DIY Banana PLUSHIES ! | Whole & Peeled Fruit Sewing Patterns

I was initially going to just make one banana softie...but I got a bit carried away and also made a 'peeled' variety, which actually turned out to be my favourite :)

There are a fair few pieces of fabric involved to get the shapes, but the steps aren't difficult - and the fleece fabric is quite forgiving :D I hope you enjoy this project.

Supplies

- Yellow & cream fabrics: I used yellow fleece for the outside and calico for the inside.

- A3 paper & a pen/pencil

- A disappearing or 'magic' fabric pen

- Ruler & tape measure

- Scissors

- Sewing pins & clips

- Brown fabric: I used a small piece of 'distressed effect' brown vinyl.

- Toy stuffing

- Iron & ironing board

- Sewing machine

- Sewing needle & matching thread

- Glue

- Seam ripper

- Rotary cutter & cutting mat (optional)

Step 1: Cut Out the Template

The first image is the template for the shapes of fabric you will need. You'll see below that I made the largest shape a bit too large for my project, but these templates are now the correct proportions.

I drew mine freehand, but you will need to print them out on separate sheets and tape them together. If you want to make bananas the same size as mine (approx. 38 cm/15" long), you will need the largest template piece to be about 53 cm (21") long.

If you want to make your own templates, draw the curved banana shape first, then draw the 2 ovals. The sides of the small oval need to equal the length of the shortest curved side of the banana shape. And the sides of the large oval need to equal the length of the longest curved side of the banana shape.

Note: When cutting these pieces out, make sure you fold them in half to end up with symmetrical shapes.

Banana Templates.pdf
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Step 2: Video Tutorials :)

Step 3: Whole Banana: Cut Out the Large Oval Shape

We're starting with the whole/unpeeled banana plushie, and the first thing to do is cut out the fabric pieces.

Start by drawing around the largest oval shape with a fabric pen, and then cut along the line.

Then cut this piece in half, straight down the middle.

Step 4: Whole Banana: Cut Out the Remaining Pieces

Fold the fabric over to give you a double layer. Draw around the curved template shape, then use pins to hold the 2 layers together whilst you cut along the drawn line.

This will give you 2 banana shapes that are the mirror image of each other.

Then finally, draw around the smallest oval template and cut that out too.

Step 5: Whole Banana: Start Sewing the Pieces Together

Take the 2 halves of the large oval, line up the straight edges (right-sides-together), clip the pieces together, then sew right along this edge.

Note 1: I used about a 1/4" seam allowance throughout this project. Don't worry too much about precision though, fleece makes it a bit difficult to be accurate, and it's forgiving if you're a bit off.

Note 2: the reason I use clips rather than pins is that pins distort the fleece (because of its thickness.)

Note 3: It's best to use a matching thread for this, although I used white so that you can see the sewn lines a little bit. It's also best to use a longer-than-usual stitch length. I used either 3.5 or 4 mm long stitches.

Note 4: Even when not stated, assume that the pieces need to be placed right-sides-together throughout this project whenever sewing fabric pieces together.

Step 6: Whole Banana: Sew the Curved Sections Together

You will now need to sew the curved banana shapes to either side of the smallest oval.

So first, clip one side of the oval to the shortest edge of one banana shape. Then sew along that edge.

Next, do the same on the other side of the oval so that you'll end up with a symmetrical shape.

Step 7: Whole Banana: Join Both Sections Together

Place both of the sewn shapes right-sides-together, lining up the edges along one side only.

Clip the 2 edges together and sew.

This will give you one large circular shape, as shown.

Step 8: Whole Banana: Complete the Shape

Clip together the remaining 2 raw edges of fabric, and then sew.

You can sew this edge with two separate lines of stitches - leaving a gap of a few inches in the centre - or you can do the same as me and sew along the entire edge before then unpicking a few inches of this line (using a seam ripper) in the centre.

(I did it my way to ensure that the edges would definitely line up when I sewed up the gap.)

Next, turn the shape right-sides-out and stuff it enough to make it a firm shape.

Then use a sewing needle & matching thread to sew up the gap in the centre using the invisible (ladder) stitch.

Step 9: Whole Banana: Making the Ends

Next, cut out paper shapes as shown in the second photo.

I drew these freehand so don't worry about being too accurate. I drew around a thread reel for the small circle, and a glue bottle for the large circle. The strip was long enough to go around the outside of the small circle, plus a bit extra.

Measurements: The small circle was about 3 cm/1.25" across, the large circle was about 5.5 cm/2.25" across, and the strip was 11 cm/4.25" long x 3 cm/1.25" wide.

Then cut a segment out of the large circle that's about 1/3 of the total size.

Place the small circle and strip together, as shown, draw around them and cut this shape out. Then do the same for the other circular shape too.

Sew the strip edge to the edge of the small circle, and then sew together the ends of the strip. Turn it right-side out. You can then use a little glue, like I did, to hide any stitched line if necessary.

The large circle simply needs to be glued into a cone shape.

Then just glue these onto the ends of the banana.

Step 10: Whole Banana: Finished!

One plushie design completed :)

Step 11: Peeled Banana: Cut Out the Pieces

Make sure you have the same paper templates ready that were used for the project above.

Then the first step is to cut the following shapes out of your fabric; one large oval shape (cut in half lengthwise), one small oval shape, and two (mirror image) banana shapes.

Then, draw lines onto the paper template; the centre line first, and then lines about 1" either side of this centre line.

Cut out these template shapes from the fabric again, but this time you only need these pieces to be 1" longer than half-length. To do this, I lined up the lower drawn line with a straight line I drew on the fabric, then drew around the paper above this line, and cut the shapes out.

Finally, take the curved fabric piece you just cut out, turn it over, and use it as a template to cut out an identical (but mirror-image) piece.

These pieces will be the inner banana peel.

Step 12: Peeled Banana: Attach the Inner Peel

Next, you'll need to sew the outer peel pieces together with their matching inner peel pieces.

So take the 2 smaller oval pieces, clip them together (right sides facing), and then sew around the outer edges where the inner and outer peel meet.

Cut the large oval (inner peel) section in half, clip these pieces together with their matching outer peel pieces, and sew as shown.

Step 13: Peeled Banana: Sew the Curved Sections

Repeat the same as you did in the previous step, but this time with the banana shapes of fabric.

Step 14: Peeled Banana: Cut Out the Banana Pieces

Lay the 'banana' fabric out flat, and cut out the exact same shapes as you did for the inner peel. I.e. you use the lower drawn line on the templates, and you'll end up with 4 pieces.

Then cut the large oval piece in half.

Step 15: Peeled Banana: Sew the Banana Pieces Together

Pin the small oval section to the short curved edge of a banana shaped section (right sides facing, as always).

Sew these pieces together. When sewing the calico, I still used a seam allowance of about 1/4", but I reduced the stitch length to 2.5 mm.

Then attach the other banana shaped piece on the other side of the oval, in the same way. This will make a symmetrical shape.

Pin and sew together the 2 halves of the large oval, along the straight edge.

Step 16: Peeled Banana: Complete the Banana Shape

Pin and sew both of the fabric pieces together along one edge. Then press the seams open with an iron.

Complete the cone shape by sewing the final 2 edges together.

Turn the shape right-sides-out, and then fill with stuffing.

Step 17: Peeled Banana: Joining the Peel Pieces Together

The peel pieces then need to be sewn together in a very similar way to the banana shape. Just note that you only want to sew the single layers of the peel together; the double layer sections are left alone.

So, just attach the banana shaped pieces to either side of the smallest oval.

If the lines (where the double layer of fabric starts) don't quite line up, just sew up to the first line. Whichever way you do it, just make sure you don't sew inside the lines where you've sewn the double layer together.

Also make sure that the single layers have their right sides facing each other when they are sewn together.

Step 18: Peeled Banana: Complete the Peel

Sew the 2 halves of the largest oval together along the straight edge.

Then join both of the sewn shapes you now have, together.

You'll see that my large oval shape is too long, as I mentioned earlier. All I did to fix this was cut off the excess after the next step.

Step 19: Peeled Banana: Stuff the Peel

Sew together the 2 final edges.

Then turn everything right-sides-out (including the inner peel sections).

Then stuff the peel, making sure to get it all the way down the point.

Step 20: Peeled Banana: Join the Banana to the Peel

Line up the banana inside the peel so the curves match up, then use a needle and thread to sew the inner peel to the banana (right sides together) - using the invisible stitch.

Do this most of the way around, then add more stuffing until it's all firm, and then sew the last gap closed.

There were a few areas where the peel pieces joined at the top which were slightly open, so I also joined these neatly together with invisible stitch. Basically, just neaten up any seams.

Step 21: Peeled Banana: Finishing the End

I initially made a cone out of vinyl for the end, but it looked unbalanced and just didn't look good...so I just pushed the fabric inside the small gap at the end, then sewed around and around the gap to pull it together like a drawstring bag.

Secure the thread, take the needle into the plushie and out again to hide the end of the thread, and that's it, it's finished!