Recently I was invited to participate in the Do Something Crafty Challenge on the blog, The Crafty Nest. I was so excited that I was invited to participate. So here was the challenge… myself and 3 other bloggers were sent the same mystery items in the mail, and we were challenged to create something crafty with them. We were allowed to incorporate other materials. We’re all being featured this week, (here’s my feature), then on Septemeber 23, voting begins for your favorite project.

****VOTING HAS STARTED!****
If you’d like vote for my project, click here.
You’ll find the poll in the right side bar.

Okay, now for my project. I made a Rollie Pollie stuffed animal for my daughter (aka, potato bug). If you need to laugh, its really okay. I totally went out on a limb with this project. My husband laughed too! (But since he knows our daughter so well, he thought it was perfect).
Yep, just let it all out… hehehehahaha. There. 

Now let me explain why I made this!

Before the mystery items arrived in the mail, I had already decided that whatever I made would be something that had a true purpose. I didn’t want to spend my time making something just for the sake of this contest. I wanted it to be something useful or functional, original, and I didn’t want to spend any extra money doing it. But why a rollie pollie? Yes, that does need an explanation. Perhaps this picture says it all… My daughter is infatuated with them, and has been known to play with them all day long. Last year for Halloween, she requested to be a rollie pollie, so I made her this costume. I’m pretty sure she’s gonna love this, and I can’t wait to surprise her on Christmas! 

So, here’s how I used the items- the fabric was for the scales, tummy, and head. The yarn was for the legs and I hand sewed the pompom balls to the head for antennae. I used leftover scraps from last year’s costume to complete the rest of the body. I hope you like what I made with the mystery items! It was such a great way to push my creativity, and to get something useful done. Thanks so much to Vanessa and her beautiful blog, for having me participate in this really fun challenge!

Here are a few more views:

Not that you’re itching to make a rollie pollie stuffed animal anytime soon, but just in case, I’ve got a full tutorial. Let’s begin!

 Materials needed:
about 1 yard of fabric, maybe a little less
fleece for the body, about 1/4 yard
yarn
poly fil cotton
rotary cutter and mat
thread, scissors, sewing machine, etc

Instructions:

1. Here’s what I was sent in the mail.

 2. I started by making a tiny version of what I thought would work for the body, so I could visualize everything.

3. Cut strips of fabric, you’ll need 7 total. Here are the measurements:
1 strip- 6 in by 17 in
2 strips- 6 in by 16 in
3 strips- 6 in by 15 in

 You can cut through 2 layers at a time.

 4. Fold in half, right sides together, and sew along the edge of your presser foot, one short end and the long end, leaving the opposite end open.

 Here’s what it’ll look like.
(note: I accidentally made mine too thin, yours will be double this width if you follow the measurements I gave you).

 5. Turn right side out, using a wooden dowel.

 6. Stuff with cotton.

I bought this bad for about $2.00 at Hobby Lobby with a coupon.

 7. Sew both ends, so you have an inch of fabric with no cotton. Don’t worry about finishing your raw edges.

 8. Cut two large oval pieces to form the body. Mine is about 18 in by 12 in.

 9. Cut a similar shape of contrasting fabric. This will be the tummy. Using a decorative stitch, sew about every 1/4 inches apart to create this design.

 10. Zig zag onto one layer of the body.

 11. Cut 2 layers of interfacing to be ironed onto the body (or fleece). Fleece is hard to work with unless its reinforced somehow.

 13. Time to sew on the legs. They will be attached to the side of the body that has the tummy. I cut strings about 6 inches long, folded them in half, twisted them, then sewed them really well to each side of the body.

 Let’s see how we’re doing in real life. I tend to sew with little munchkins on my lap a lot!

 14. On the other side of the body, you’re going to attach the tubes that you made. Just sew along the edge, attaching them the best you can.
Now stand back and admire your work so far, and ask yourself if you’re insane. It looks like a crazy oversized Easter egg!

 Also admire your daughter’s creativity. She’s making a breadstick necklace with the yarn…

 15. Now place right sides together, and sew around the edges the very best you can. This part was a bit difficult! But you can do it!

 16. Turn right side out. It’s starting to resemble some type of creature!

 17. Stuff with cotton, hand stitch shut. I used a running stitch.

 18. Design the head. I cut a circle of the fleece, added button eyes and backed it with interfacing, stitched a smile, then zig-zagged it to another circle of the decorative fabric. Then I stitched two layers of the decorative fabric together, right sides together, to form the head.

 19. Then I stuffed the head with cotton and hand stitched it together. Then I hand sewed it onto the rollie pollie’s body.

 20. Last, I added pom-poms for pretend antennae. (I don’t think rollie pollies have antennae, but I thought it would be cute)! Here’s the YouTube video tutorial I followed.

That’s it!!! Please email me if you have any questions at all! {familyeverafter at gmail dot com}

Linked up to these beautiful blogs!

***One more time, if you wanna vote for my project, or any of the other awesome projects, click here.***