Winter's coming - and movie nights ( and days) occure more and more - the humans turn into couch potatos.

A comfy sofa is even better if there's a friendly face to share it with

- let me introduce you to your new best (and even visible!!!) friend: the couch potato, it's providing you with all your desired snacks and beverages, takes care of the remote control, AND your new buddy even likes to cuddle - a friend with benefits!

this little friend, can come to you within an afternoon, and it's a beginners sewing project - in fact i have very poor sewing skills - luckily a potato is a very forgiving root vegetable!

Supplies

to create the couch potato you'll need:

brown elastic fabric - 1,5m x 1,0m - 59"x40" for a potato 55cm 20" high

matching thread ( brown )

polyester fill or a pillow in desired size

some kind of popcorn container -f.ex. a small bucket

felt pieces in different colors - i used white, black and pink

glue ( craft glue or hot glue )

tools:

sewing machine

needle for hand sewing

pen

tape measure

Step 1: Potato Shape

double the fabric, right side in

draw a potatoish shape on it - don't do too narrow curves.

run along the drawn line with straight stitches, leave the down side open! - you want to fill it later!

run once more about 5mm 1/4" from you previous stitch line with a zig zag stitch.

Step 2: Snack and Beverage Bags

turn the potato right side out.

measure from side to side, about 15cm; 5,9" from the down side

cut a strip 18cm; 7" wide and double the length you measured + 20cm 7,8"

as reference: I measured 35cm 13,7" and cut a strip about 90cm x18cm, 35,4" x 7"

double fold one long edge of the strip and pin it down or iron the fold for easier sewing.

sew along the edge with a zig zag stitch

Step 3: More Snack Bag Sewing...

fold the strip (inside out!) in half ( i had 90cm 35" - so I fold it to 45cm 17,7")

sew with straight stitch along the bottom - sew 2 stitch lines next to each other

- now your bags are closed on the down end.

turn the fabric right side out

and sew a straight stitch line in the middle of the strip - to create 2 bags.

Step 4: Adding the Bags

that one was a little tricky, but it worked out fine - I'm sure there are more skilled tailors here that would have done it way better :)

lay your bags onto the back of the potato - leave about 5cm/ 2" from the bottom ( you have to close this later)

sew on the bags on each side (yes the bags are longer than the potato, you'll need space for filling )

PS: - try not to sew the different potato layers together, or you have to fray it open again ---- that's what happened to me :P

Step 5: Stuffed Potato

stuff the potato with polyester filling or a pillow in the right size

close the down side with straight stitches - or maybe add some velcro?

the worst part is over now - if you made it this far, you will succeed!

Step 6: A Friendly Face

make a layout in paper or freestyle the face with pieces of craft felt fabric

- use craft glue or hot glue to bring your buddy to life!

Step 7: Thumbs Are Such a Nice Thing to Have...

...and cuddling is way easier with arms - if you'd like a back scrub now an then...

measure the length of the arms - from "shoulder" to the middle of you popcorn bucket.

I wanted the bucket slightly nearer to one side, so I went for one longer (38cm 15") and a shorter arm (35cm 13,7")

draw arms and hands on a doubled piece of fabric - the arm should be at least 5cm /2" wide, other wise you'll get a hard time turning the fabric right side out later

sew along the drawn line with straight stitches

cut all excess fabric about 5mm / 1/4" from the stitched line

make a cut between thumb and hand almost down to the stitches! ( see pictures if unclear)

Step 8: Turning and Stuffing

now turn the arms right side out - i used a long spoon as help... but it was kind of fumbly...

and stuff the arms with polyester filling - don't stuff them to hard.

Step 9: Armed Potato

fold in the edges of the arm so it won't fray

check the position of the arms - make sure you have the thumbs in the right direction -

and hand sew them in place

time for the first cuddle test!!!

Step 10: Shake Hands and Give the Potato a Bucket

short hand shake, then:

secure the hands around the popcorn bucket with some stitches ( by hand)

Note: I also thought about velcro or magnets...

Step 11: Maintain the Couch Potato Lifestyle

fill the bags of the potato caddy, with your favourite snacks and beverages to maintain the couch potato lifestyle!

there's also plenty of room for the remote control.

Step 12: MOVIE NIGHT!

Now pop some popcorn, fill the bucket, hug your couch potato and never ever leave this couch until you've seen all episodes of your favourite series!

We fell in love with this little guy and it makes us smile every time we see it! - How about you?

~I hope you enjoyed your stay~
sincerely, Mimikry