DIY Plushie Bag With Built in LED's

Recently I took a trip to NYC! I got this AMAZINGLY CUTE kuromi plushie and I just knew it had to become a bag! And then I had the great idea to add cute lights to it to make it glow! This project is pretty simple, it just takes some basic sewing and circuit building knowledge and its as easy as that!

For this project you need:

• 1 Big plushie of your choice
• Chain/Handle for the bag
• 2 Connectors for handles
• 4 LED's (I'm using red to get a nice pink light)
• Conductive Thread
• 1 Zipper
• 2 Battery Packs
• Fabric
• Sewing machine
• Needles

For this step you REALLY need to look at the logistics of what your making. So first measure how much fabric you need, (literally measure how much space the fabric can take in the plushie) this will help so you know how much material you need. Then plan your circuit (that's what I did with the alligator clips), this part is SUPER important, because if its not made right it will work like Christmas lights and if one goes out, they all go out. Finally make sure you know where your placing your handles (mine will be placed right behind the ears)

This step is quite easy! First things first, you need to measure your fabric, make sure it can fit inside the plushie in the right way. Then you need a sewing machine. I used very simple sewing skills and just sewed the little pouch onto one side, and sewed the big pouch together (as seen above). Next I sewed the zipper, this part is TRICKY. you need to make sure not to get in the way of the zipper mechanism. Finally I added it to the inside of the plushie, and for this part I hand sewed the pouch into the plushie, using a simple back stitch.

This step is definitely the best part of the project! to start off you need to know what kind of circuit your making. I made a very simple parallel circuit. I used conductive thread and stitched the circuit I drew earlier (I used a very simple in-out stitch to make the flow of electricity easy. you need to make sure to separate the positive and negative part of the lights and thread. I started with the positive on the bottom of both lights. Then I went to the negative side, this made it very easy to organize and take it step by step, which is important to do with a circuit because it can get confusing. Finally, when I was done with the final circuit I hot glued the back of the battery pack to the fabric. and once your done you should have a really cool light feature!

This step was DEFINITELY the easiest. to start off I cut 2 rectangles of fabric and folded them in half around the bottom of the connector for the handle. Then just simply sew the fabric as close as you can to the connector. then I cut a hole into the side of the ear (make sure to do it where the seam is, so there isn't just a random hole. Then I super easily hot glued the connector inside the hole in the ear. Repeat these steps and then you have 2 functioning handle holders! I used a plastic chain that was approximately 1 yard that I got from Joann's, and simply just took the connectors and hooked them onto the chain

After all that hard work you now have an amazingly cool and cute plushie purse! this project was actually SO fun and worth all the effort it took! It's an amazing statement piece to add to any outfit and is SURE to get some compliments! Enjoy and happy crafting!