New Puzzle Ball Completed

It has been a while, but I finally finished a new puzzle ball.  This one is meant for my niece.  I planned to give it to her for her first birthday, but that came and went and all the wedges of the ball were just lying around on my desk at home. 

Today I cleared off my very messy desk to dig out my hidden sewing machine and discovered all these sad, neglected pieces of her puzzle ball.  I stuffed the remaining pieces, sewed up the remaining edge, and joined the pieces to form this lovely new puzzle ball.

I think it turned out rather cute  :)  There is one ring of racoons, one ring of foxes, and one of moose.  I probably wasted a lot of fabric centering the images onto these little critters, but it was well worth it.  I chose to use flannel fabric and to skip the cotton batting to create a softer, baby-friendly ball.

If you would like to make a puzzle ball of your own.  The pattern can be found here in my store or using the Paypal link on this post.  This is a 6-inch ball, but I also have a pattern available for a larger 9-inch ball.

Have a great day!

Make Your Own Puzzle Ball

I wanted to make something special for my friend's baby over the holidays.  In my search for the perfect home-made gift, I came across puzzle balls.  

  They look neat, you can take them apart, they are soft, and they're easy for babies to grip onto.  They're also washable.  Perfect for a baby!

I had trouble finding a tutorial and template that had everything that I needed though.  So, with some experimentation, I came up with my own tutorial!

Want to make your own?  You can find the tutorial and template in my Etsy shop.  The instructions are easy to follow and there are 32 colour photos to illustrate the steps.  The pattern and template are instant downloads so you can start on your project right away.

It's work-intensive to make, but the result is so satisfying you'll want to make more!  

I have created a Flickr group here so that you can share photos of your finished puzzle balls.

If you would like to make a BIGGER puzzle ball, it is available here in a 9 inch super soft version.

One of my customers told me that her grandmother used to make these for her when she was little.  She was excited to find a tutorial for something that she had valued as a child.  I think it would be very sweet to get one of these from grandma or from another dear person.  What do you think?

Have a great day!