How To: Make a Taggy Toy Animal

Our little man loves bath time. He also loves grabbing hold of labels and tags from clothes. I thought I'd combine the two and make some taggy sea themed soft toys for him to play with, to keep him occupied whilst waiting for the bath to run or when we're drying him off.

It's also a perfect way to make use of any scrap material and ribbons that you may have lying around.

For this 'how to' guide I'll be making a whale tag toy.

What you'll need:

Material

Ribbons

Needle

Threads

Pins

Wadding

1. Cut shape out of chosen materials. For texture, I've chosen to use cotton (from on old bib) and an old towel. 

2. Cut ribbons to length.

3. Tack stitch the end of the ribbons together

4. Place the two shapes together back to back, with the outside facing in. Place the ribbons inside the two pieces with the loops facing inwards and the ribbon ends sticking out the edge of the material - this will be the water spouting from the top of the whale.

5. Sew around the end of the two pieces of material, securing the ribbon. Leave a gap in the stitching and turn the material the right way round by pulling it through this gap.

6. Stuff the gap with wadding. I already had some lying around from when I made a fancy dress Minnie Mouse bow but you could use the inside of an old synthetic pillow to save cost.

7. Stitch the gap closed.

8. Use another coloured thread to stitch the eyes and mouth.

I also chose to make a jellyfish and a turtle to finish the collection of sea creatures. 

We tested them last night with the little man and he seems to approve! I think they'd make a cute personalised gift or a fun craft project to do with older children. I'm planning on sitting down with my Niece and helping her make a taggy toy for her new baby brother. Like most kids she loves craft and these are fun to make plus it will be yet another way to encourage her to feel included when the future new arrival becomes a permanent addition to her home. :)