A SUGGESTION FOR HOMEMADE TOYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 374, 7 June 1928, Page 4

A SUGGESTION FOR HOMEMADE TOYS

Soft toys, beloved by the tiny tots, are not difficult to make. The material should be soft, thick and woolly in texture, velvet serving well for some models. The stuffing may be kapok, wool or flock. It is a good plan to study a well-made bought toy Kg for useful Ideas on cutting-out, placing n the limbs, and finishing. j!j Make a sketch of the animal, bird, or elf to be represented by the toy. Sit may be presented in a side view or from full front, as preferred, the S{ former being the easier to manage, a The head and trunk can generally be S| cut together in two-piece form, al--8*“ though some animals require three pieces to get the correct contour. Try 8 to make your sketch as full of charh acter as possible; an inquisitiveO looking kitten, an impudent puppy, or X a perky chicken, will find more favour n with the youngsters than will a more v stolid model. Nursery books will supK ply plenty of characteristic pictures © to copy. V Having made the drawing and cut A it out, double the material wrongO side out, and pin the drawing on it, S going carefully round the outline with Q a soft pencil. Remove the sketch, O tack the stuff to keep it in place, and X machine along the pencil marks, leavQ ing a small opening in some inconv spicuous spot through which to turn A the case and to stuff it. O Cut out the figure about half an jS inch outside the machining and turn A it right side out. Stuff until it feels © firm, though soft, all over, and sew up the hole. J% When adding the legs, wings, ears, and so on, which must be made separately, try them first in different posi- — tions; then pin and sew them on firmly, remembering that these soft l toys are apt to be so vigorously ■ “loved” by their little owners that they must be substantially made. Eyes can be put in with buttons —- which have a pleasantly quaint effect —or with the eyes procurable at toyshops. Two or three colours may he used in making the toys, with very ' good results; but at first It is best to keep to one material, in order to simplify cutting out. .T.B.