sock animal rattle tutorial

I'm excited to be posting today as part of the babyhood bonanza going on over at luvinthemommyhood!  If you haven't stopped by the party yet, you'll find lots of fun and creative baby themed project tutorials from guest crafters all around blogland.

Today I'll show you how to make a sock bunny rattle ... my little twist on a classic craft.  You all know how I love sock animals!

It's soft ... it's squishy ... it has chomp-able ears and a nice, soft jingle.  It is sure to be your infant's favorite first toy.

 Materials:

• one sock per rattle
• polyfill stuffing
• embroidery thread and needle
• one jingle bell
• optional: sewing machine, thread, etc.  If you use a machine, a ball point needle is very helpful when working with knits (I also like to use my walking foot).

This project can be entirely sewn by hand, but I use a sewing machine for the larger pieces to speed the work along.

Also, I'll be showing you two versions of this project.  The first version is a straight handled rattle with a small animal head.  The second version is a loop handled rattle with a larger animal head.  Feel free to mix them up as you choose - the beauty of sock animals are how customizable they are!  You can also easily change the ear shape and facial embroidery to make a wide range of animals.  I'll only be showing you a bunny in this tutorial.

Straight-Handle Rattle (Version 1)

Step 1:  Cut your sock, following the photo below

Step 2:  make the handle

1. Fold piece A in half lengthwise, with right sides facing together.  Pin in place.  
2. Sew down the open side and bottom, curving the bottom edge.  Leave the original sock cuff open for stuffing.  I sewed a straight stitch on my sewing machine and also serged the edges (optional).  You can also zigzag stitch the edge, or double stitch for durability.  
3. Turn the handle right side out and stuff with polyfill.

 Step 3:  make the head

1. Turn piece B inside out and stitch the top closed in a curved edge.  Fold flat in the other direction and sew another curved seam overlapping the first perpendicularly (not pictured - sorry!).  Basically, it will make a small "x" on the top of the head and give it a nice curved shape.
2. Turn right side out and stuff the head.  Insert the jingle bell into the center of the head and cover with more stuffing.
3. Using a long piece of embroidery floss, start cinching the bottom of the head closed (hide the thread knot on the inside of the head).  I cinched the head by sewing stitches alternating on opposite sides of the head.  Continue stitching and cinching until the bottom of the head is all gathered in.
4. Tie a knot to close off the head, but do not cut your embroidery floss.  You will continue to use it in the next step (fewer knots to hide!).

Step 4: attach the head to the handle

Continuing to use the embroidery floss from step 3, attach the bottom (cinched) side of the head to the opening of the handle using a ladder stitch.  If you are not familiar with the ladder stitch, I would recommend watching this short how-to video.  It is a very simple stitch that is great for sock animals because it is strong and nearly invisible.

Step 5: make and attach ears

1. Cut piece C in half horizontally so you have two equal pieces.  Do exactly as you did with piece A for the handle:  fold in half lengthwise with right sides together, pin, sew down one side and curve around one end, leaving the other end open.  Serge or zig zag the edges if desired.  Repeat with the other ear.
2. Turn both ears right side out.
3. Attach ears to the top of the head.  I placed them along one of my seam lines.  Turn the raw edges under slightly and attach to the head using a ladder stitch, exactly as you did in step 4.

Step 6: embroider the face

I didn't take step by step of the process, but I used a backstitch for the eyes, whiskers and mouth, and a satin stitch for the nose.  The Stitch A Day section on the Hand Embroidery Network blog is a great resource for learning how to do just about every embroidery stitch there is.

That is it for the straight handled rattle!  Pretty easy, right? 

Loop Handle Rattle (version 2)

 Step 1:  Cut your sock, following the photo below

Step 2:  make the handle loop

1. Fold piece A in half vertically with right sides together.  Pin and sew down the long side.  Leave both ends open.  Serge or zig zag the edge if desired.
2. Turn the tube right side out and stuff.
3. Create a loop by bringing the two open ends together.  With a long piece of embroidery floss, stitch together in the middle where the raw edges meet.  Do not cut the thread, as you will continue using it on the next piece.

Step 3:  complete the handle

1. Attach piece D by stretching to fit around the entire loop opening.  
2. Turn the raw edges of piece D under and attach to loop (overlapping the loop's raw edges) using a ladder stitch.
3. Top off the handle with additional stuffing.

Step 4:  make the head

1. Stuff piece B.
2. Insert the jingle bell into the center of the stuffing.
3. Using a long piece of embroidery floss, cinch and stitch the bottom of the head closed (see step 3 in the straight handle version for more details).  Do not cut your thread ... you will continue to use it in the next step.

Step 5:  attach the head

Continuing to use the embroidery floss from step 4, attach the bottom (cinched) side of the head to the opening of the handle using a ladder stitch.

Step 6:  make and attach ears
Same as in the straight handle version!   See photos and directions above.

Step 7:  embroider the face
Same as in the straight handle version!

And there you have it ... two different sock bunny rattles.  You know you want one.

Tutorial to be used for Personal Use Only. Thank you!