Hanukkah Dreidel Plushie

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You Will Need

- Project Budget
- Cheap

Time:0h30

Nice & Simple

Description

A driedel (or draydel) is a top with four sides, that is often played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. (More information can be found using Google if you would like to know more.) I got the idea into my head that I'd like to make a soft toy or plushie in a dreidel shape. To my surprise I couldn't find any info on how to go about making one. So although I'm a newbie when it comes to sewing I thought I'd try my hand at making a pattern myself. I found info for making paper dreidels here http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/pattern.html and used that to help figure out the pattern shape for a fabric version. And another site had printable stencils http://familytime.com/asp/hebrewletrtemp.asp that I used for the letters. This is my first tutorial, so forgive me if it leaves things out (or if it is too detailed). And feel free to give me constructive criticism. :)

Instructions

1

I've tried to provide a template in the image here. Click on the image on the right. Then when the pop up window comes up right click on the picture and then click on "save image as."

You'll probably have to re-size it to make it larger (since it "shrunk" when I uploaded it here) or just use it as a general guideline.
The size of the top piece in the one I made here is about 3 inches by 3 inches. And the side pieces were approx. 3 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches long
2

Cut out one square from your fabric for the top.

Cut out four pieces for the sides. The sides being a shape that is a basically a square (the same size as the top you cut) combined with a triangle shape.
3

With fabric paint (or use a Sharpie) stencil the Hebrew letters Gimel, Shin, Hey, and Nun on the side panels.

I used the stencil from this site http://familytime.com/asp/hebrewletrtemp.asp. You can print it out on cardstock or transparency sheets made for inkjet printers and use an Xacto knife to cut out the letter shapes.
4

Put the side pieces right sides together and sew. (If you've ever sewn a cube it's pretty similar to that, only it's more like sewing a cube and pyramid.)
5

Cut a rectangular piece of your fabric the length of your chenille stem and a little more then double its width. Lay the chenille stem (pipe cleaner) on top and fold fabric over it. Sew close to the stem and over the top.

Trim close to seam.
6

Take top piece of the driedel and cut a very small X in the middle. Put the fabric covered chenille stem through the hole, leaving some it sticking through the bottom side. This will be the handle of the dreidel.

Fold the fabric in half. Stitch over chenille stem close to the edge of the folded fabric.
7

It should end up looking something like this.
8

Stitch the top of dreidel to the sides, making sure that the stem/handle is on the inside. Leave one side open so you can turn it inside out and stuff it.
9

After turning it inside out, fill the dreidel with cotton or polyfil stuffing.
10

Hand sew edge closed with a slip stitch.

Enjoy your new dreidel plushie.

And Have a Happy Hanukkah!