Crafting Adventures: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

 

Here's another look at what my kindergartener looked like for his school's celebration of Read Across America Day yesterday.  He decided to dress as the mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

The outfit was really simple to assemble.  He wore a long-sleeved neutral colored shirt that we already had in his closet, and a pair of denim overalls.  I made him some ears (which admittedly were a bit too floppy) and attached them to an old headband, and I made a pillow for him to carry around shaped like a chocolate chip cookie.

Here's a really simple how-to so you can make your own cookie pillow!

Supplies:

-a circular pillow form

-light brown fleece

-dark brown fleece

-tools to measure, cut, and sew

1. Lay your pillow form on top of your light brown fleece.  Trace around the outside of the pillow, approximately 1/2 an inch away from the pillow all the way around.  Alternatively, you can measure the diameter of your pillow and draw a circle on your fleece which is 1" larger in diameter than the pillow.

2. Fold the rest of your light brown fleece in half.  Draw another circle the same size as the one you just drew. Find the horizontal diameter of this circle (that is, the exact midpoint line, running side-to-side) and then measure down 2".  Draw a straight horizontal line at this point, slicing off the bottom of the circle.

3. Cut out this new partial circle from your folded fleece, resulting in 2 identical partial circles.

4. Free-hand cut out some vaguely chocolate chip shaped pieces of your dark brown fleece.  Pin them to your full circle piece, randomly distributed around the right side.

5. Attach the chocolate chips to the front of the cookie by sewing all the way around each shape with a zig-zag stitch.  I use one with a short length and a wide width.  Go around twice to make sure it's good and secure.

6. If you wish, you can fold the straight edge of each partial circle towards the wrong side by half an inch and stitch them down to hem these pieces.  I chose not to do this as the fleece will not fray, but it could give your pillow cover a cleaner look.

7. Lay one partial circle piece on top of your cookie front, right sides together.  Lay the other piece on top of that, right side down, so that the straight edge overlaps the other piece's straight edge.  By this I mean that if your first partial circle shares its rounded edge with the top of your cookie front and the horizontal line lies below the center line, then your second partial circle should be flipped upside down from this so that its rounded edge lines up with the bottom of your cookie front and the horizontal line lies above the center line.  Secure all 3 pieces together with either pins or clips.

8. Sew the 3 pieces together with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance.

9. Turn your pillow cover rightside out and you will have what's called an envelope pillowcase. The overlapping pieces on the back can be spread open, you can stuff your round pillow form inside, and the back pieces can overlap again to keep it tucked in safe.

Check out this video on my Instagram page for a visual look at this tutorial.

Now, who wants a cookie?

Much love,

The Geeks