Dinosaur Tails. A sewing tutorial.

Materials:

approx 2 yards of felt (I used cheap stuff for this project.)

poly fill--for stuffing the spikes and the tail

fabric scraps-for stuffing if you don't have poly fill

scissors that are not your best sewing shears

velcro for waistband

coordinating threads

1. Draw out the tail bit.  I just guestimated = about 3 feet long and 1 foot wide and the widest part. No need to aim for perfection, nothing in nature is perfect-it will look better this way. Really.

2. Draw out the spike plates. I made several in each different size. Cut two pieces of felt for each plate, as we will sew these together in a bit. No need for exactness-again, just wing it. Your kids will love it no matter how pretty the spikes are.     :)

3. Here I am placing out the plates to see how many more I may need to make. Do the same if you like.

4. Place right sides together and sew around the edges leaving the bottom open for stuffing.

 (From bottom, the the top point, pivot, and sew down the other edge.  See next pics.)

Bottom is open for turning right side out and ready to be stuffed.

Stuff it. I did some with poly fill and some with remnants. 
The poly fill is lighter, so for really small children it might be better. My strong 4 yr old was able to handle the remnant stuffed tail, but the 2 yr old couldn't quite do it as well. Just an FYI.

5. Ready for assembly: pin the spike plates to the tail like so:

 We will be sewing shut the open bits on the spikes as well as attaching them all at the same time. Nice!

6. Stuff the tail now, either will poly fill, remnants, or a mixture of both.  Set this aside for now while we make the waistband.

(Read through this next part several times for clarity.)

7. Measure around toddler's waist. Add 3 inches for velcro space and tucking / attaching to the tail portion.

Cut two pieces of felt to this measurement. 

(Mine was 23 inches in length and 3.5 inches wide.) x2 pieces

Fold it in half and cut. Now we have four pieces,

two for each side of waist band.  (Right and left sides.)

Why two? For thickness and durability, I tried it with one piece and it didn't feel very sturdy. And these are for kids, eh hem......

On the opposite sides and the proper ends, sew on the hook and loop velcro pieces. 

Remember to put them on the right sides so they attach to each other. Mates. (!!)

To make our tails more adjustable and size friendly, I attached two pieces of each hook and loop. This way my two very different sized girls can swap tails. 

This is what I meant to take a picture of for the waist construction:

Instead I took a picture of the "mess up" orange one:
(I guess I was making a waistband for a Barbie. WTH?) hahahaha

So instead of that orange thing on the right hand corner, it would be the long waistband--that's where you stick it to so sew it up. Just want to be clear. I must have been doing forty things at once whilst taking pictures. ;)

Make sure to measure it before fully attaching the waistband. I sewed over the attachment site -like-twenty times. hahahaha

That's it, go have fun! These tails have provided my kids with so many hours of play.

Uh oh, I think we have a Dino down...

Close up of the waist portion: