Baby crib toy



The inspiration for this came from my favorite magazine, Stitch.  I liked the idea, but the one they made was quite girly, a flower, lady bug, etc. I thought I could boy it up a bit for Preston!  He is the kind of baby who likes to talk to himself, touch things, chew on his hands etc to put himself to sleep so I thought this was the perfect thing for him!

I made this entirely out of my scrap box.  I wish I had more of the fabric I did his bedding in though because it could have matched that! 

It really didn't take a lot of fabric.

Supplies:

large and small scraps of fabric

ribbon scraps

I started out by cutting 3 rectangles of fabric. Mine were 9" x 7".  I used some flannel and some quilting cotton to cary the textures.

I also cut 6 straps 10" x 3 1/2".

Then I used templates for my shapes from Homemade By Jill. I had used the elephant and the alligator before to make little tag animals and thought they would be the perfect size for this too!  She also had a car I used.  There was also a barn on there that I thought could be super cute, but I am going to use that for a different project!

So, I cut my shapes, and embellished them just a bit.  The elephants ear has some crinkly plastic in it, as well as a ribbon tail, the alligators feet are ribbon and the car's wheels are a different fabric than the car.  I used minky for the alligator too.  I tried to use different colors, textures, shapes and tags wherever possible.

See my picture below.

Had this not been for a baby I would have gone crazy with the embellishments but I didn't want a choking hazard!

Once I had all my shapes ready I stitched them down with a zig zag stitch.  I added a black ribbon "road" under the car too.

I stitched my blocks together, then pressed the seams. 

Next, I cut a piece for the back-I had a big chunk of yellow so that's what I used, love my scrap box!

I used my front piece laid on top of the yellow fabric to make the right size for the back.

I also sewed together my ties.  I ironed 1/2" along each of the long sides, then folded them in half and stitched down the open side.

Next, I put my ties in place.  A pair on each outer corner and one in the center. (See picture below).

I also added some more ribbon tags to the bottom of it.  Just one more  place to put a few fun textures for the baby!

Then, I put right sides together and pinned along the outer edge all the way around.

I stitched around the outer edge, leaving an opening for turning.

Then I turned it right side out, pressed it and topstitched the opening closed.

I love the way it turned out and the fact that it's not quite so girly as the one I originally saw!