Eco-friendly Domo handmade with Ecospun Felt and Ecocraft Batting

If you have been in a Target lately then you have undoubtedly seen Domo-kun, Target’s Halloween Mascot. Domo is actually the mascot for Japan’s NHK television station. Every time we go into Target our son points at the giant Domo’s hanging from the cieling. We were disappointed when we tried to find a Domo plush at Target, but instead found out all their Domo accessories were sold out. We left on a mission to get a Domo for our son and ended up deciding to make our own.

A brief internet search revealed a few inexpensive Domo plushes, but we also ran across this tutorial on Cut Out and Keep for making your own Domo-kun from felt. With inspiration in hand and brown felt already on hand, I set out to make my son a Domo-kun. I did not copy the pattern from the tutorial, but instead free-handed mine as I cut out the felt. I wanted my Domo to be quite a bit larger than the one in the tutorial. I also machine-stitched my Domo for extra durability and added two seams on the side piece for the arms.

I used about one half yard of Brown Ecospun felt (made from recycled plastic bottles) for the body, one craft sheet of each of Red and White Ecospun felt for the mouth, and a scrap of Black Ecospun felt for the eyes. The white felt was really thin so I doubled it up for the teeth and the end result was really nice because the teeth were raised a bit. I stuffed Domo with one package of EcoCraft Batting which is PLA-fiber made from corn.

I sewed Domo during the commercials in Desperate Housewives on Sunday night. Monday morning we introduced our son to his very own Domo. When he first saw him he pointed and grasped just like he had at the ones hanging in Target. He has been dragging Domo around with him all day. Domo is a happy addition to our home!