tooth pillow tutorial, revisited

This basic tooth pillow pattern includes a loop to hang from the bedpost, doorknob or night table drawer knob, so the Tooth Fairy doesn't have to do that hazardous groping under the beneficiary's pillow. This is pure gold. Pure GOLD, people. It also has a built-in pocket in the mouth for receiving teeth and coins.

So I finished my oldest's tooth pillow (Ballerina Fairy, photo above) and I thought I'd repost the basic pattern with a better tutorial to go with it, because I made a couple of adjustments to it. The basic pattern does not include the crown, wings or skirt. You could make those parts pretty easily on your own if you like. (If you would like to see other tooth pillows I've made for both boys and girls for inspiration, you can view this flickr set.)

The basic free pattern now includes the cheek and teeth shapes. (I'm also developing a retail version of the pattern that includes lots of accessories and a better way to sew the mouth pocket. Stay tuned for that.)

So here we go! For a basic girl or boy tooth pillow you'll need:

• My pattern printed twice on 8.5 x 11 card stock
  
• Felt for tooth body, inside pocket, cheeks, little teeth, plus (optional) any accessories you add in addition to the basic stuff, like the crown and tutu.
• About 11 inches of ribbon for the hanging loop
• Buttons for eyes (or safety eyes, or felt eyes, etc...)
• Fabritac or other fabric glue
• Matching thread, embroidery floss, etc...
• Disappearing marker to trace and make markings
• Poly stuffing

1) You've downloaded the new and improved pattern and printed it out twice at actual size (no scaling) on letter sized card stock, right? Alrighty. Cut out the teeth and cheek shapes if you want to use them. Cut out the large tooth body piece from one sheet and the pocket piece from the other sheet. Also punch small holes in the main pattern piece to mark the ribbon placement, the mouth slit, the top corners of the pocket placement and the eyes. I use a 1/8 inch hole punch and it works great.

2) Trace and cut out the tooth pattern twice on felt. The pattern is now symmetrical so you don't have to worry about flipping it. Mark a vertical slit on the back piece and on the other piece mark all the placement holes you punched in step one.

3) Trace and cut out a felt pocket piece (in my case, I chose light pink*). Trace and cut out the small teeth shape and two cheeks if you are going to use them. If you are using the teeth shape, go ahead and glue it to the center top of the pocket piece. Set the cheek shapes aside.

*Note: If your tooth is a light color felt, avoid choosing dark colors for the pocket piece -- it may show through and give your tooth five o'clock shadow. Not good, especially if you are a girl tooth pillow.

4) In matching thread, machine sew around the mouth line and also the line on the back piece before you cut them. It will look like a box of stitches around each one. It's to stabilize the felt and keep it from stretching out of shape. Use an Xacto knife and a ruler to cut the slits, being sure not to come too close to the stitching.

5) Add dots of fabric glue around the edges of the right side of the pocket piece to keep it in place for sewing. Place it on the wrong side of the front piece behind the mouth using your marked dots for placement. Be sure the teeth are centered and showing through the mouth slit. With thread or floss that matches the outside of your tooth, hand sew with a hidden whip stitch all the way around the pocket. Be careful not to go through to the other side and use small enough stitches so that you won't lose any of your kid's teeth through a gap.

6) Add button eyes, safety eyes, embroidered eyes, felt eyes, whatever suits your stash or your fancy. Buttons can be a choking hazard for kiddos under three, so keep that in mind if your tooth pillow is for a very young kid. I know you know that. Has to be said. Also hand sew the cheeks on at this stage, and add whatever else you like in the way of facial features: freckles, mustache, eyebrows. Go crazy.

7) Add the ribbon. Loop it in half and glue it to the edge of the front piece. Pin the loop out of the way of the stitches.

8) Sandwich both pieces together right sides facing, pin, and machine sew all the way around with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. After sewing be sure to trim and clip all the seam allowances so that when it is turned the curves are nice and smooth. Turn it right side out through the slit in the back.

9) Tada! Now all you have to do is stuff it and hand sew the slit in the back closed. Scroll below to see some finished teeth and the back sewn closed.

At this stage you can also add more accessories if you'd like to customize your tooth.

The mouth pocket you created is where the lost tooth goes. Then you hang the pillow on the bedpost, drawer handle, doorknob, etc...And then the Tooth Fairy magically comes during the night to replace the tooth in the pocket with some coins or a rolled up dollar bill. At our house the Tooth Fairy sometimes forgets to visit (can you believe that slacker?), so now we always hang the pillow outside the child's door on the knob, as a visual reminder. For the Tooth Fairy.

And that is how you make a basic hanging tooth pillow. Love to see the ones that you make in my flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/mmmcraftsprojects/

Below are more photos of the one I made for my two with a crown, felt tutu and sparkly pipe cleaner wings added on the back (girly overload), so you can see there are many possibilities. I've made a few improvements to the pattern since I made mine.



What's really weird is at the time I was making it, I found out my good friend Jessica's daughter requested her own tooth pillow Ballerina Fairy at the same time, so our kids must've been channeling from some snaggle-toothed girly collective unconscious. Weirder still, when I found that out by chance, Jessica and I had both already made one unsatisfactory version and were each working on Ballerina Fairy Tooth Pillow 2.0.

Which is creepy. In a good way.

what I'm up to

Here's part of the pile currently residing on my desk. My oldest daughter lost her second tooth, so now is the time to make her a tooth pillow. I got a reprieve last time because she wanted to save her tooth and show it to her grandma that lives in Alabama, and somewhere along the way the tiny thing was lost. But now it is crunch time.

I made one tooth pillow and now I'm making another with a different twist to it. Per request it must be a ballerina fairy. In the doing I've discovered some aesthetic things I want to change about the pattern I did for this a while back, like the mouth is too wide in my opinion.


The other thing is making two soft wraps for colored pencils and a drawing pad. This project was a Christmas gift for my girls that never got made, so now I'm doing my best to have it ready for Valentines. My oldest unfortunately discovered the pencils and pads left out by mistake and keeps saying pointedly "I wonder who that is for, Mama? Is it for me?" sigh. I don't want to tell a lie, so I keep just ignoring her and making noncommittal noises.

I've seen the crayon rolls out there and love them, and adore the one in the book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, but I wanted to include a pad of paper, so now I'm making it up as I go along. Have you seen a pattern that accommodates a 6x9 inch pad of paper as well as pencils?

At least I get to use part of the 9 miles of bias tape I made a few months ago for them. I have a couple placemats I bought from Crate & Barrel's outlet site a while ago that I meant to convert to summery pillows or maybe a purse. I'm thinking they go pretty well with the bias tape for the drawing wraps. Orrrrrrr maybe not, as I stare at the photo above. Perhaps a bit busy. Maybe I'll still have 9 miles of bias tape after all.

(Postscript: About ten minutes after this post went live I received an e-mail from my friend ScrappinBethie with this link to EXACTLY the kind of wrap tutorial I need from Skip To My Lou. I musta pushed the easy button for that one.)

see you next year!

were you naughty or nice?

Merry Christmas, and Happy 2009!

We are heading out to spend some time with family and friends, my favoritest way to celebrate the holidays. That, and eating too much buttery food and drinking too many frothy coffees. Mmmcoffee.

Looking forward to another year of crafting and blogging with you.

God bless us, every one!

well, it took me long enough.

Finally finally finally. Katy Kitty's PDF format pattern is available in my new etsy shop. Hopefully in time for you to make some for gifts. As a bonus, I'll include the double-breasted coat and scarf PDF pattern I just finished for her.





The coat and scarf will also fit your Molly Monkeys! Also exchangeable are the shirt details and the shoes, which will go fine with either pattern.


Thanks as always for your interest and inquiries and encouragement. You guys are the best.

tooth officer

I made this tooth pillow for my nephew's 5th birthday party, which had a policeman theme. His mouth is the pocket for teeth and the loop is for the doorknob so the tooth fairy does not have to enter the child's room to retrieve the teeth. Or dig under their pillow for a tiny tooth, which always seems a bit risky to me.

In true Larissa fashion, I procrastinated making it until the morning of the party. Well, 2 hours before the party, really. If you'd like to make one, I'm pretty sure you could make it in very little time, because in that two hour span I: designed it, sewed it wrong, ripped out the sewing, fixed the strap, redid the sewing, fixed the strap again, stuffed it, and finished the face. All with time to spare for things like showering, dressing, making a handmade card, wrapping the rest of his present, and taking the eye makeup off my four year old that I forgot to take off last night.

I don't really recommend a schedule like that one. I actually had some chest pains as I was dressing. Here's a quick PDF pattern I made for a basic tooth pillow (policeman elements not included), if you'd like to download it and make your own version. If you like the police theme, the hat, belt and badges are easily made with some basic shapes. Enjoy!

NOTE: This pattern was updated on 2/10/09 with some minor improvements, so it won't look exactly like the image below. It's better!

in which I choose a winner randomly and ramble on about crafting

Ok. I wanted to GIVE YOU ALL a Katy Kitty. I wish that were possible. I found your comments so inspiring and encouraging, to say the least. THANK YOU, to everyone.

After using a random integer generator, the new Katy Custodian is: MommytoAva.

Congratulations! Green Katy is all packed and ready to go to her new home. Molly and Red Katy will miss her. Please contact me within a week with your email address so I can get her to you.

On the subject of 'What got you into crafting' I'd like to join in by saying I owe all my craftiness to the creative women in my family from a couple of generations ago until now; and I'm happy to say it is carrying on through my nieces and hopefully my own daughters. The urge to make things just runs in my veins. That certainly sums it up. So, you could stop reading here. (The rest is just me going endlessly on and on and on.)

My sister, Leigh, sporting the scrap-pieced house robe made by our Mema, circa 1977

One of Mama Graham's quilts and my Raggedy Ann doll, made circa 1980

My dad's mom, Mema, who had no money, would piece together bathrobes from scraps and crocheted endless hats for gifts. I remember my Mama Graham (my mom's mom) giving us grandkids handmade Christmas gifts, like this Raggedy Ann. Which I am utterly, completely ashamed to say I thought was so lame at the time. Okay, I just cannot admit that without pausing to mentally smack myself upside the head. *WHACK*

I now treasure those things and those memories, and appreciate the time and love it took to make them, as well as their desire to give a little of themselves to me. Mama Graham's scrap quilts are beautiful and all done by hand, and I'm lucky enough to have a couple. She passed on her sewing talent to her two daughters, Violet and Jackie.

My Aunt Violet started sewing at age 12, when baby sister Jackie arrived. She would go pick cotton in the fields, then use the money she earned to buy fabric in order to make dresses, bonnets and little outfits for my mom. At 84, Aunt Violet still sews handmade gifts like baby blankets and pillowcases, which we are so lucky to receive.

A few of the clothes sewn by my mom

My mom, Jackie, sewed gorgeous clothes for herself and all her little girls, of which I am the 5th. She also enjoyed making tablecloths for each season and holiday. She sewed in the evenings after we had gone to bed. I remember the beautiful purpleish-greyish velvet suit (wish I had a picture) she made my sister, Lita, for her high school senior portrait. I still can't believe I didn't seize the opportunity to learn to sew from her while I was still at home. *WHACK WHACK*

Of her five daughters, three of us were bitten hard by the crafting bug. The other two, Lita and Libby, not only avoided the bug, but actively tried to squish the bug with their shoe. But I know the crafting gene is in there somewhere, waiting until it is safe to come out. However, I must say despite not being crafters, they are all-around super swell and talented gals.

Just some of the numerous handmade necklaces my sister Lori has given me.

Of the bitten, my sister Lori started crafting as a kid, and has a talent for drawing, painting, handmade jewelry and who knows what else. I have a vivid memory of when I was four and was propped against the table in our finished basement in Maryland, watching her draw a picture of a jungle girl. It was a Pivotal Moment. I suddenly thought to myself, "Cool. I want to do that."

My sister Leigh made these baby quilts for my two girls,
with scriptures written in the squares by my nieces and nephews

My sister Leigh is now a phenomenal and prolific quilter and sewer and crafter of all things (as well as quilting teacher), who never goes anywhere without a work bag. She's tried every craft known to man since she was a wee tot. As a kid I vaguely remember her decoupaging with recycled greeting cards, making mounds of potholders, cross stitching, knitting scarves, crocheting, and making pottery. She's been a huge influence on my adult crafting life.

Me and Libby drawing with clay chunks on our driveway.
When you don't have chalk, you improvise.

For myself, it all started when I was very little with a desire to draw the perfect horse. I went through stacks of used typewriter paper my dad brought home from work. Somehow the quest to draw the perfect horse became a desire to draw everything. Perfectly. Then came the desire to make toys from paper. And modeling clay animals and space aliens. And pointless spoof comics inspired by Star Wars.

All this made a horrible mess, and eventually I was banished to the garage with (my first crafting studio!) a square of leftover carpet, a table and shelves. I spent hours at a time there, making jointed dolls and animals from paper, thread, and yarn, and furnishing a doll house with paper and cardboard furniture, complete with tiny cereal boxes (promotional ads included on the backs) filled with even tinier paper cereal.

As a teen I took pride in giving my family hand-drawn cards, emblazoned with my logo on the back (Larissa Cards, Inc. "When their very best isn't quite good enough"). Also I added fake UPC codes and exorbitant prices.

Photo by Danamania

After a few years of that, I went to college, purchased the requisite long, black trench coat and majored in graphic design. I was introduced to the Mac computer there. (I'm so old, the screen was maybe 6 inches square. And black and white. Seriously.) It was instant crazy love with that little thing.

After graduation, I worked as a graphic designer a few years in the field, then at home for myself. Then, two years ago I closed up my shop (mostly) in order to home school my girls. Somewhere in there I took up sewing. I am still compelled to create, and crafting is my creative outlet. I can't live without it. Or my Mac. Or coffee.

Then one day my bosom friend, Robyn, said, 'Hey, did you know there are a bunch of craft blogs online?'

Another one of those Pivotal Moments.

Yet another Molly Improvement

Ok, sorry. I promise this is the last time. Again with the legs. The whole pull-the-limbs-out-the-back method was indeed an improvement, however sewing the body together even while using this method can be difficult if the legs are stuffed tightly.

Sooooooo, another way to do it and keep your sanity is to NOT stuff the legs prior to sewing the body (suggested by a cool crafter who wishes to remain anonymous). You'll still be leaving an opening in the back, per the instructions. Also leave little openings in all the limbs (you can still stuff the tail before sewing) and wait to stuff them AFTER you turn the body. Simple! Then you stuff the limbs to the desired blimpiness and stitch your limb openings closed.

I hope this helps! Go forth and maketh more Mollys.

6 monthiversary. time for a giveaway!

(Thank you, everybody. Comments are now closed!)

Are you my mommy?

Whoohoo! Here's part of the fun stuff aforementioned. Time to celebrate six months of mmmcrafts. Leave me one comment and you could be the new owner of this Katy Kitty that I made with my own two little bony hands. While you are at it, tell me what got you into crafting. If you are into crafting, that is. Which you don't have to be. So, Lita and Libby, if you are reading this, you too are eligible.

I will choose the new Katy Custodian by using a random number generator on October the 6th.

Looking forward to your comments, and to the next six months of mmmcrafts.

P.S. I've been asked by some of y'all when the Katy Kitty pattern will be available, and my answer is, er...soon! Sorry for the delay! Hopefully I'll dig out from under some urgent stuff and be able to tackle finishing that in a week or so, in plenty of time to get kitties underway for Christmas.