Summer is here, and the flowers are in full bloom. And the garden is abuzz with bug life. Inspired by a plastic sunflower rattle I had as a wee, these soft, squishy rattles not only amuse and entertain with their jingling but also provide a wonderful tactile experience for your baby. He or she will love squeezing and shaking it, as well as playing with all the wings and petals.

Instructions

Materials

Wool felt (at least 9 x 12 inches in size for the body, smaller pieces for details – estimate of 8 x 10 sheets in whatever colors you plan to use for the head/wings/leaves/petals)
Polyfil or your stuffing material of choice
Jingly plastic ball/cat toy
Embroidery floss for face details

FOR THE DRAGONFLY

Pattern Template
2 pieces for the body
2 side panels for the head
1 center panel for the head
4 pieces for the top wing (2 pairs)
4 pieces for the bottom wing (2 pairs)
2 eyes

FOR THE FLOWER

Pattern Template
2 pieces for the body
2 side panels for the head
1 center panel for the head
4 pieces for the leaves
6 strips (1” x 5”) to anchor the petals
20 tiny pointy petals
16 medium pointy petals
10 big petals
2 eyes

1. Trace & cut all pieces (1/4 inch seam allowances are included in pattern pieces). When cutting two pieces, just fold the felt over so that you cut through two layers. The number of pieces you need to cut for each piece is indicated on the template, but just to double check you should have:

2. Take the two pairs of leaves (for the flower)/four pairs of wings (for the dragonfly), and sew each pair together by sewing around the edge using a scant 1/4 inch allowance. Do NOT invert. Set aside for later.

3. Sew the head center panel to one side of the head first (see figure A), starting at one end and curving the center panel so that its edge is aligned with the outer edge of the head. Repeat for the other side. Trim and invert head.

4. Take the two pieces that compose the body, sandwich the leaves/wings inside of them with the tips of the leaves/wings pointing up and the stems/ends of the wings peeking out at least 1/2 inch from the edges of the body (figure B). For the dragonfly, you need to roll the tips of the wings up before you sandwich & pin so that you don’t sew through them (figure C). Pin in place through the side of the body that is on top (figure D). Now sew along side starting about 2 inches from the mouth of the V. Sew to the top edge.

5. Now sew your darts (the V). Bring edges together and sew from the open edge past where the felt meets to form a corner (figure E). Lock your stitch at this end so it doesn’t come undone.

6. Sew the head onto the body by popping the head into the top opening right side out (remember you inverted it earlier), making sure the center panels are centered in the front and back of the body (figure F). Sew around the perimeter where the edge of the head meets the edge of the body. This may seem tricky with such a tight space, but go slowly and just keep moving it with your fingers so that there is always more fabric ahead of the needle than behind it.

7. Time to invert your rattle – stick your fingers into the bottom opening and pull out the leaves/wings. Once they’re in the clear push the head out with one hand while pushing the fabric back in the opposite direction with the other hand (figure G). Go smoothly and slowly.

8. Push in a few bits of stuffing into the head. Once you have a soft layer, push in a jingly ball or two. (I use jingly cat toys for this – figure H.) Now push more stuffing in around them. Keep stuffing until the rattle is full. It doesn’t have to be really stiff, just a little firm. You might want it to be fairly squishy.

9. Once your rattle is all stuffed, you can close that bottom opening by either doing an invisible stitch from one end to the other (figure I) or just sewing it shut with the machine (figure J).

10. Sew on the circles for eyes with a secure whip-stitch. Embroider the mouth. If you are making the dragonfly rattle, congrats! You are finished!

11. For the flower, take the small strips of felt and sew all of the same size petals onto each one, as follows:

2 strips of 10 tiny pointy petals
2 strips of 8 medium pointy petals
2 strips of 5 big petals

When you’re sewing the petals onto the felt, you can have them overlap at the base so that they look fuller. To be safe, sew another row of stitches about 1/8 of an inch away from your first row. Once you have your 6 finished strips, whip-stitch them onto the body of the flower in layers, starting with the tiny pointy petals right by the head of the flower (figure K) and finishing with the big petals about 3/4 – 1 inch below where you started. And now you have a flowery rattle!