Handmade baby toys are hip!
So what is possible in terms of handmade baby toys?
As mentioned, in this blog we will focus on crocheted soft toys or so called Amigurumi but there is much more to make when thinking of a homemade maternity gift. Below is a list what you can use to get inspired:
- A baby blanket
- Baby clothes and/or baby shoes.
- A wooden or silicone teething ring.
- A wagon tensioner
- A pacifier cord or toy cord.
- Wooden and/or crocheted baby rattle.
- A cuddly blanket, such as this one from Crochet Studio
- A handmade wooden or silicone baby gym > Read more about this in our blog on making a baby gym.
- Crocheted toy tower with stackable rings, like Christel Krukkert ‘s stackable rabbit or stackable bear.
All of the above products can be made from either wood, silicone or crocheted/embroidered products and can mostly be both crocheted and knitted. Since there are so many fun things to make as maternity gifts, in this blog we focus on making Amigurumi/crocheted soft toys. Read more below for our tips and tricks.
Materials, quality and safety of importance when making Amigurumi
w hat do we recommend for yarns?
By far the most favorite material if you want to make anything for babies is cotton. Cotton is easily washable and virtually non-fluffy. This also makes it virtually impossible for a little one to ingest fibers of the material when sucking on the product. In addition, in the long run, children are less likely to have allergies or irritations from cotton than from acrylic or wool, for example. Always look for high quality products.
Dutch products, for example, are almost always dyed with non-harmful substances. This is not necessarily the case with cotton from abroad. A tip we often mention is Durable Coral Yarn. This yarn is 100% cotton and GOTS certified. The yarn is ecologically produced (both the yarn itself and the dyeing). In addition, the yarn is available in a large assortment of as many as 85 very beautiful colors. Did you know that Durable Coral yarn has been available in the Netherlands for more than 30 years? So a real market favorite! The yarn has a running length of 125 meters on 50 grams and recommendation for needle thickness is 2.5 to 3.5 mm. However, we also often crochet Amigurumi with crochet hook 2, so the effect stays nicely closed and you don’t see much of the stuffing. Note that this also depends on how tight or loose you crochet, which varies from person to person. By the way, how loose or tight you crochet and how regularly you crochet often also varies depending on how long you have been crocheting. Someone just starting out often hooks looser or more tightly and often a little less regularly. You develop this skill over time. So never be discouraged either! That’s how we all start! 🙂
Important tip: For baby blankets, cotton is almost always preferred. This also provides good ventilation, so the baby will not be too hot or too cold easily. So it is important to always consider the function of the blanket and not just the final appearance of the blanket.
How do you fill crocheted stuffed animals/Amigurumi?
Okay the yarn for our stuffed toy is chosen. The outside is ready to be shaped, but what are we going to stuff our Amigurumi with? The most important first question is, do you want to be able to wash your stuffed toy? So the underlying question here is usually is the stuffed toy for decoration or is the child going to come into much more contact with it while playing? This is something you need to consider when stuffing your soft toy. There is special stuffing available. This is mostly synthetic and often expensive. Here at Jootjes Haakcadeautjes you will not find stuffing. Why not I hear you think?
The answer is simple. If we are critical of anything it is our pillow stuffing. You know, from your pillow. You do want to lie comfortably at night once you lay your head to rest. This, then, makes pillow stuffing ideal stuffing for a stuffed toy. For the stuffing of your stuffed toy, find an affordable pillow. For example, this one we always use, just from Ikea. Super cheap and machine washable up to 60 degrees. Why make it difficult when it can be easy! 🙂
So you choose from a washable pillow combined with high quality cotton. Then the stuffed toy can be washed anyway. Keep the washing instructions of both. You obviously stick to the strictest, lowest temperature.
Next, with soft toys for babies, toddlers and children, it is important that the stuffing stays the stuffing and does not sneak out again. In fact, crochet is always a threading of yarn. There are always holes in these. A novice crocheter in particular may still see some larger holes in his work than a more advanced crocheter. Therefore, for both levels of crocheter, our advice is to make sure that the stuffing cannot pass through the holes of the crochet or knitting.
A handy tip then is to first stuff your stuffed toy with, say, the foot of a pair of tights, and then stuff it again with the stuffing. If you like it, you can also add a rattle disc, squeaker or music box in this stuffing. Once the body part of the stuffed toy is sufficiently filled, close the pantyhose and continue sewing the stuffed toy according to the pattern instructions. This prevents the stuffing from getting out of the stuffed toy. This prevents the filling from being released when the cuddly toy will be nibbled. And last but not least, remember that when using a rattle, squeaker or music box, check that they are suitable for washing machine use!
Crochet Hook:
Good luck and have fun crocheting your own stuffed toy!
Love,
Team Jootjes
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