This was SUCH a satisfying little project - quick and simple to create, with a funky and functional result!
We'd been thinking that Baby R has got to about the right age for a rag-tag toy. You might have seen the sort of thing - little cloths with bits of ribbons poking out for them to suck on. Usually sell for between £8-£10. Well, this was MUCH cheaper, more personal and more enjoyable.
I started with two circles of fabric - one a cute vehicle design cotton (sourced by Grandma Glenda - thank-you!), one layer of white fleece. I'd orginally planned to make a square-shaped rag-tag, but I only had a little bit of fleece which was roughly circular in shape. So I thought "Why not?" and went with that! I also got Rachel to sort through my collection of ribbon scraps to find all the colours which vaguely went with the cotton.
I looked through the ribbons and selected those which I thought would work, then cut them to size and gave them a quick going-over with the iron to get out stubborn creases and rumples.
Next I muddled the ribbons so that similar colours and patterns were apart from one another and pinned them into position. Conveniently enough, I had 12 ribbons, so I could lay them out like a clockface. (They're pinned facing inwards so that when I sewed and turned inside out the ribbons would point outwards. Sewing involves lots of maths - visualising how things are going to look after you've turned them upside-down, inside-out etc. Makes me pull quite unflattering expressions sometimes, thinking about it!)
Having positioned the ribbons, I pinned the cotton on top, wrong side out and put a few pins in to hold that in place.
Then I sewed round, keeping close to the edge, but going backwards and forwards over each ribbon to make sure it was really firmly held in place. If you're going to do this, do make sure you leave about an inch open to turn it through! I even zig-zagged round the raw edges of the fabric, since I imagine this toy will be chewed and washed many times, and I don't want the ribbons or edges to fray, or the ribbons will fall out. It's probably unecessary, but it took so little time and effort I thought I might as well. Just in case.
Then I turned it through, top-stitched round the edge and ta-dah!!! A cute, cheap and special little toy, which Baby R has already enjoyed fingering, nuzzling, rubbing all over his face and chewing. In fact, we took it with us today on our trip to the farm (Baylham Rare Breeds Farm - an excellent day out for children and adults alike - I highly recommend it!) so it's already in the wash.
The thing I think I like best is that most of the ribbons have a story. The lime and dark green ribbons are left-overs from our wedding decorations. The deep pink ribbon with white spots was bought when I needed to add some ties to a red dress I'd bought to wear while pregnant. The thick one with red and white stripes is from the packaging of the PJ's I bought to over my pregnant bump from Debenhams. The 'Made With Love' ribbon was free with a Mollie Makes magazine. The brown ribbon with gold writing (it says Petits Pois Vert) was tied around a beautiful gift for Baby R - a mobile, which was sent from a French shop in Japan, from my good friend Sally.
What a happy little project - I really recommend this as a fun and simple project if you have a little one who's into chewing and textures. Or it'd make a great gift for a newborn.