Little Lion Soft Rattle

I made up this little rattle the other day and he's pretty cute! It was a quick project and I'm happy with how it turned out. My best friend's baby is getting Baptised and I wanted to include a couple of handmade gifts among her presents.

This is a great stash busting project. I had the fabric already from making another toy and also had the ribbon (no idea what I originally wanted 5m of brown grosgrain for).

Here's how I made the rattle:

I traced out the shape of the head by hand, it is like the shape of a t-bone steak. Then I marked where I wanted the features. They are all backstitched, with the backstitching going around the edge of the felt nose. For the mane, I pinned the folded ribbon pieces in towards the middle on one of the pieces and then stitched them down in my seam allowance. I also sewed a length of ribbon to a toy ring and sewed that to the top. That way, the rattle can be secured to a pram or car seat. Then, I put the 2 pieces together and sewed around the outside. The little rattle box is in a fabric pouch which I sewed into the seam too, to make sure it stays put. I then turned it right side out, stuffed it and hand stitch the opening closed with ladder stitch. Simples!