Baby Toy Tutorial

This Christmas our family is on a bit of a budget, who isn't, right?  Because of this, and the fact that I love to sew/craft, most of our gifts are going to be homemade.  I have been crocheting beanies, sewing neck pillows and pj pants for everyone.  I decided that although I have a brand new tiny little baby that cares nothing about Christmas right now, I probably better do something for her (besides the stinkin' cute pj pants!!) or the other kids will think I don't like her.  :)  When we moved this last time I gave away ALL my baby things, and since I no longer have any toys I thought that would be something fun.  My babies have always loved those squishy balls with ribbons coming out of them that make noise, or the little books that sound like there plastic in them when you crinkle the pages.  I combined these two ideas and made one crunchy sounding blankie with ribbons sticking out all over.

Materials I used:

Flannel (Scraps I had leftover from baby blanket)

Ribbon, lots of colors, widths, and textures

Packaging for wipes (or maybe even diapers)

Now to get to work.  Because my scraps were on the small side I cut my fabric and wipes packaging to 

6" x 6".  You can adjust this to any size you would like.  Then cut as many ribbons as you prefer, I cut 13, but you can have as many as you would like.  The ribbon needs to be 5" long.  

Now, place one piece of fabric right side up.  Fold each ribbon in half and pin this to the fabric in the order you would like.  Keep them at least a 1/2" away from the corners.  Once all the ribbons are pinned in place, take your other piece of fabric and lay it right side down.  Both of the right sides (or patterned sides) should be touching the ribbon.  

Now you will need to pin the plastic to the wrong side of the material on one side.  I carefully took the pins off the ribbon and pinned it through all four layers.  

You will  need to sew all around the outside of the fabric, leaving a 2-3" opening to turn the blankie right side out.  After you sew all around turn it the right way, using a dowel or chopsticks or something like that to push the corners out. In order to make it so there is not a big opening in the blankie you will sew a finishing stitch all around the edge.  I always start on the side that I have the opening.  Sew about 1/4" from the edge.

You are done!  I hope that this was a helpful tutorial, and if there is ever something that does not make sense please leave a comment or shoot me an email.    

~Rachel~