Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Owl Ribbon Tag Baby Toy Tutorial

Owls are super trendy.
Ribbon is awesome.
Fabric is my BFF.

What do you get when you combine all 3?
This super cool baby toy.

Perfect for my baby boy.

You can make one for your little boy or girl too.

All you need is:
some fabric, felt and ribbon

Step 1:
Draw and then cut out your owl pattern pieces.
Just look at my pictures for the basic shapes. They don't have to be perfect :)

You will need:
-one body piece
(around 5" tall and 5 1/2" wide when measured at the top of the ears)
-2 wings (around 3 3/4" each)
-one chest piece
-2 outer eyes and 2 inner eyes (not pictured)
-1 beak (not pictured)

Step 2:
Using a water soluble fabric pen trace your body pattern onto your desired fabric.

Step 3:
Trace the chest pattern onto a piece of "Steam a Seam", peel off the back piece, and stick onto your fabric. Cut along the line.
*If this sounds confusing just read the directions on the back of the Steam a Seam package...it will walk you through how to do it.

Step 4:
Using something round (I used the top of a baby food jar) trace two circles onto "Steam a Seam" paper. Peel the back side of the "Steam a Seam" paper off, stick onto fabric and then cut out.

Step 5:
Lay the chest piece and outer eyes onto the owl body until you have them positioned as you would like. Remove the last piece of "Steam a Seam" paper, stick onto the body and iron in place.

Step 6:
Top stitch around the eyes and chest piece. Then cut the beak and inner eyes out of felt, pin in place, and sew to secure.

Your little guy's looking cute already :)

Step 7:
For the wings...
Trace the wing patterns onto 2 separate pieces of fabric. Cut 6 small ribbon pieces. Fold the ribbon pieces in half, sandwich them between the piece of fabric with the pattern on it and another piece of fabric, and pin in place.

*Make sure the fold of the ribbon is positioned on the inside of the wing so you are sewing over the tails of the ribbon as you sew along the line.

I added 3 ribbon pieces on the bottom side of each wing.

Step 8:
Sew along the line, leaving a small opening to flip the wings right side out. Trim around the edge of the line you just sewed and then turn right side out.

Step 9:
Pin the wings to the front of the owl (as shown above). Make sure you position them so the open end of the wing will be sewn shut when sewn.
*I also pinned the ribbon tags on the wings up so I wouldn't catch them when I sewed the owl to the backing.

Step 10:
Pin the front of the owl to the backing of your choice (I used a super soft blanket material). The wings should be in between the two layers.

*I also added two more ribbon tags at the bottom of the owl for its feet.
Sew around the owl leaving a small opening on the side of its head by its ear.

Step 11:
Flip your owl right side out and add another ribbon tag inside the small opening. Pin the ribbon tag in place and top stitch around your owl, being sure to catch the ribbon tag as you go.

*FYI Don't iron your owl before you top stitch! Felt and a hot iron do not get along! Trust me :)

Slip your new cutie pie onto some plastic links

attach to your baby's car seat or stroller and let the fun begin (for your little one)!

Lots of fun colors and textures for them to look at and explore and lots of fun ribbon tags for them to play with or chew on.

And a super soft back perfect for cuddling :)

6 comments:

Anna said...

how cute, awesome idea! You did a great job.

Kimber B said...

I love your idea, the pattern you made the owl with has an add for one of the best books!!

Sarah said...

Fantastic Idea- I just made one and added some crinkly stuff to the wings and main body- will upload some photos in the next few days to my blog.
http://skipchaseydesigns.blogspot.com/

Brie Henri said...

I love you! This is a fantastic idea ^_^

Brandy@YDK said...

I used your tutorial to make my own owl and linked to you here -
http://www.brandyatyoudontknow.com/2010/06/why-i-need-to-be-sewer.html

Safdar Ali said...

So nice idea for so cute gift. I will now try to make it my self.

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