Friday, December 28, 2012

FELT ROBOT

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

About two years ago I started to make a crobot (crocheted robot) for my son. I started that thing over and over again, repeatedly pulling out my terrible work. I finally gave up but my son still kept asking when he was getting his robot. I finally made him one...but out of felt instead.  I had this idea rolling around in my head for about as long as the trial (and error) of the crobot and I finally decided to make it for him for Christmas.  With the exception of the neck band and the band for the ears, I used spellbinder dies as pattern pieces for the entire thing.

I used labels 2, nested squares, sprightly sprockets, nested rectangles. nested circles, scalloped hearts. The felt was from Joann's and was a 35% wool /rayon blend.

I cut 4 of the largest labels 2 die and 4 of the next size down. Four of the largest squares and four of the next size down.

I made the mistake of putting the head together before adding the eyes and other front pieces but these should be attached first on the flat piece.  It is much easier to sew them that way. I used a blanket embroidery stitch for just about all the sewing on this.   

The ears were made with the circle dies and strips of black felt about 1/2 inch wide.  I wrapped the strip around the circle to get the correct proportions for the length.  
Attach these before putting the head together too.  I obviously didn't and it was much more difficult to sew. To keep the proportions of the circle intact, I used the circle to draw on the inside of the side of the head and used it as a sewing guide. Otherwise the circle can become distorted with the stuffing inside moving it around.  

Once the eyes, etc., were on stitch the sides of the labels 2 die.
 Then added the square sides, tucking in some polyfill before completing the stitches. Both the head and the body were done the same way.
I next made arms and legs from the rectangle die as shown. The edges were doubled over length wise and whip stitched along the raw edge.
I put a couple stitches in the middle of the arms/legs to add a little joint to the limbs.


The hands and feet were put together like the head and body but with squares only.

The arms/legs were attached to the blocks and then attached to the body as shown.



The head was attached with a strip of wool about 3/4 inch wide by 3.5 inches long.  A little stuffing was added to prop up the head. This was a little tricky getting the stuffing to stay in the neck while sewing it to the body. I needed one more hand!
I added the mouth last because I didn't think it needed it till after I finished but as with the other face parts put it on  before assembling the head.  I cut it using the two labels 2 dies then trimmed off everything except the bottom.
Cute huh? My son loved it and hopefully he will forget about the stupid crobot.


I am entering my little bot into the DIY PROJECT PARTY monthly contest.

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3 comments:

Brenda said...

Cute!!!!I have grandsons that would love it!

SusanBluerobot said...

OH OH OH it is great I want one now LOL I might have to make one too now as he would look good with my collection

Anonymous said...

This is adorable! I think it might be the perfect project for a Valentine's gift for my little guy, and there is time to make it! I've pinned it to my handmade toys board, both for my future reference and because I'm sure a lot of people would love to see this great robot.