an upcycled tie snake
after having seen a few of these snakes on Pinterest i decided to make one for Rufus who is just 4.
i searched the charity shops for a suitably patterned tie to stuff and found one in our local heart foundation shop for £2.50
I thought it would be a simple case of just stuffing the tie, sewing on the eyes and adding a forked tongue but the back seam on the tie i had chosen was catch stitched through all the layers to keep everything in place. When i undid this so i could stuff the tie the seam unravelled making it a bigger job than first thought.
I checked online to see if other folks had mentioned how they had made their snakes but no one had so i will tell you how i made Rufus's.
1. First unpick any stitches along the back seam which hold all the layers of the tie together until you have a tube to stuff.
2. If the seam unravels as it did in my case then carefully pin the two back edges together and sew with a small slip stitch or overstitch making sure you don't sew through all the layers. I kept about 10cms open at the wide end.
3. Take some stuffing, (kapok/polyester hollowfibre from a cushion pad or pillow/or chop up old tights) and gently push the stuffing in from the small end. Do this in small bits to avoid any lumps. I used a long wooden ruler but a pencil would work.
4. I stuffed half from the narrow end then the remainder from the wide end.
At each end of a tie you will find a small facing, usually in a polyester lining fabric. This can be lifed out and the stuffing can be placed behind it. It can then be folded back, pinned in place and sewn to the main tie fabric. I hope this picture shows what i mean.
5. Once your snake is stuffed and sewn up, cut out and sew on a forked tongue in red felt and sew on some button eyes.
and there you have it, one snake for a 4 year old to play with (or whack his brothers with which i expect may be more likely, hence using stuffing and not rice!)
Hurrah, another present crossed off the list G x
that's a very nice snake!
hope you and yours have a wonderful christmas- see you in 2013!
Posted by: janet clare | December 20, 2012 at 13:34
Oh my woolly word, that is such fun! And yes, I'm sure there will be plenty of whacking with such a toy ! Thanks for sharing this Ginny.
I hope you and your family are all well?
I've been out of blogland for a while, but now we've got a new computer it feels good to be back. I'm slowly catching up with everyone :-)
I have a new blog now, the old one is defunct. Though I have imported all the posts over from the old one. I hope I'll be able to leave the new link with this comment ;-)
Well, the Big C is just around the corner, so I want to take this opportunity to wish you and all your family a Very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. I look forward to more blog fun in 2013. Happy, happy days to you!
Josie xx
Posted by: Josie Crafter | December 21, 2012 at 11:32
Congratulations SweetMyrtle! I have nominated your delightful blog for the One Lovely Blog/Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Have a look at the rules on my site if you would like to accept. Cheers KnitNell
Posted by: Eleanor | January 18, 2013 at 17:26