The Crafty Cupboard: Fleece Farm Friends

I made these little guys before the baby was born, and when I was cleaning out some files I realized I haven’t shared them on my blog yet- they appeared on Tip Junkie last November, but they need a place in my own archives.

You can get the template for these guys here. Just click on “download” on the right column.

You will also need:

Fleece, 1/4 yard cuts of assorted colors (you will have plenty of leftovers- maybe make a little scarf or something with the extras!)
Sewing Machine
Hand Sewing Needle
Coordinating thread
Polyfill- stuffing

Using your templates, cut out your shapes from your fleece. Be sure to line up the ball pieces along the bias. This is the diagonal of the fabric, and will help your ball be more of a ball instead of an egg.

Don’t forget all your little pieces that make the ball a farm friend!

For the Chick, Cow, and Mouse, pin two of the ball pieces together, end to end. Begin sewing 1/4″ from the end, and stop sewing 1/4″ from the other end. Use a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Add another piece, sewing with the same 1/4″ instructions, so you end up with a set of three pieces. Put this aside, and make another set of three for the chick.

The chick will need its tail inserted between the two halves before you sew the ball together, so just pick and end, match up the seams, and shake those tail feathers so they stick in between the halves.

The mouse and cow will need their ears set next. Fold your cow ears in the center like the template shows, and fold the mouse ears so the corners line up.

The ears will be set in when you sew your next set of three ball pieces, one in each seam.

For the Rooster, sew two red pieces, and then one orange to make your set of three.

Now you will insert the shape that will make the tails, rooster feathers, and red wobbly thingy. The feathers go between the red ball shapes, and the wobbly thing (what is that called??? Mike calls it a gibbler when he grabs the fat under the baby’s chin… ha ha!) between the orange.

For the tails of the other animals, insert the tail at one end where the points all meet.

Sew around the entire ball, leaving a 3″ opening for turning along one of the sides.

Stuff with stuffing, as firm or as soft as you like. For a more musical experience, put a cat jingle ball toy in as you are stuffing. I get mine at Wal-Mart for cheap. (My husband vetoed the jingle experience this time. Sometimes you just need quiet!)

Hand-stitch your opening closed with a coordinating thread.

Time to embellish! Noses (and beaks) first!

Sew your beak pieces together along the 90 degree angle. Stuff with a little bit of stuffing, and hand-stitch to the center of the Chick and Rooster’ faces.

For the cow, cut a 6″ x 3/4″ piece of white fleece, and for the mouse, cut a 4 1/4″ x 3/4″ strip of gray fleece. Sew each long strip piece with short sides together with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Pin to the nose piece and sew carefully around. (I sewed some mouse whiskers directly on the ball with some embroidery floss before adding its nose)

Turn right-side out, stuff, and hand-sew noses to the center of the animal’s face.

For the cow, I hand-stitched on the spots using regular thread and a blanket stitch. It is totally unnoticeable, though! So much for cute stitching.

Hand-stitch the eyes on all your farm friends, and you are done! Although, the first thing my husband said after I showed him these guys was, “Where’s the pig?” I guess I’m not done after all!!