Portrait Bag Tag

Sewing is something I want to learn more about, so I quite enjoy following Trixi of  Coloured Buttons 

https://www.instagram.com/colouredbuttons/?hl=en who teaches children how to sew.  She has started an initiative where people sew a softie for the month of July and we were happy to join in! Check out the site below for more info.  and our tutorial for personalizing a back pack or bag!

http://www.sewasoftie.com/

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Personalize a friend’s back pack with a small version of them or make one for your own bag to make it identifiable!  This one was for one brother from another!

Materials

• Felt
• Embroidery floss
• Pencil/eraser and paper
• Fabric glue
• Wool polyfil fiber or similar material
• Polyfil pellets or similar material
• Fabric marker/permanent marker/pencil crayon
• Lids: two sizes
• Sewing scissors
• Funnel
• Key ring or attachment chain
• Ribbon
• Needle and/or sewing machine

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• If you like, sketch out you or your friend’s face to work out your ideas.

• Trace your lid twice onto your felt.  Cut out your circles.  Cut slightly inside your lines to hide the marker.

• Don your smock.  Glue or sew on your facial details on one of the felt circles.  We actually did both- gluing them first and allowing them to dry overnight and then sewing them on.  This skips the pins that may be difficult for some children.

• Lay your two felt circles on top of each other. *Be sure to clip and tuck in a loop of ribbon in between- folded in half.*  Sew around the edge, leaving a space to fill in the stuffing (which we made the size of a smaller lid) and pellets.  We went with a space of a little less than 2.5 cm/1 inch.  If you are using a sewing machine, you can use your foot as a guide to form a border.  If you are sewing by hand, be sure to keep your stitches close enough to each other so that your pellets don’t slip out and go about a finger width in from the edge.  We put about a tablespoon of pellets into the face with a funnel and then added polyfil by carefully pushing it in with our finger.  We shook the pellets to the bottom and sewed the hole shut.

• Loop an attachment chain or key ring through your ribbon loop (you may need an adult to help you with this step) and attach to your backpack, personalizing it and making it easy to identify as yours.  Or give it to a friend!

Save this idea:

Looking for more sewing projects to do for and/or with kids?

(From left to right, top down)

1) Dinosaur Softie (Our Daily Craft): http://www.ourdailycraft.com/…/make-a-dinosaur-softie…/

2)Draw String Bag (Little Worlds, Big Adventures): http://littleworldsbigadventures.com/kid-made-drawstring…/

3) Emoji Pillows (Easy Sewing for Beginners): http://www.easysewingforbeginners.com/…/diy-mini-emoji…/

4) Leaf Sewing (Rhythms of Play): http://rhythmsofplay.com/fall-leaf-lacing/

5) Unicorn Hobby Horse (Adventure in a Box):  http://www.adventure-in-a-box.com/diy-rainbow-unicorn…/

6) Mini Sleeping Bags (Little Worlds, Big Adventures):  http://littleworldsbigadventures.com/mommy-project-felt…/

7) Under the Sea (Little Worlds, Big Adventures): http://littleworldsbigadventures.com/diy-ocean-ceiling…/

8) Pear Ornament (The Craft Train): https://www.thecrafttrain.com/happy-pear-hand-sewn-felt…/

9) Mouse Pocket Pal (Rhythms of Play): http://rhythmsofplay.com/how-to-sew-a-pocket-pet-mouse…/

10) Star Stuffie (Apple Green Cottage): http://www.applegreencottage.com/…/how-to-sew-a-star…

11) Weather Stones & Pouch (The Craft Train): https://www.thecrafttrain.com/weather-stones/

12) Hippo (The Embroiderist): http://www.the-embroiderist.com/…/7/27/meet-harry-hippo

13) Jumper Creatures (Colourful Minds): http://colourfulminds.co.uk/proj…/woolly-jumper-creatures/

14) Zombie Bunny (Oh Creative Day): http://www.ohcreativeday.com/sew-softie-day/

15) Mini Stuffies (Coloured Buttons): http://www.colouredbuttons.com/2017/07/mini-softie-jar.html

16) Animal Stuffies (Mother Natured): http://mothernatured.com/…/how-to-make-animal-bean-bags/

17) Giant Pea Pod Pillow (Brainy Beginnings Network): https://www.instagram.com/p/BWXyU9pg-xr/?taken-by=brainy_beginnings_network

18) Bookmarks (The Craft Train): https://www.thecrafttrain.com/hand-sewn-sweetheart…/

19) Us!

20) Pretend Play Chocolates (Little Worlds, Big Adventures): http://littleworldsbigadventures.com/how-to-make-simple-felt-chocolates-for-pretend-play-free-pattern/

21) Animals of Australia Finger Puppets (Oh Creative Day): http://www.ohcreativeday.com/australian-animal-finger…/

22) Stuffies from Kid Drawings (Mama Smiles): http://www.mamasmiles.com/toys-based-drawings/

23) Tea Towel Stuffies (Blue Barn Living): http://bluebarnliving.blogspot.com/…/tea-towel-softies…

24) Dog Stuffie (Make, Film, Play): http://www.makefilmplay.com/…/how-to-make-a-dachshund…/

25) Play Purses (Little Worlds, Big Adventures):  http://littleworldsbigadventures.com/make-felt-bags…/

26) Strawberry Stuffie (Red Ted Art):  http://www.redtedart.com/sew-strawberry-plushie/

27) Christmas Baubles (Oh Creative Day): http://www.ohcreativeday.com/christmas-craft-kids-diy…/

28) Stuffie Home (Handmade Kids): http://www.handmadekids.com.au/sew-a-softie-handmade…/

Purpose

• Developing one’s sewing skills.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces when using fabric glue.
• Use scissors, a sewing machine and a needle with care and direct adult supervision and assistance.
• Cord, ribbon etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Pellets can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.