WWW: My First Tutorial!! Stuffed, Crinkly, Taggy Toy!

Autumn’s Grandma took her again this afternoon and I was able to finish her stuffed, crinkly, taggy toy! Now I get to share with you my first ever tutorial! I hope you find it useful!


I’m linking up with the following blogs this week:


First up: What you need.




    1.   Water (for rehydration, of course!)
  2. Sewing Machine
  3. Ribbon
  4. Crinkly plastic. (I used old candy bags that I  had save since Halloween!)
  5. Scissors
  6. Pins
  7. Thread
  8. Seam Ripper
  9. Six pieces of fabric in the colors of your choice
  10. Cutting Board
  11. Ruler
  12. Rotary Cutter
  13. Fabric Pen
  14. Polyester Fiberfill
  15. Lighter (optional)
  16. Knitting Needle (optional)









Getting Started:
A. Cut 6 pieces of fabric into 4 inch squares.
B. Cut 6 pieces of crinkly plastic into 3.5 inch squares.



C. Pin one piece of plastic to the wrong side of one piece of fabric



D. Pick any stich you want and sew the fabric to the plastic in any pattern you would like. I did this because it seemed like it would be a really big pain to have to pin the plastic to the fabric and the ribbon when sewing the entire thing together. It’s very slippery! So, to make it easier, sew it together before hand.

 

E. Repeat Steps C and D for all pieces of fabric. Note: Make sure to pull the loose top thread through to the bottom. Tie a knot with the top thread and the bottom thread on the wrong side of the fabric and cut ends.



F. Cut a bunch of Ribbon. I cut waaaaaay too much here. Cut however much you think you’ll need.   Use lighter to burn the ends of the ribbons to keep them from fraying if you want to.



G. Take your cutting board, ruler, and fabric marker and mark a dot 1/4 inch in from each corner, as shown. Do this for ALL corners on EVERY piece of fabric.



H. Decide on the pattern and lay them out in that pattern. Take the first two pieces. Lay the ribbon down in whatever pattern you desire on the right side of the bottom fabric and put the other piece on top of that. Right sides together! Pin the fabric together.



I. Sew the two pieces together using the dots that you marked in the corners as your guides. Make sure to start and stop on those dots. Back stitch to secure at each end.



J. Repeat steps H and I for the next two pieces of fabrics until you end up with this:



K. Now you’re going to take the next piece of fabric and pin it to the top of one of the middle pieces. Matching up the seams and dots. See below. Pictures often speak much clearer than words.



L. Sew these together. Remembering to start and stop at the dots and backstitching for extra security.



M. Do this again on the other side of the yellow, to end up with this:



N. Now, to start making the cube you’re going to sew (based on the above picture) the right side of the blue fabric to the top part of the green fabric. See below:

 

O. Next sew the purple to the green in the same fashion.



P. Sew the orange to the purple and the blue. We’re almost done!



Q. Sew the red to two sides, leaving one side completely open for now.



R. Sew the red and green together leaving a small opening that you will be able to turn the fabric through. I like having it in the middle since it’s easier to slip stitch the middle than it is to slip stitch the corner.



S. Turn right side out and start stuffing with Polyester Fiberfill! Use the knitting needle to get it down into the corners.




T. Finally, slip stitch the opening closed and (WOOHOO!) you’re done!!!!



Give to baby and let the fun begin!

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I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and that it was clear enough for you to follow! Let me know if you try it and how it goes!
Until tomorrow,
Amy

TST: My current obsession - Pinterest!!

Before I get on into my favorite Pinterest finds of this week, let me go on a random tangent about whatever is on my mind.

Sonya Apples are awesome. Ever had one? They're from New Zealand. According to the sign at Target they are a mixture of Golden Delicious and Gala. YUM!

Autumn is currently with her Grandparents. I am enjoying a bit of a break. I might ask them to do this two times a week. I've been very productive!

I realized recently that I made too many nursing covers. I'm never going to use them...

I was just looking around in my fabric stash to find two specific pieces and I realized how much fabric is just sitting there waiting to be used! I buy too much stuff... Recently I promised Dan I would use all of the fabric that I currently have before buying anything new (unless I need more to finish a project)... I probably should have looked at how much I have before saying that. Fabric shopping is an addiction!!!

A quilt pattern came in the mail the other day. It's my birthday present. I'm going to be making this quilt soon.

I have been putting off making a friend's purse for 3 months now because I made the pattern (my first) and I'm horrified of screwing it up. Yep, horrified. Well, I mean it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to rip out stitches a hundred times, but seriously... I'd like to get it right on the first (or second) attempt. If I get this purse to work, maybe I'll think about sharing the pattern??

Anyway... onto my favorite Pinterest finds of the week before Autumn wakes up, gets hungry, and demands to come home from Grandma's!

1. Card Metaphors' Ribbon Wreath. Ooooh.

2. Unplggd's Cord Organization Idea. Bread Tags. Genius!

3. Design Sponge's Utensil Key Racks. Fun.

4. Craftaholics Anonymous' T-Shirt Pom Pom Door Decor.

5. And this awesomeness. :) [Source link no longer works]

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I've nearly finished the toy I want to give a tutorial on for tomorrow. I hope that I can finish it either tonight or tomorrow early afternoon so that I can post it up. I think you'll like it! 

Until tomorrow,

Amy

P.S. Follow me on Pinterest!!!