Zaļais acainis

The plush Angry Birds pig, in all his glory...
...looking slightly dimwitted, as he should!

(Also see my patterns for the original (red) Angry Bird and the Yellow Bird! And now also the green bird, white bird, black bomb bird, and baby pig!)

I confess this tutorial may be ever-so-slightly sketchy, which is not my favorite way to do things. But. At least I can get this posted with (hopefully) enough time for you to make one before Christmas -- and with enough time left over for ME to work on my other Christmas items!!

What you need:
small amounts of the following:
~ green fleece
~ slightly lighter green fleece (for snout)
~ white fleece
~ black fleece
and:
~ fiberfill stuffing
~ free-motion foot (optional but highly recommended!)
~ pattern (click here!)

Throughout my instructions I am going to assume you've already made the original Angry Bird -- and therefore can follow along. The basic concept is the same!

STEP ONE: Cut four body pieces, two of each ear pattern, two eye pieces, and one each of the snout pieces. Applique the pupils and insides of the ears using your free-motion or regular sewing foot. Sewing from the back is very helpful, so you can see what you are doing!

STEP TWO: Eyes! Take a running stitch around the eye, 1/4" from the edge.

Begin drawing it up tight by pulling the tail of your thread. Leave just enough room to stuff it full of fiberfill.

Pull it tight and tie a firm knot. Leave that thread tail and needle attached for when you sew it to piggy's body!
Repeat for second eye.

STEP THREE: Snout! Applique the nostrils onto snout piece 1. I just layer a scrap of black fleece on the front...

...then flip it over and sew from the back. Again, an easy way to get the placement right!

Trim away the excess fleece and you have perfect nostrils!

STEP FOUR: Layer your snout piece 2 on top of piece 1, lining up the seam allowances. You are starting at the BOTTOM of snout piece 1.

Sew all the way around with a 1/4" seam allowance, matching the edges of the pieces as you go, and stopping when you get back around to your starting point.

This is what you'll have.

Lay your snout piece 2 pieces right sides together, as shown, and sew straight down from the meeting point at the top.

Trim away the excess from that final seam and flip it right side out. You have a piggie snout!

Hee hee!

Applique one eyebrow onto each of two body pieces. Make sure you mirror the first eyebrow so they'll look right. Sew the two front pieces together, and the two back pieces together. When I sewed the front to the back I opted to sew the ears in place with a scant 1/4" seam allowance rather than pinning -- it seemed to work so much better with all those thick seams.

Sew the front to the back, leaving a hole for turning and stuffing. Stuff him, sew the opening shut, and attach his eyes and snout by hand. Done!!

Feel free to add a mouth, crown, mustache, or whatever else you like to your pigs to make your favorite characters!