Stitch a hedgehog

1 Download and print the hedgehog templates above. Cut out one pair of heads, a pair of bodies and two gussets from patterned turquoise cotton, plus two pairs of ears from plain red cotton. Snip notches on all of the pieces where indicated. Cut a nose from felt. Apply fabric glue to the back of the remaining felt to stiffen, set aside to dry, then snip two eyes.

2 Pin the eyes to the right side of the heads. Oversew the edges of the eyes, then pin the ears together in pairs and stitch the un-notched edges. Trim the seam allowance to 4mm, then snip the curves and turn right side out. Tack each ear to the right side of a head piece, matching the notches. Sew the heads to the bodies from points A to B, right sides together. Press the seams open.

3 Pin the heads and bodies together and stitch between the dots C to A to D. Stitch the gussets together from C to D, leaving a gap between the crosses. Snip the curves and press the seam open.

4 Pin one gusset to a head and body, stitch between dots C to B to D, and snip the curves. Repeat to sew the second gusset to the other head and body. Clip the corner and snip the curves, then turn the hedgehog right side out. Stuff evenly and slipstitch the gap closed.

5 Gather the nose with a running stitch, 6mm inside the outer edge. Press the outer edge to the inside along the gathering stitches. Insert a little toy stuffing into the nose and pin it to the tip of the head. Sew with small slip stitches twice to secure.

6 Draw 1.8cm wide bias strips on five patterned fabrics and cut out. Snip the strips of each print into 50 6cm long rectangles. Anchor a double length of sewing thread at point B on the hedgehog, then sew a gathering stitch across the centre of one rectangle.

7 Slide the first strip along the thread to sit against the body, pull up the gathers and sew in place. Bring the needle to the outside of the body 1cm away, and repeat to sew each rectangle 1cm apart all over the body, above the broken lines.