How to Sew a Caterpillar

Many children have a natural fascination with insects. Because of the popularity of Eric Carle's children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," many children have a special interest in caterpillars. Making a stuffed caterpillar to resemble the caterpillar in the book, or any other caterpillar, can be done easily using cotton and felt pieces. The pattern can be modified to make a stuffed caterpillar toy of any size.

Fold the green and red fabric in half. Trace and cut out the basic shape of the caterpillar's body and head. The body should be cut from the green fabric and have an arched shape and ridges to represent the different segments of the caterpillar's body. Trace and cut a circle out of the red or green fabric to represent the caterpillar's head. You will have two pieces of each.

Attach each piece of the head to each piece of the body with the wrong sides together. Make sure that the two separate sides of the caterpillar align where the head is attached. Allow a 1/2-inch seam.

Cut two ovals out of yellow felt and two smaller ovals out of green felt to represent the caterpillar's eyes. Sew the yellow ovals to the green ovals, then sew one oval to either side of the caterpillar's head.

Pin the two sides of the caterpillar's head and body together with the right sides together.

Trace the shape of the caterpillar's feet out of the brown felt. You can attach as many feet as you want. The feet should have small legs that attach to a clublike foot.

Insert the feet in between the two sides of the caterpillar's body and sew them to the back side.

Sew all the way around the head and body of the two pieces of the caterpillar head and body, leaving a small part open for stuffing in the middle of the body.

Turn the caterpillar right side out and stuff it with the batting until the body is rigid. Sew up the hole in the body left open for stuffing.

Sew the middle pipe cleaner to the top of the caterpillar's head. Bend the pipe cleaner in any direction to create the antennae.