Introduction: 'Dust Bunny' Plush Screen Duster

About: I am a freelance model maker and plush designer living in greater London. Visit my blog for more crafty stuff www.alittlestranger.com

Dust Bunnies love to hang out with you while you work on your computer and help you clean your screen with their noodly tentacle-y legs.

They are very easy to make and make great gifts! I've included two patterns so you can make a bunny or an alien one. This is a unique A Little Stranger pattern you won't find anywhere else!


All the dust bunnies pictured are for sale in my etsy shop.

A New Instructable every Monday on
www.alittlestranger.com

Step 1: You Will Need

Materials:
a) Dusting Mit (A microfibre noodle-y one. I live in the UK, this one I used is for washing a car but i've also seen them in the cleaning aisle called a 'dust dog')
b) Red Fleece
c) Long Fur (Just a small piece, if you want to give him a little hairdo!)
d) Yellow Felt (for the face)

Tools:
e) Thread
f) 9mm safety eyes
g) Scissors
h) Marker Pen
i) Scalpel
j) Pins

Not pictured:

- blue foam (i used 1" foam but you can use whatever's to hand, its not essential but stops the bottom doming out, so he'll stand up easily)
- stuffing
- Black Embroidery thread



Step 2: Preparing the Pieces

1) Take your dusting mit and cut away the noodly layer by snipping close to the seam, all the way around.

2) Mark base onto the back of the duster using a marker pen and cut out, taking case to only snip though the fabric backing not the 'noodles'

3) Trim the noodles away in a 4mm margin all around the edge of the base, this stops them getting caught up in the seam and making it bulky.

4) Cut out your chosen pattern pieces and mark out onto red fleece using a marker pen. Cut out with sharp scissors.

Tip: To save time mark the bunny shape onto the fleece then fold it over so you're cutting through two layers at once. I also leave the gap between the ears connected and trim this once i'm done sewing as it makes shaping the ears much easier.

5) Mark the face onto yellow felt and cut out using sharp scissors. Make sure you trim any black marker away from the edges so it dosent show when you sew it onto the body.

Step 3: Sewing Everything Together

6) Pin the face onto the body, run the pins at 90 degrees to the seam so the sewing machine can sew over them without breaking the needle. Use a neat zig zag to sew into place.

7) Install the safety eyes, I like to snip the excess stem off using pliers, for easier stuffing.

8) Using black embroidery thread stitch on the nose and mouth,  start by making a 'v' for the nose, then make a vertical stitch down from the point of the v. Finally stitch a 'w' shape for the mouth.

9) This is what your bunny should look like at this stage
.

10) Place the front of the body onto the back, right sides together. Pin all the way around.

11) Excluding the bottom edge, sew all around leaving a 2" gap for turning and stuffing.

12) Trim in between the ears leaving a 2mm margin right that the bottom, this will give you a neater seam once you turn him right-way-out.

13) Pin the duster into the bottom of the bunny, evenly spacing the pins all the way around and tucking in the noodles as you go.

14) Sew all around the base using straight stitch, then seal and strengthen the edges using a zig zag stitch.

15) Turn the right way out using the gap you left earlier
.

Step 4: Turning and Stuffing

16) Mark out the foam insert onto foam and cut out using a scalpel. Keep the edges as vertical as possible.

17) Push the foam insert in, using your fingers to push the edges right up to the seams on the body.

18) Get stuffing! Push stuffing in a small amount at a time, starting with the arms. Be sure to push it in firmly around the body so the foam insert dosent show. Finish by stuffing the ears.

19) Close up the hole in the body with a neat ladder stitch


Step 5: Finishing Touches

20) Take a 2 x 2cm piece of fur fabric, fold in half lengthways and stitch down. This is to stop the raw edges showing when you sew it to the body.

21) Stitch the hair on using little stitches on both ends.



All the dust bunnies pictured are for sale in my etsy shop.

A New Instructable every Monday on
www.alittlestranger.com