For You
Toss Around This Toddler Approved Toy Football
Football season has begun! We’re making yummy football treats and tossing around soft football toys. These will hopefully be a little softer and easier on your household items as they get tossed around while you watch the game!
Supplies for Sewing Football Toys:
- fabric – I used a flannel football fabric
- football pattern – 8in x 3in, with points at both ends
- scissors
- sewing machine
- stuffing – fiber fill or polyester filling
- sewing needle and thread
- white embroidery floss
Sew Your Own Soft Football Toy:
1. Cut out a paper pattern of your football piece. Cut out 4 of these shapes with your fabric. I folded my fabric twice and cut all 4 pieces out at once.
You can pin down your pattern to the fabric to cut or just hold it in place.
2. Sew 2 of your pieces together, with 1/4 inch from the edge. Do this to the other 2 pieces as well. You’ll now have 2 sewn pieces.
3. Open them both up and pin them together.
Then sew them around. Leave a 2 inch space on one edge so you can turn it inside out and stuff it.
4. Turn the football back to the right side out. Stuff your football with A LOT of stuffing. More than you think can fit inside of there.
5. Once your football is filled all the way, you need to stitch up your hole. I take a matching thread with a needle, tie a knot at one end and loop around your opening, stitching them together. Then tie off the knot and cut the end. This stitch up doesn’t have to be pretty, the kids won’t notice how it looks.
6. Using your white embroidery floss and a needle, stitch the lacing to one side of your football. I stitched my long vertical line first, then stitched 4 laces across. Then tie it off with a knot and cut the end of the floss.
Now it’s ready to toss around. Have fun with football this season!
Marie
Marie is a mom of 3 living in Seattle, WA. She's been the founder and managing editor of Make and Takes for the last 16 years, sharing DIY tutorials for home, family, and fun. Author of Make and Takes for Kids, Early Childhood and Elementary graduate, and currently teaching 2nd grade in Seattle!
football, sewing crafts, sewing toys, toys
20 comments
No pics and pattern link doesn’t work. :/
I can’t access the pictures and the link to the pattern isn’t available either. It’s football season! GO STEELER’S!
Hello, I really want to make this for my daughter because my husband has searched high and low for a soft football in the stores and he couldn’t find any BUT I cannot see any of the pictures and the link to the pattern isn’t working either. Could you PLEASE fix it so I can get the pattern? Thank you!!!
I would not use plastic beads. If a seam split, and the beads came out, the baby my choke on them. The poly stiff might be ok if you really pack it tight.
Would plastic beads work? To make it more of a bean bag football? I would think that would be washer friendlier than the filler…but I am new to all of this!
Thanks,
DinaThese are so fun! I’m making one for a friend’s baby and including it tomorrow in my Friday Favorites!
I made this for my son! He LOVED it!!! Thank you! I would love for you to add my button to your post if you feel like it! Thanks!
http://thecraftycopycat.blogspot.com/2010/09/football-season.html
Very cute! And very simple! I like that :-)
Thanks so much for the fun project, I’ll be linking.
Anne – Thanks for the link!
Saffiertje – You are welcome. My kids have been tossing them around all weekend!
this is sooo great! Gonna make one for my son!
thanx for this great tutorial!What a cool idea!! I linked to your pattern & tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/free-pattern-soft-toy-football/2010/09/12/–Anne
kama – That’s great. I’m so glad it worked out and you’re already planning presents with it! Thanks for sharing.
I just made 2 of these for my son during his nap. Super easy! Great idea! My SIL’s baby’s nursery is sports themed, so I’m going to make her some as well. So cute!! Mine are out of truck flannel (my son loves trucks) and the other is out of Texas Tech fabric because that’s where my husband went. Thanks for sharing the great tutorial!!
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