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The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes was wildly popular through its run in the papers. Like most people, I've always been a fan, and now my kids are as well. This year for Christmas, I thought a stuffed Hobbes doll would make a great gift for one of my sons.
The artist of the strip, Bill Watterson, refused to allow his characters to be licensed and capitalize on their popularity, feeling that doing so would undermine the integrity of the strip. Despite obvious interest, Calvin and Hobbes merchandise was never available.
Since you can't buy a Hobbes doll, I figured I'd make my own. For anyone interested in duplicating this Hobbes doll, I'm sharing the pattern I came up with for free. It is for personal, non-commercial use only.
My son loves his Hobbes and has been happily dragging him around for weeks. Thanks for taking a look at this. If you make one, please post a photo in the comments!
The artist of the strip, Bill Watterson, refused to allow his characters to be licensed and capitalize on their popularity, feeling that doing so would undermine the integrity of the strip. Despite obvious interest, Calvin and Hobbes merchandise was never available.
Since you can't buy a Hobbes doll, I figured I'd make my own. For anyone interested in duplicating this Hobbes doll, I'm sharing the pattern I came up with for free. It is for personal, non-commercial use only.
My son loves his Hobbes and has been happily dragging him around for weeks. Thanks for taking a look at this. If you make one, please post a photo in the comments!
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Signing UpStep 1Pattern
I spent a while digging through my Calvin and Hobbes books studying the Hobbes character when he was in the stuffed-toy form.
Early versions of Hobbes were very cartoony, and things like the shape of the nose and the number and placement of stripes were not always consistent. His proportions also appear to have changed slightly over the years. Later versions were crisp, clean and very consistent in the features. I based my Hobbes doll off of pictures that appear in the later strips.
To create the pattern, I broke the doll down into separate basic shapes. After some trial and error, I had a pattern that yielded all the needed body parts that fit together to my liking.
This pattern requires creating and stuffing all of the different body parts separately, hand stitching them all in place, and then hand stitching all of the stripes in place individually.
If that wasn't completely clear, this project requires a ton of hand stitching. You've been warned!
Begin by printing out the attached PDF, preferably on stiff paper like cardstock.
You will need orange, black, and white fleece, with thread of the same colors. You will also need some polyester stuffing, poly stuffing beads if you want, two black 3/4" plastic buttons, and some thin black cording or yarn.
Early versions of Hobbes were very cartoony, and things like the shape of the nose and the number and placement of stripes were not always consistent. His proportions also appear to have changed slightly over the years. Later versions were crisp, clean and very consistent in the features. I based my Hobbes doll off of pictures that appear in the later strips.
To create the pattern, I broke the doll down into separate basic shapes. After some trial and error, I had a pattern that yielded all the needed body parts that fit together to my liking.
This pattern requires creating and stuffing all of the different body parts separately, hand stitching them all in place, and then hand stitching all of the stripes in place individually.
If that wasn't completely clear, this project requires a ton of hand stitching. You've been warned!
Begin by printing out the attached PDF, preferably on stiff paper like cardstock.
You will need orange, black, and white fleece, with thread of the same colors. You will also need some polyester stuffing, poly stuffing beads if you want, two black 3/4" plastic buttons, and some thin black cording or yarn.
hobbespattern.pdf797 KB| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
I'll give you a free one-year pro membership if you make a Hobbes doll using my pattern and post a photo of it here in the comments. I'll also send you this awesome Hobbes patch that will show up on your member page.
What a deal!
I had to do the same thing with the ears on mine. I guess the pattern could be shortened a bit, but I figure most people should be able to eyeball the placement of where they initially sew them in.
I wonder what my buttons were made of..? I don't recall them smelling really bad when I sanded them down. Hmm. Anyway, your Hobbes looks really good!
Will you post a photo of the entire doll? (I'd love to see the whole thing!)
Thanks again!
How did it go? Did you run into any troubles?
Thank you again for this instructable!
I'm going to send you a code for a free 1-year membership to the site. It'll make using the site much more tolerable! Check your inbox soon. Thanks again for posting the photo!
Each resulting piece of fabric should be twice the size of the pattern piece. See the third photo in step 3. Does that help? Let me know if you need any more help.
If you post a photo when you're done, I might just have an extra 1-year pro membership floating around...
I'm home! *smack*