free lion rattle sewing tutorial

November 14, 2017

I have a free lion rattle sewing tutorial to share with you today. We used Penned Pals lions as the inspiration, adorned with ribbons all around his little head. He turned out so sweet! Find the free sewing tutorial below.

 

(photos by Kelle)

SUPPLIES:

  • Download the Lion Rattle Ribbon Toy pattern
  • 1/4 yard White Kona Cotton (for Front)
  • 1/4 yard Ann Kelle’s Penned Pals Lion Fabric (for Back)
  • 1/4 yard lightweight fusible interfacing
  • 1 1/2 feet of four different 1″ wide ribbons
  • Thread
  • Scissors
  • Pinking Shears
  • Fabric marking pen
  • Sewing needle
  • Black embroidery thread
  • Fairfield Poly-fil
  • Toy rattle insert
  • Sewing machine
  • Ruler
  • Pins
  • Iron and ironing board

ASSEMBLE:

1. Using the Lion Rattle Ribbon Toy pattern piece, cut 1 Front using the white Kona cotton, 1 Back using Ann Kelle’s Penned Pals Lion fabric, and 2 pieces of lightweight fusible interfacing.
2. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the Front and Back pieces.
3. Place the Lion Face Template piece behind the Front piece and use a fabric marking pen to trace the lion’s eyes, nose, and mouth onto the right side of the Front.
4. Using 6 strands of black DNC thread and a sewing needle, hand stitch the lion’s face over the traced markings. You may use any type of hand embroidery stitch to fill in the eyes and nose and trace the mouth.
5. Cut the ribbon into 3″ long pieces. Fold the pieces in half to form loops and position each ribbon loop along the raw edge of the Back piece. Pin each ribbon in place. Once you are satisfied with the placement of the ribbons, machine baste the ribbons in place using a 1/4″ seam allowance.
6. Place the Front and Back pieces right sides together making sure that the ribbon ends are all tucked in the middle. Pin the Front and Back together.
7. Sew the Front and Back together using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Leave a 2 1/2″ to 3″ opening.
8. Use pinking shears to trim the edges of the toy to 1/4″.
9. Turn the toy right side out and press. I recommend using a press cloth to prevent the ribbons from melting or sorching from the heat of the iron.

 

10. Fill the toy with Fairfield Poly-Fil. A minimial amount of fill material is needed.
photo via Fairfield
11. Insert the rattle so that it is near the center of the toy and covered by Poly-fil on all sides.
NOTE: Rattle inserts are available in a variety of styles and sizes. Many of these may be found on Etsy using the search “rattle insert”. I made my own that is similar to the flat, round discs shown below using a plastic coin holder filled with tiny beads.
photo via Alibaba
12. Topstitch around the entire perimeter of the toy to close the opening and reinforce the ribbons.

 

 

Have FUN sewing!

posted by kelle at 8:11 am
(4) Comments

4 Comments

  1. Corrie says:
    November 14, 2017 at 8:49 am

    That’s adorable. Thanks for the pattern. It would be a darling gift.

  2. Lee says:
    November 15, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    Adorable! thank you for the tutorial!