Tutorial: Ribbon Ball

My little Ollie will be one year old in less than two weeks, and I decided to make most of his gifts - partly to save money, and mostly because I can make him things he'll love just as much as store-bought toys.

This week's project: a soft, squishy ribbon ball. I've seen these in boutique stores selling for WAY too much money and decided I'd make him one myself. Here are the instructions in case you'd like to make one for a little munchkin in your life!

Materials Needed:
Ribbon Ball Pattern (you can download and print it HERE)
Felt (you can do one solid color or make it multicolored)
Grosgrain Ribbon
Sharp Fabric Scissors
Chalk

Instructions:
1. Cut out ribbon ball pattern shape and trace on felt six times.

2. Cut out all your felt shapes.

3. Cut out 18 pieces of grosgrain ribbon, approximately 4 inches long. Lay your pieces out the way you'd like them on the ball. Place three pieces of ribbon between each felt piece the way you'd like them arranged.

4. Place the first two pieces of felt on top of each other, right sides together. Take the first piece of ribbon, fold in half, and place between the two felt pieces with the cut edges sticking out about half an inch. Repeat for the other two pieces of ribbon.

5. Pin piece together and sew 1/4" from the edge.

6. Trim the raw ribbon edges down a bit and cut small snips up the edge you just sewed, being careful not to cut the seam. This will allow the fabric to form a nicer ball when you turn it right-side-out.

7. Repeat Steps 4-6 with third piece of felt. Now you've got something like this. Kinda looks like a funny hat, eh?

8. Now you'll need to repeat the steps 4-6 with remaining three pieces of felt, leaving a 3-4" gap open between two pieces for turning later.

9. Now you've got two halves of the ball. Place these two halves right sides together and pin all the way around, inserting your remaining ribbon pieces and pinning in place. Sew all the way around the ball. Make small snips up the edges you just sewed, being careful not to cut the seam.

10. Turn ball inside out and stuff with fiberfill. I didn't have enough so I ended up using some felt scraps and batting scraps as well. You can even use scrap fabric, old clothing, or even plastic bags if you want the ball to be crinkly.

11. Once fully stuffed, hand-stitch the opening shut.

DONE! I can't wait to give this to the wee one for his birthday. I may have to make a couple more in varying sizes for him to play with. If you make this, let me know how it turns out!