It's the 9th Day of Christmas at CKC and we have another free project for you! I started this one out as a surprise for my kiddos but when they got home from school I realized it would be even better to have them get in on the fun. So they helped me finish it as a surprise for their dad and I know he's going to love it!
How fun is this?! All the excitement with none of the brrrr! Today I will show you how to make baseball-style snowballs out of fleece, plus a cute drawstring bag to store them in. It's the perfect little gift set for the young and young-at-heart! (I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a bag of my own once my husband gets his hands on these.) In fact, you can take it one step farther and add a few yellow snowballs in there too! (That was not my idea, but I did bring it up just now...)
Well, are you ready? Let's get to work!
Materials:
White fleece - 1/4 yard or scraps
(1/4 yard will make 9 snowballs if you cut them vertically on 60" wide fleece.)
(1/4 yard will make 9 snowballs if you cut them vertically on 60" wide fleece.)
Sack fabric - 1/2 yard or scraps
Ribbon for drawstring - 1 yard
Ribbon for drawstring - 1 yard
poly-fil or other soft stuffing
Sewing machine and iron
Hand needle & thread
Fabric marker/pencil
Straight pins and 1 safety pin
Instructions for Snowballs:
First of all, print the snowball template and cut it out. Take your fleece and fold it in half so you have two layers. Place the pattern piece on the fabric and cut around it through both layers. This will give you two pieces, which will make one snowball. (Note: I used a rotary cutter, but you could also use scissors by pinning the pattern piece or tracing around it first with a marker.)
Then repeat for the number of snowballs you want to make. Remember you need two pieces per snowball.
After you have cut out your pieces, use a washable fabric marker to mark the points indicated on the pattern piece. The piece only shows two points marked but you can mark all four on your first snowball to make it easier, as shown above.
You're ready to start pinning! Take two of the pieces for the first snowball. Match the top mark of one piece with the side mark of the other and pin in place with right sides of the fabric together, as shown above.
Then take the next side mark and match it to the next top mark, and pin them as shown above. It requires a little bending, as you can see.
Match up the curves between the two pins you placed, and use several more pins to secure the layers together. The more pins you use, the easier it will be to sew!
Now you're ready to match the next marks together, again bending the fabric around. Place a pin.
Again match up the curves between the pins and place more pins. You will notice the pieces are starting to curve around into a baseball shape.
Soon you will have just a flap left unpinned.
Raise that flap up and match it to the remaining curve, being sure to put right sides together.
Pin those remaining curves together.
Your snowball pieces should now have all their curves matched up and pinned all around.
You're now ready to sew! Beginning at whatever point seems easiest to you, sew around the curves 1/4" from the edge, being sure to curve carefully as you sew. Leave a 1" opening when you get around to where you started. When you're done sewing, your snowball should look something like the photo above.
Use a dowel or stick of some kind to turn the snowball right side out. Notice in the photo that I started by pressing the dowel into the closed end of the snowball, pushing it through the hole to the outside. This step should only take a few seconds if you do it as shown above!
Use your fingers to even out the snowball into a spherical shape.
Use the opening to stuff bits of polyfil or batting into the snowball. Don't be afraid to pack it in there tight and stretch the rounded areas of the fabric. The more you stuff it, the more round it will become. (And the harder it will hit! Umm...)
When you're done stuffing the snowball, use a hand needle and thread to sew the opening shut. In case you have never done this before, I included it in the tutorial here. (If you don't need the extra help, skip down past the needle/thread photos to learn how to make the drawstring bag!)
To sew by hand, start by putting your thread through the eye of the needle, doubling it back on itself, and tying a knot in the ends.
Fold the opening edges of the snowball inward so they match the seams on each side. Hold the folds shut and then put the point of the needle inside the folds so your knot will be enclosed when you're done. See photo above.
Pull the needle and thread through all the way. Then insert the needle on one side and bring it through both layers, right at the top of the folds, as shown above. Pull it through all the way.
Repeat this step over and over again, moving over about 1/8" or less each time, starting on the same side and going through both layers. Pull the thread tight each time. You don't want it super tight; just snug enough to hold the folds together.
You should soon come to the end of the hole.
On the last time when you pull it through, instead of pulling the needle out all the way, turn it back into its own loop as you pull, as shown above and below.
You want the thread to be pulling through the fabric AND looping through the loop at the same time, so it's tying a knot that will pull itself in close to the fabric.
As you pull on the thread, the knot will automatically scoot in right close to the fabric, as shown above.
Repeat that last stitch again, finishing it with a looped-in knot again. These snowballs are going to get a lot of rough play so you don't want them to come open.
After tying the last knot, don't cut it yet!
You have a nice knot tied at this point, but we don't want it showing on the outside. So instead, you can push your needle into the snowball near the knot and have it come out of the snowball at a random point that's farther away, as shown above.
Pull the needle and thread all the way out. That should leave the thread coming out of the snowball at a random place. Tug on the thread pretty firmly.
Then cut off that thread close to the snowball, without cutting into the fabric. The knot and the end of the thread are now hidden inside the ball.
You're done with your first snowball! Go ahead and admire your work. You can even throw it if you want.
Now put on your patient-pants and repeat all of the previous steps with your remaining snowballs. (This is when my kids walked in the door and I realized I could use some help stuffing them.)
When you're done you'll have a big ol' pile of snowballs! The more the merrier.
Set those guys aside for now. It's time to make the cute drawstring bag!
Instructions for Drawstring Bag:
First, decide how big you want your final bag to be. Then add 2" to the height and 1" to the width, and cut two pieces of fabric at those measurements. For my bag, I cut two pieces that were about 15" long x 13" wide. You may want your bag to be smaller or larger, depending on how many snowballs you want it to hold. You could do one large bag for the whole family's snowballs, or make a small bag of snowballs for each child. You need an equal sized front and a back for each bag you want to make.
Now you're ready to sew! Match up the edges of the two rectangles with right sides together and pin them in place. Then sew along the two sides and the bottom, as shown in red above. Leave the top edge open.
Fold the top edge of the fabric 1/4" to the wrong side and use an iron to set the fold. Then fold it another 1" and use an iron to set the fold. It should now look like the photo above.
Fold the edge down a bit so the right side of the fabric is exposed underneath. Find the center of that edge and mark it with a pin, as shown above. Then mark a 1/2" line on each side of the pin, 1/2" from the pin. See the two markings in the photo above.
Remember the folds that your ironed previously? Open that fold up just behind the marks that you made, so it looks like the photo above. You do NOT want it folded in the next step.
Now you are ready to sew a buttonhole on each of the marks you made. If you have never sewn a buttonhole before, you may find this blog post helpful (click here). You can put a scrap of interfacing or fabric behind the buttonholes to make them more sturdy before sewing, if you want.
When you're done, your two buttonholes should look like the photo above. Open the buttonholes carefully using a seam ripper.
Fold the casing back into place, where you had it when you ironed. (Remember, it was folded 1/4" then 1".) Pin the folds in place and then sew around the lower fold close to the edge, all around the bag, creating a casing for your drawstring. When you're done, it should look like the photo above.
Take the ribbon and attach a safety pin to the end of it. Use the safety pin to feed the ribbon in through one buttonhole, through the casing all around the bag, and back out the other buttonhole.
When you're done, the ribbon should look like the photo above. Remove the safety pin, trim the ends if needed, and then seal the ends with either Fray Block or by using a lighter to melt the ends carefully.
That's it! Now you can stuff all those snowballs into your cute drawstring bag, and you're all ready to go! It should be easy to tie a neat little bow in it.
Let's the fun begin!!
We hope you enjoyed today's free pattern! These are lots of fun to sew and even more fun to play with. Please come share your photos in our patterns group when you're done -- we would love to see your version.
Let's Create! ~ Kristen
