Dinosaur Tails

My 3-year-old is obsessed with dinosaurs at the moment.  We took him to our local museum where they have a dinosaur play section for kids.  Here he really loved pretending to be a dinosaur while wearing a stuffed tail. 

After seeing the fun he had, I just had to have a go at making one of these for myself.  

I am not much of a sewer, but this was relatively easy and quick, so it is certainly achievable for most. 

What you will need:

2  pieces of material, 28 x 56 cm, for the tail 

4 pieces of material, 8 x 30 cm, for the waist attachment

1 piece of material, 13 cm in diameter

1 piece of felt for the spikes

1 piece of velcro, 12 cm in length

1 bag of stuffing/wadding

Steps:

1. You must shape the two large pieces of material so as they will make the tail.  You can do this by eye or with a few simple measurements like I did. 

At one of the short ends measure in 11 cm  from each side and make a mark.  The  8 cm gap between these marks is the tip end of the tail.

At the other end of the material, measure in 12 cm along the side and make a mark. Repeat for the other edge

Join the marks and cut out. Discard the triangular pieces of material.

2. Make the waist straps by taking 2 of the smaller pieces of material and pinning right side together. Sew around the edges of the straps, leaving one of the short ends unsewn. Turn inside out, top stitch if you wish, and sew on a strip velcro to the end with a seam (see pic). Repeat with the 2 remaining pieces of material.

3. Sew one of the straps to the right side of one of the tail pieces. Do the same with the remaining strap and tail-piece, ensuring the velcro is in the correct position to fasten together when the tail is complete.

2. Cut some triangular spikes for the tail from the  felt.  I cut these increasingly taller and wider.

3. Pin the tail right sides together with the felt spikes in between and  pointing inwards along one of the seams.

4. Keeping  a 0.5 cm seam allowance, sew along the long edges of the tail, curving the end of your tail rather than sewing it into a point.  Remember to leave a section open on the underside of the tail so that it can be stuffed.

5. Pin the circular piece of material to the base of the tail and sew

6. Turn the tail right side out and stuff. 

7. Sew together the opening by hand or with the machine.

Note: all seams allowances are 0.5 cm. You can shorten or lengthen the tail by just altering the length of the large pieces of material.

The tail was waiting as a surprise for Master O after a day at childcare.   I thought he was dirty after a day digging in the sandpit, but after an afternoon playing dinosaurs in the yard, he was utterly filthy!  I think many hours of fun will come of this easy dinosaur tail.

 P.S Since posting this I have seen dinosaur tails in various forms on the net.  I got my pattern from a friend in mother’s group.  For some other great twists to make you dinosaur tail or even a dragon or kangaroo tail see Running with Scissors, EHow, Just Crafting Along