Meet Lloyd the Leopard. My oldest and I made him the other day using the free pattern available from Sew Mama Sew, and (designed by LiEr from www.ikatbag.com). The pattern is intended to make a racoon, but we just left off the eye patches, claws, and tail stripes. He is made from some crazy printed fleece he found at Joann Fabrics and just had to make a "cuddle friend" with, along with some scraps of black fleece from home, a pair of safety eyes, and a bit of embroidery floss for the mouth.
The oldest got his own sewing machine for Christmas, and he sewed the arms, legs, tail, and inside pellet pouch, as well as the stuffing and some of the hand sewing of the hole in the back through which Lloyd was stuffed. I did the ears and the rest of the overall construction, since I didn't think his machine would handle the layers of fleece very well. He did a great job!
I think we will need to head back to Joann's to pick out some fleece for the youngest to make a new friend out of as well!
