Start by making a fish pattern on a piece of cardboard. I like to make the pattern on a folded edge so that I only have to draw one side of the fish but get a symetrical fish! Make sure that the fish pattern is big enough for your magnet to fit through the tail section and into the body.

Then trace your fish pattern onto the felt and cut out the fish. Make sure you have two pieces of the same fish...so stack your felt or just fold a piece in half when you're cutting it to make sure you have to exact pieces.





Then make a fishing pole. I just folded a black piece of felt in half and made a large J for the hook, making sure that my magnet would fit in the end. I then used a blanket stitch and stiched around the whole hook leaving a LONG piece at the top to be the fishing line. Then I stitched the fishing line to the yellow felt and hot glued that onto the dowl. I also added a little bit of felt by the handle.




Here are some other BOY gift ideas:

Art Kits


Tie Shirts:


Car Play/Storage mat


Personalized t-shirts
Reverse Applique T-shirt
Happy Crafting! can't wait to see what you're making for all the little boys in your life! Feel free to leave a link, I LOVE looking at boy projects! I've got lots of little boys in my life that I need to make gifts for!

As you can see I love to sew. I love to make things that are useful and pretty. I love it when the things I make put a smile on the recipients face. And I love it when those things last and  can be passed down. I've noticed on a few of Hannah's dresses that I forgot to do a zig-zag stitch on my seams and they seem to be fraying...if only I had a serger :)...

But I remembered a lesson that one of my sewing lady friends taught me and I want to share that with you today. Maybe you already know this trick and maybe it'll be new for you...but I wanted to share it anyway so that maybe at least one person can learn something new. This sewing trick is so that you have no seams showing at all...no raw or exposed edges of fabric, thus no fraying or random threads hanging out here and there.

And off to the tutorial.

I am making skirts for my daughters birthday outfits and I wanted to make them without the exposed edges...so here we go.

Measure the length that you want your skirt to be. I wanted to use two fabrics so I took the total amount and split it. Don't forget to add some extra length for the casing and hems.

Sew the pieces together on a long edge with the fabrics facing the same way. I know this is contrary to how you've learned to sew but trust me on this. Oh and skip this step if you're just using one fabric.

Take the bottom fabric and bring it around to the front and fold the exposed edge down 1/4inch.

Sew the folded edge as close to your first row of stitches. This will create a little bottom piece without any exposed edges!

Next, fold your skirt in half with the wrong sides together and sew at least a 1/2 inch seam. Again, I know this is not how you're used to doing things but trust me!!

It will look like you sewed it the wrong way and your exposed edges will be on the outside of the skirt but that just means you did it right.

Now take your scissors and cut ONE side of the exposed edge off...closer to the seam.

Fold the longer side (that you did not cut) over the short side that you did cut and iron down.

Now just sew that to the skirt. Make sure to pull the fabric that is underneath taut so that you don't sew it in the wrong place. Does that make sense?

See, then you have two seam lines but no exposed edges!! YAY!

Inside view

Now just make the casing for your elastic (don't forget to add your label)...

Add your elastic...

And sew the casing shut once the elastic is in. I also sew one vertical line through the elastic so that it doesn't move too much or get twisted.

Stand back and check out the cool skirt you just made that has...

no exposed edges!!! CLEAN AND NEAT!!

And the reverse for the little lady!

I added some appliques to their shirts and called it done!

I thought this version of "5" was more fun than just a plain ol "5"... plus then I can teach her about hash marks.

I realize this photo makes these look REALLY busy but they don't look that crazy in real life!Did I totally confuse you? Let me know if I can clarify anything! So did you learn anything new? Do you have a favorite sewing tip that has saved you time and headaches? Please share!