Fishing

I made this game for Daan's children.

If you want to make one too, you'll need:

- a few pieces of colourful felt;
- a sewing machine or a lot of patience (if you sew them by hand);
- fabric scissors and normal scissors;
- filling material (fiberfill);
- pins;
- a needle;
- small but powerful magnets (without covers);
- thread in contrasting colours;
- a stick;
- a string of wool;
- a small piece of adhesive plastic;
- super glue;
- embroidery thread (optional);
- buttons (optional).

Here are the silhouettes I used. Cut the paper forms out with your normal scissors. Pin the fish bodies to  two pieces of felt and cut them out with your fabric scissors.

This way you get a back and a front which are perfectly similar. The sewing will be easier if you cut them out large (after the stitching you can cut of the excess felt).

For the upper and under fins you need only one piece. The side fins and eyes are in pairs.

Sew the eyes (small circles of a different colour felt or just a cross with embroidery thread or a button) and the fins on the front and back pieces. These small details you can sew by hand.

Pin the fish bodies together with the right sides out (i.e. the sides with the eyes and fins on). If you want an upper or under fin, pin it in between the front and back piece. Stitch along the seam almost around. I like using a contrasting colour of thread, but of course you could use a similar colour if you prefer it that way.

To turn your fabric (to change direction or to make a round line) leave the needle in the lowest position (i.e. inside your fabric). Then raise the pressure foot, pivot your fabric in the wanted position, lower your pressure foot and continue stitching. On one fish I do this about ten times.
Leave an opening of 7-8 cm. *Use a needle to pull the threads through the fish to one side, tie them off and use a needle to pull them into the inside of the fish. This way the loose ends won't be visible.*

Fill the fish with fiberfill and place a magnet in the middle. Carefully place it back under the pressure foot and stitch the opening close. Repeat this part **.

The great thing about felt is that it's so easy to work with. It doens't fray, so you don't need to finish the edges. The last part in completing the fish is simply cutting of the excess felt.

For the fishing line you attach a string of wool to a magnet with super glue. If you want to, you can make it look nicer by wrapping it in adhesive plastic.

Then simply tie the string to a stick and you're ready to start fishing.

Start to sew

As long as I can remember I liked to craft.
Made small fish out of towelling. Handicrafted crazy envelopes for the many letters I wrote as a teenager. Modelled little man in clay. Thrifted angels for the christmas tree.

During the passed few years I tried sewing with a machine and since last winter I sank my teeth into it as an antidote for the difficult times in real life.
The problem is I never learned to sew. In my grandmothers age this would have been unthinkable, but nowadays you can easily finish high school without ever touching a sewing machine, a pressure cooker or a drill.
Luckily we have this thing called the internet and you can find (almost) anything there: sewing techniques, free patterns, tips, inspiration. The downside is that it takes a lot of time to actually find the thing you're looking for in the overload of information. And a lot of times the tutorials are made for intermediate or expert seamstresses and not for beginners.
That's where this blog comes in. Every month I will try one of the patterns I find and I will explain every little step. I will find solutions for every problem to overcome and I will write about them here.
'Cause it's a lot more fun if other people can enjoy the benefits of my undertaking. So welcome and let's start sewing.