Make a Wither Plushie From Minecraft

  Is this lucky little birthday boy/Minecraft freak holding the world's first Wither Plushie? Although highly improbable, it's possible... Want to know what else is possible? The ability to create one of your very own. In this Instructable I will help you craft a Wither for youself, a friend, or anyone else who was lucky enough to have met your acquaintance.

Below are the basic tools that you will need
Sewing machine
Sewing needles
Scissors
Seam ripper
Ruler or Yard stick or t-square
Right angle ruler (optional)
Push pins
Masking tape
Clear tape

Below are the materials that I used to create my Wither. You may substitute these materials for others but keep in mind that the fabric will reflect the overall quality of the final product.

I purchased all of my materials from Joann's. If you're doing the same then check their website for coupons before you go or download their app to get the coupons. Another thing to consider is if you have a competing store nearby you may be able to price match items and coupons.

Materials (click for direct link to product on Joann)
Fabric - 1 Yard of Costume Suede Caviar Solid Alova
Ribbon - 1 Yard of 1 & 1/2" Wide ribbon ( Not listed on Joann website but pictured for reference) 
Thread - 100M Thread (color "Flint")
Thread - 250 Yards (color "black")
Stuffing- FiberFill Stuffing 32oz 
Marker - Sharpie Metallic Silver pack of 2 

Price
Fabric - $8.99 used 40% off coupon $5.39
Ribbon - $1.49
Thread - $1.80
Thread - $2.99
Stuffing- $8.99 on sale for $5.99
Marker - $4.99 price matched at Michael's with 40% off Joann coupon $2.99

Total 20.65 + 7% State Tax
Grand Total $22.09 (YMMV)

If your store doesn't have the Caviar Solid Alova here are two other fabrics that are similar. I was considering both of these fabrics but ultimately chose the Caviar Alova.

Sew Classic Suedecloth-Caviar Solid Microsuede 01626233

Costume Suedecloth -Black Fringe Alova 7845662 (its has a fringed end pictured online but in store it didn't, possible mistake on my part)

   So before we embark on our journey, we need to first decide how big we want our Wither to be. In my previous Minecraft plushie projects, the dimensions were derived by counting each pixel or block on a mob and converting it to an inch. This methodology would have ended up making a Wither that is 27" high by 24" wide. Personally, I had difficulties trying to fit all these dimensions within the one yard of fabric. So I decided to decrease the Wither's size by 25% which resulted in a mob that spanned 20 & 1/4" high by 18" wide.

  The dimensions far below are the in-game block dimensions. If you decide to reduce the size of your Wither as I have, then you will have to multiply each dimension below by the percentage of decrease. So for example, if you wanted to make a Wither that was 20% smaller than the block dimensions, then the equation for the main head would be...... 

8 X .20 = 1.60
8 - 1.60 = 6.4

Click here to use this tool to change your decimal into a fraction.

So 6.4 as inches 6.4" = 6 & 6/16" or 6 & 3/8"

For those who wish to craft a Wither at 75% of its full size, I have added a picture that has the dimensions as well as the number of pieces that need to be created for each part. 

***IMPORTANT***
Naturally as with any sewing project you are going to leave some extra material on the outside of your work piece. You will need to do this for all of your pieces. So for example, if your first measurement is 6" (L) x 6" (W). Your actual dimensions are going to be  7" (H) x 7" (W), leaving 1/2" of space on all sides. Verstehen? 

Dimensions in-game blocks ( Length x Width x Height )

Main Head 
Length  8     
Width     8
Height   8

Sub Head (shouldered heads)
Length  6
Width     6
Height   6

Torso
Length  3
Width     3
Height   16

Ribs
Length  4
Width     4
Height   4

Shoulder Easy (easier but not to true dimensions)
Length  20
Width     3
Height   3

Shoulder Harder (truer dimensions)
Length   Top         16
Length   Middle    16 
Length   Bottom   20
Width     3
Height   3

In this step you will be faced with the tedious task of sketching the dimensions on the back of your material.

  Use your metallic Sharpie to sketch the dimensions of your Wither on the back of your material. Feel free to use some heavy cans or weights to help keep the fabric from sliding around. If you find that you are crawling on top of the material just to draw your patterns don't be afraid to cut it in half to make it more manageable. Also don't forget to leave at least 1/2" of space around the perimeter of each piece!

This process is laborious and will test your patience. So be sure to take your time and maybe listen to some of your favorite tunes while you slave away. Once completed, divide the pattern into chunks, grouping them with like patterns for easy identification.

Be mindful of your work area as the Sharpie may bleed through the fabric and leave Transformer freckles all over.   

In this step you are going to start sewing the heads of the Wither.

  There are three heads that need to be crafted in this process. Basically, you're going to sewing them in the shape of a crucifix. ( Keep back you ghoulish Nether fiends! )

Check out the diagram to help show you the order in which it should be sewn. Once you complete all three, move on to the next step.  

In this step your going to be crafting the eyes and mouth of the Wither.

Each head has the same eye and mouth dimensions so you are going to create three sets. These sets consist of 6 eyes and 3 mouths. The instructions below were written with 75% dimensions in mind. If you are using a different ratio then adjust your values accordingly.

The Eyes
  Go grab your 1 1/2" ribbon and fold it over about 3/8th's of an inch. Make it as even as possible on both sides then pinch the folded end. With the ribbon clamped between your index finger and your thumb rake your nail across it a few times. This will help set a nice crease in place. Being careful to keep the ribbon as straight as possible, place it in your sewing machine and run a stitch across.

   Now, measure from the newly sewn end of the ribbon and make a mark 3/4" down. Once marked, fold the lipped side of the ribbon in on itself. Make a nice creased line then place it in your sewing machine and run a stitch across. Cut the newly sewn eye from the rest of the ribbon and use a needle to pull any remaining thread from the front of the eye to the rear. Knot the ends and leave a few inches of thread so that you may pull the thread under the flaps on the back side of the eye.

The Mouth

 Take your ribbon and measure a length of 3 & 3/4" and cut it off. Hold the ribbon vertically and fold both outer edges in towards one another until they meet. Press both sides down firmly between your thumb and index finger, creating a crease. Once you have a decent crease formed, use a few pieces of clear tape to help hold the work piece together. Try to make the piece as symmetrical as possible. When you feel you have achieved a symmetrical piece, carefully place it in your sewing matching and stitch it along the two longest sides close to the edges. 

  Now take the two .75 or 3/4" ends and fold them back onto the rear side of the mouth piece. Adjust the amount of material that is being tucked behind until you achieve 3". Once adjusted properly stitch both sides. 

When you have completed all 9 pieces move on to the next step.

In this step you are going to create the lines to help you position and attach the eyes and mouths onto each Sub Head.

Sub Heads

Creating the lines   
      Take one of your Sub Head pieces and place it in front of you. The center of the crucifix is where we are going to sew the eyes and mouth. First start by measuring up from the bottom line, on the left and right hand side. Make a mark at 3/4" up on both sides. Draw a line across these two measurements and you will have a 3/4" gap line. Take a few push pins and push them through the line on the left, middle and right hand sides. Once you have pushed the pins through flip the material over.

   Place a ruler or another similar object behind the pins to prop them up. Pull a piece of masking tape slightly longer than the length of the face and place it flush against the three protruding pins. Slide the tape down on top of the fabric. Remove the pins and flip the material back over. 

  Measure up from the bottom line once again and make a mark at  2 1/4" on both sides. Draw a line across both marks and push your pins through the line on the left, middle and right sides. Flip your material back over and perk up the pins. Grab another piece of masking tape, flush it against the pins and slide it down on top of the fabric. Upon completion remove the pins. 

Aligning the mouth
   At this point you should have two rows of tape across the face area of your crucifix. Place a ruler along the bottom tape line centering it as best as possible. Expose enough of the tape so you can mark on it. Now place a mouth piece on top of the ruler and split the difference on each side. As you can see in the picture I have my ruler positioned between 15 1/16" and 19 7/16" with 10.5/16th's on each side. I made both of my marks at 15 3/4" and 18 3/4", exactly 3 inches.

Sewing the mouth in place
    Place the mouth along the top edge of the bottom tape line between both of your marks. Use a push pin, tape or what ever method you feel comfortable with to hold the piece into place while it is being sewn. Run a stitch around the entire perimeter of the mouth piece. Once finished pull all the threads from the front of the mouth into the underside of the material. Knot and cut any excess threads. 

Aligning and sewing the eyes in place
      Aligning the eyes on the Sub Heads are a painless ordeal. Place each eye on the top edge of the upper tape line flush against the left and right sides of the head. Using a push pin or tape to hold the eyes in place, run a stitch around the entire perimeter of each eye. Once finished pull all the threads from the front of the eye into the underside of the material. Knot and cut any excess threads.

In this step you are going to create the lines to help you position and attach the eyes and mouth onto the Main Head. This step will be nearly identical to the Sub heads with the only difference being the measurements.

Main Head

Creating the lines
   Grab your Main Head piece and place it in front of you. The center of the crucifix is where we are going to sew the eyes and mouth. First start by measuring up from the bottom line, on the left and right hand side. Make a mark at 3/4" up on both sides. Draw a line across these two measurements and you will have a 3/4" gap line. Take a few push pins and push them through the line on the left, middle and right hand sides.Once you have pushed the pins through flip the material over.

    Place a ruler or another similar object behind the pins to prop them up. Pull a piece of masking tape slightly longer than the length of the face and place it flush against the three protruding pins. Slide the tape down on top of the fabric. Remove the pins and flip the material back over.

   Measure up from the bottom line once again and make a mark at  2 1/4" on both sides. Draw a line across both marks and push your pins through the line on the left, middle and right sides. Flip your material back over and perk up the pins. Grab another piece of masking tape, flush it against the pins and slide it down on top of the fabric. Upon completion remove the pins.

Aligning the mouth
   At this point you should have two rows of tape across the face area of your crucifix. Place a ruler along the bottom tape line centering it as best as possible. Expose enough of the tape so you can mark on it. Now place a mouth piece on top of the ruler and split the difference on each side. As you can see in the picture I have my ruler positioned between 14 1/16" and 19 15/16" with 1" & 7/16th's on each side. I made both of my marks at 15 1/2" and 18 1/2", exactly 3 inches.

Sewing the mouth in place
   Place the mouth along the top edge of the bottom tape line between both of your marks. Use a push pin, tape or what ever method you feel comfortable with to hold the piece into place while it is being sewn. Run a stitch around the entire perimeter of the mouth piece. Once finished pull all the threads from the front of the mouth into the underside of the material. Knot and cut any excess threads.

Aligning and sewing the eyes in place
    Aligning the eyes on the Main Head is slightly different from the Sub Heads but it's still a rather simple ordeal. As you have done with the bottom tape line, place your ruler on the upper line with it centered. Measuring from the fabric's outer edge, measure inward 3/4", making a mark on both the left and right sides. As you can see in the pictures I have my ruler centered between 10" 1/16" and 15" 15/16" with my alignment marks on 10" 13/16" and 15" 3/16".

   Flush both of the eyes to the top edge of the upper line with the outer portion of the eyes lined up against your two alignment marks. Once everything is aligned use a push pin or tape to hold the eyes in place. Run a stitch around the entire perimeter of each eye. Then pull all the threads from the front of the eye into the underside of the material. Knot and cut any excess threads.

Onward to the next step.
  

In this step you are going to completely enclose all three heads.

Sewing the head closed
   Follow the colored diagram and pictures to help you close and stitch the head completely shut.

Breaking down the steps
Steps 1 is sewing the top and bottom of the crucifix together to form a box with two open ends.
Steps 2-4 is entirely closing the top of the head
Step 5-7 is completely closing the bottom of the head.

Cutting the fill hole 
   After you're finished you will cut a small hole along the bottom of the head and flip the material inside out. Liberally fill the head with fiberfill until you're satisfied with the way it feels. Don't under fill it because the fiberfill will eventually settle.

Stitching the fill hole
  Looking at the detailed picture, perform a slip stitch to close the hole along the bottom of the head. When you reach the end of the hole sew back through the material and knot the thread. Then push your needle and thread back through the piece and cut the thread. This will help hide the thread and keep it hidden inside.

I attached some pictures of me closing the slip stitch on a few pieces you will have to make shortly. MuaHAHAaahaha!   

In this step you are going to sew the Torso together and fill it with stuffing.

Sewing the Torso 
       Gather all of your Shoulder pieces and begin stitching them into place. Follow the colored diagram and pictures to help piece them all together. The arrows indicate the area where you will flip the material inside out and fill it with stuffing. 

Breaking down the steps
Steps 1-5 are sewing the 4 Torso and 2 end pieces together. 
Step 6 is folding the the entire piece together to form a hollow box.
Step 7 is completely shutting the end of the hollow box.
Step 8 is sewing 2 of the 3 sides left open.

Sewing the Torso closed 
  Since you have already performed the slip stitch three times already you should have no problem closing the torso. The only difference this time is that you will be folding the extra material back in on itself. Try to make it match the other three sides as best as possible. Once you are done move on to the next step.

The picture with the material folded back was pulled from a process later in the project. Your torso piece should have only one side open. 

   

In this step you are going to create a shoulder piece for your Wither.

Casual or hardcore?

Easier Method
If you are going with the easier method then this process will be similar to the Torso piece. 
Gather all of your Shoulder pieces and begin stitching them into place. Follow the colored diagram and pictures to help piece them all together. The arrows indicate the area where you will flip the material inside out and fill it with stuffing.

         Breaking down the steps
         Steps 1-5 are sewing the 4 Shoulder and 2 end pieces together.
         Step 6 is folding the the entire piece together to form a hollow box.
         Step 7 is completely shutting the end of the hollow box.
         Step 8 is sewing 2 of the 3 sides left open.

         Sewing the Shoulder closed Easier Method
         Now that your shoulder is generously filled, fold the material back in on itself and slip stitch the final remaining open end. 

Harder Method
Congratulations on choosing the harder method and staying truer to the actual Wither dimensions.... 

Pssst... Hey...(in a whispering voice) the only reason I made the easier and harder methods was purely out of mistake. I realized late in the project that I messed up.....UMHHH UMHHHH (clears voice)

Follow the colored diagram and look at the pictures to help you join all of the pieces together. Start with the "Sides and bottom" diagram then move on to the "Top Section" diagram, or vise versa. Once you have both pieces you will need to join them both together. 

Joining the Top and Bottom section together  
  Take a look at the colored diagram to help you see how the top and bottom sections connect to one another. You don't have to follow the colored orders precisely however all the areas that are colored need to be sewn. When you are done the piece will be completely sewn shut.

Cutting the fill hole, filling the shoulder, and sewing it shut   
  Cut a hole horizontally centered on top of the shoulder. Make it large enough so that you can flip the piece inside out. Fill the shoulder with fiberfill to your hearts content and then perform a slip stitch to close the seam. 


Move on to the next step.

In this step your going to create the ribs for your Wither.

Sewing the Ribs
       Sewing the ribs are exactly like the torso but on a smaller scale with more volume. Gather all of your pieces and stitch them together leaving one end open so you can flip it inside out. 

I'm not sure why but I left two seams open on the end of each rib. Honestly, I should have only left one. This would have helped cut down on the hand sewing.   

Filling and sewing closed
  Just as you have done with the torso, fill each rib with an adequate amount of fill and close the end with a slip stitch.


Your reaching the end. Just one more step. 

You've reached "The End" but there's no Dragon Egg, only more work!

The first picture depicts all of the areas that are going to be sewn in this entire step.

Attaching the Sub heads
   Look at the pictures to get a good idea about how far the Sub head will hang off the back of the shoulder. The actual dimensions are 1/2 of a block  which would equate to 0.375 or 3/8" in 75% dimensions. I personally didn't measure it out but for the sake of the Instructable it must be mentioned.

   Now place a Sub head on one side of the shoulder. On the top corner edge of the rear shoulder, thread and tie a knot. Sew a slip stitch between the seam and the head, working your way towards the middle. If you chose the harder method it helps to leave a decent amount of slack in the stitch before tightening it up. This will help you get your needle in the tight space between the head and inner shoulder. Once you reach the corner, knot the thread, push the needle back through the piece and cut off the excess. 

   Next, flip the shoulder piece around and run a slip stitch along the front side. After you're done with that, stitch the inner portion of the head onto the shoulder. Great job, now you get to sew on the other Sub head. YEAHHHH!

Attaching the Main head
     Before you sew on the main head I would recommend that you find the center point of the bottom front and rear portion of the head as well as the center point of the shoulder. This will help ensure a perfect alignment of the head. You may use a Sharpie to make a small mark or you can use a push pin to mark the center.

    Align the main head between the two sub heads and sew it along the bottom front and rear portions of the head. 

Attaching the Ribs to the Torso
    The Ribs lie 1 & 1/2 blocks down from the top of the Torso. In 75% terms that means its 1.125" from the top or 1 & 1/8". Measure down from the top of the Torso and make a mark. Now, take one of the Ribs and thread a needle through the top corner edge of an end piece. Tie a knot then align it with the mark on the Torso centering it on the side in which it sits. Slip stitch around the entire Rib mating it to the Torso.

There is 1 block of space between each Rib or 3/4" in 75% terms. You may measure the distance between each one or just use the all mighty "eye-ball-it" method. 

Once you sew on the first rib you may find it difficult to sew the next one below it. To alleviate this quagmire leave the slip stitch loose until your about half way around. This will help give you plenty of room to maneuver your hand between the two ribs. 

Attaching the Torso to the Shoulder
    You are but one last stitch from completing the Wither. Center the completed Torso with the shoulder. Feel free to measure each piece and find the center for a perfect alignment. Slip stitch around the entire perimeter of the top portion of the Torso mating it to the Shoulder. 
   
Mission Accomplished! You've done it! Now run around the house with it like your attacking livestock.

PEWWW, PEWWW, PEWWWWWWWW.................... BOOOOOOSHHHHHHH!!!!!

Your (Wife/Husband/Kids/Parents/Grandparents/Friends/MailDeliveryGuy/CreepyNeighborLookingThroughTheWindow/)

Totally saw you doing that!