your e-reader like my dad does ;)

I hope you have had as much fun reading and making as I had making and writing, and I would love to see your results!
Thanks for your time,

love,
Sanne.