The symbol of the New 2020 is the White Metal Rat. Therefore, before the holiday, her image will appear on Christmas tree toys, postcards, magnets and other cute souvenirs. Do you want to make a felt rat with your own hands? It couldn't be easier! You can find everything you need to make it, the subtleties of tailoring, patterns and ideas for inspiration in this article.
Content:
- Tools and materials for work
- Felt seams
- Sequence of work
- Patterns and patterns
- Felt toy ideas for the New Year 2020
Tools and materials for work
When you start sewing a rat with your own hands, prepare the following tools and materials:
- sheet felt of the desired colors;
- threads;
- filler;
- decor elements.
Felt differs in sheet thickness. For small toys, it is better to buy a softer and thinner one (1-1.3 mm), and use a hard one for individual parts, for example, ears.
For sewing parts, threads of medium thickness are suitable. Craftswomen who make toys professionally prefer to use 3-fold floss, as they twist less than usual.
As a filler, synthetic fluff, holofiber, camphor (elastic balls made of synthetic fiber) can be used, but synthetic winterizer will be a cheaper and more accessible material.
The use of additional decor, such as ready-made eyes, beads, decorative buttons, can revive the symbol of the year, and all this is sold in fabric stores or for needlework.
The list of tools for sewing a New Year's Rat will be as follows:
- tissue marker;
- scissors;
- pins;
- needles;
- wooden skewers or sticks;
- glue or glue gun.
A marker is needed to transfer the pattern to the fabric, but there is no need to buy a special felt-tip pen. It may well be replaced by a ballpoint pen, pencil or crayon.
There are special tailor's scissors, but any others will cope with cutting, the main thing is that they are sharp.
Pins, like needles, should be chosen thin so as not to leave large holes in the fabric. For sewing convenience, the needle should have a long and narrow eyelet.
Skewers and sticks will help evenly fill the finished rat and distribute the synthetic winterizer even in the most inaccessible corners.
To glue the eyes of a finished rat, Moment Crystal glue is suitable, it is thick enough and will not be too absorbed into the felt. A glue gun will do the job well as well, but in this case you need to work quickly.
Felt seams
Of course, the details of the toy can be sewn on a sewing machine, but only if there is a large amount of work to be done. In another case, it is better to give preference to manual work, because in this type of needlework they also perform a decorative role. And if you sew a toy with your child, it will help in the development of fine motor skills of the hands.
The most commonly used seams for fastening parts:
- Seam "forward needle" - they connect small details along the edge.
- Stitch "Back needle" - simulates a machine stitch and allows you to firmly sew parts of any size.
- Assembly stitch - used for sewing round and three-dimensional items. It differs from the "forward needle" seam by a stronger thread tension.
- Over-the-edge seam - it can be tilted to the left or right, but when sewing you need to make sure that the stitches are the same length and with the same tilt.
- The buttonhole or overlock stitch is the most popular, it allows you to stitch any product firmly and beautifully.
Sequence of work
The first stage of working on a toy is choosing a template and cutting it out.The pattern you like can be printed on paper or drawn by hand. In the second case, it is better to use graph paper. It is not only easy to maintain the proportions of parts on it, but you can also increase the already printed pattern to the desired size.
The sequence of work will be as follows:
- Transfer the templates of the future Rat to the fabric.
- Cut out the details of the toy.
- Sew the details of the face, decorate it by making eyes, mustache and nose.
- Sew the torso and other details.
- Stuff individual parts and sew them together.
- Decorate the finished toy with additional decorative elements.
Rat patterns
Ideas of rats and mice made of felt for the New Year 2020
Although the symbol of 2020 is the White Metal Rat, when making a felt souvenir, you can slightly deviate from the recommended color scheme and sew a bright cheerful mouse or rat that will delight not only a child, but also an adult. A felt rat can be not only a soft toy, but also a mask for a children's New Year's costume, a bright brooch, a Christmas tree toy, a keychain or an interior doll that will decorate the house and attract good luck and good mood to it.
