Beauty is Only Skin Deep... Except in This Case

cuddly critter

Have you seen any of those ugly dolls that seem to be all the rage? If not, no worries (try googling them ;) ). They’re interesting and ugly AND it’s easy to make your own version! If you know how to sew, go for it—if not, we will make a version of an ugly doll using the knotting technique from yesterday.

I think ugly dolls get their name because only their owners could love them :) , so how much more will someone love one of these dolls if you make it for them?!

The great thing is you should have some leftover fleece from yesterday so you can make a matching stuffed buddy to go with the blanket and pillow. Plus, you already know the technique so you’ll be a whiz at this.

It’s also important to know that a bigger buddy is easier to make than a small buddy so don’t be afraid to go a bit bigger (it’ll be a lot smaller than you think once done).

So, if you have a litter of little ones coming your way for the holidays, this project is pretty inexpensive and each will be completely unique so that each child feels like their cuddly critter was made just for him or her!

Cuddly Critters:

Materials and Supplies:

~ about 1/2 yard of 2 different colors of fleece

~ 1 lb. Polyfill or Fiberfill

~ Tape

~ Scissors

~ Copy paper

~ Pencil

~Sharpie

~ 1 or 2 buttons

~Hot glue gun or thread and needle

Directions:

1. Take two pieces of copy paper and tape them together to form a piece that’s 11” x 17”.

2. Determine the shape of the cuddly critter. This can be anything you want. Remember, ugly dolls are, well, ugly. They don’t have to be pretty, they don’t have to be symmetrical (one side looking like the other), they don’t have to be exactly what you want. The finished project will be PERFECT, no matter what! Remember, the uglier the better!

3. Draw your shape onto the paper. It doesn’t have to be an ugly monster—it could be a circle (to turn into a face), heart, letter, flower, etc. Just try not to have severe angles—go with curves and waves--because it'll be easier to make fringe when you don't have tight corners.

4. Cut the paper shape out and place it in the center of the fleece so that you have roughly the same amount of fleece all around the edges (for fringe).

Remember from yesterday: fleece doesn’t exactly have a front and back like normal material but if there’s writing--that needs to be on the outside. Also, one side might have a bit brighter coloring so just look it over and decide what you want on the outside.

The paper should go against the "inside" or "back" of the fleece.

5. Trace the shape onto the fleece with the Sharpie. You might get pencil to show up, too.

6. Place the second piece of fleece under the first.

7. When you cut out the shape, you’re not going to follow the Sharpie line. Don’t be worried, I’m not going crazy! You will be cutting around the shape 3 to 5 inches away (the fringe!). This way, you won’t have Sharpie showing on the fringe—keep it nice and clean looking. Then, when you do start cutting out the fringe, you cut to the line drawn so your final shape is perfect.

8. Making sure the outsides of the fleece are facing each other (inside out), begin to cut fringe. I make this fringe a bit thinner, about 1 inch. Again, use your eye!

9. Put the outsides back on the outside. The drawn shape should be hidden now.

10. Begin knotting. Remember, you can do this a few different ways. I like lots of crazy hair-like fringe so I do the square knots (see my critter at the top of this post).

11. Leave one part unknotted (four or five fringe knots) so you can do two things.

1) If this is for little ones, sew the buttons on for eyes. If you’re worried about there being a choking hazard, you can sew on a piece of fleece or draw the eye (or eyes) on with the Sharpie. If it’s for someone a bit older, you can hot glue the button on.

2) Stuff the critter! It can be as thin or fat as you want.

12. Finish knotting.

Extra gift idea?

Don't forget to name the little critter!

Did you know you can get little sound buttons to put inside stuffed animals? You can get these at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and record a sweet message to someone.

Forget me Knot

fleece blanket

This time of year with traveling and cold winter mornings, the thought of leaving my warm bed is one I try to push to the back of my mind. If you’re traveling somewhere with little ones, this could be a nice early gift so they can take their warm bed, or at least part of it, with them. And if they’re anything like me, they’ll want to!

The really nice thing about this project is you don’t have to know how to sew at all! You just need to know how to tie knots. I’ve done the blanket with one piece of fleece and two. Two pieces make for a really, really warm blanket so if this is just for snuggling, one piece of fleece will be fine.

Fleece is easy to find in the material section of Walmart and Hobby Lobby and of course there are fabric stores like Hancock and JoAnn’s that have a huge selection. Fleece is a soft, thicker, warm material--if you don't know what it is, ask the helpful workers in the craft department.

You can buy all sorts of fleece from game day patterns to take to sporting events to pretty princesses to make someone an awesome princess cape. Fleece on a bolt is pretty wide so you only should need about two yards for a blanket for a teen or adult. If you are making it for a little one, it doesn’t have to be this big! Just unroll a bit from the bolt of material and try to size up a good amount. The pillow requires half a yard and if you want a contrasting color on the back of the pillow, that will be half a yard as well.

Tied Fleece Blanket and Pillow:

Materials and Supplies:

~Blanket: 2 yards of fleece material of 2 different colors/patterns

~Pillow: 1/2 yard of 2 different colors of fleece

~1 lb. Polyfill or Fiberfill (for pillow. It’s like a pillow in a bag!)

~Scissors

~Ruler

Directions:

Blanket:

1. Smooth the fleece out on a flat surface one on top of the other (there’s not a front and back to fleece unless there are words. Make sure the words are on the outside, not sandwiched on the inside). You may notice that one or two sides have words or color blocks on them or may be curled and stiff like they have glue on them (selvage). Trim these off trying to keep the line straight and just to the outside of the selvage. Try to make the material as square as possible (not a literal square, just make the lines parallel and perpendicular).

2. Determine the length of your fringe. I’ve seen complicated guides where you make a template with a piece of cardboard so that every piece of fringe is the exact same size and shape. I personally thinks this takes an easy craft and turns it into a mechanical process—where’s the fun in that? You can trust your eyeball for this, I promise!

A good length is three to five inches. If you want it to be more exact, and you want crazy long fringe, you can cut fringe the length of the scissor blades. (one whole step for thinking!)

3. Cut a square from each corner the length that you chose (3” x 3” or 4” x 4” or 5” x 5”). That way when you get to the corners, you don’t have to decide how to cut the fringe.

4. Cut the two layers of fringe about 1.5” wide and go the entire length of the fleece. There will be lots and lots of fringe to cut! The fringe at the end might be a bit wider—try to even out the last two to four cuts so the last isn’t really wide.

If you’re using a single layer of fleece, make sure you cut an even number so that they all have a buddy to knot to.

5. Begin knotting. There’s no right or wrong way to knot. I tend to do square knots (like tying shoes) because it makes the fringe go all crazy. You can make tamer knots like those in the picture—it’s completely up to you!

If you’re using a single layer, you just knot two side-by-side

Pillow:

1. It’s the same process only smaller. Determine the size of your pillow plus (length of fringe x 2). So, if you want a pillow that’s 10” x 10” when finished with 5” fringe, the squares of material will be 20” x 20”.

2. Follow steps 1 through 5. Tie the knots really tightly otherwise the polyfill with come out the tiny holes between the knots.

3. Leave yourself a hole so you can stuff the stuffing inside. If you’re making this for a wee little one, you can stuff the polyfill in an old tshirt (tuck in the sleeves and tail) and use that as a lining inside the pillow. You’re supposed to “fluff” the ‘fill first. Just take a handful at a time and pull it apart a few times.

4. Finish the last of the knotting.

Extra idea?

Place the pillow and blanket into a basket with a new book for them to take over the river and through the woods…. Even if you’re not traveling anywhere, they’ll love this! And this just isn’t for little ones. Throw in a wonderful Christmas tale like A Christmas Carol or that new cookbook or puzzle book you know they’ll love plus a book light so they can read anywhere. Or make the blanket big enough for two!

You can also add the idea from tomorrow and it’ll be a complete set! ;-)