Tails for the Kids

Playing dress up is half the fun in make believe.  I never had the luxury, but it's always fun to put something on and pretend.  So why not make a tail for each of the kids!  That's what I did.. and if you want to join in the fun--follow along!

Start with a soft fabric, for this tutorial, I used a faux suede material, the others were made of fleece.  I'm sure you could use flannel or felt or even cotton if you so wish.  We're making the dark, long tail in the picture.

 I drew out a long triangular shape like this with squared edges.  My piece is about 19 inches in length with the wide end being 6 inches and the narrow end being about 2 inches.  Cut it out.

 Grab a scrap piece of fleece, whatever size you want your tassel end to be.  I think this piece was 6 x 2.

If you have faux fur, you can skip this step and just sew the fur to end of your tail, but I didn't, so a fleece tassel it is.  Make several small cuts all along your scrap piece, like so.

 Lay the tassel inwards on the short end of your tail fabric.  You're going to sandwich it when you fold the tail in half to sew.

 Like I said, fold the tail lengthwise in half, right side in.  Pin your tassel in place so it's only sewn along the bottom.  You'll have to sew REALLY slow (or hand sew, depending on your machine) to get through all those layers.

 Pin the edges together and sew along the edges using about a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

 Flip it right side out and stuff with polyfill.  I recommend you use a small bunch at a time and push it all the way down so you don't get a floppy end. 

 All stuffed.

 You'll be using a badge clip for the top.  You can find these in multi-packs at the dollar store or Wal-Mart.

 Fold in the ends of the open end, you can press if you like, I didn't.

 The badge clip will go in the center of that end, be sure it's between the two snaps so you're sewing through the plastic and not the metal snap.. that'll break your needle.. :(

 Pin in place and sew it shut.

 All done.  Try it on!  Or get your kids to.

 Feel free to vary your tails, change them up by shortening, adding spikes for a dinosaur or monster tail, or different animals (middle one's a fox tail).

 The little guys are too cute with their tails!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have fun!!