Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Marble Maze



I saw THIS marble maze on Pinterest and thought it would make a perfect addition to our Church bag.  But of course I need one for each kid!  I wanted to do it out of a stretchy material, but I didn't want to buy any.  One day it dawned on me to take some of the clothes I was going to donate and use them as material!  FREE!  YAY!  The only thing I will do differently with the next one is sewing on the circles (start and finish marks) first before sewing the 2 sides together.  I now have to figure out what I am going to use for the start and finish because I forgot to do it ahead.
First off I sat down and drew out a maze.  It really wasn't too hard.  I made all 3 different so that they wouldn't get boring.  Then I cut out the material about 1/2 inch bigger than the maze on each side.
I sewed the squares right sides together leaving an opening so I could turn it right side out.  (like you would sewing a pillow.)  I ironed the edges flat, put the marble inside, and then sewed all the way around the edge closing off that hole as I went.
 The material is bigger than the pattern, but that part you see is sewn so it's just an edge.  The sewed line lines up as best as I could with the pattern.
 Sewn edges
 If you look closely the material kinda stretched and became a bit wavy as I sewed it, but I really wanted it to be stretchy a bit so that I didn't have to be quite so accurate with my maze lines (I wanted the marble to be able to go through no matter what.)
 Pin the pattern on top
 Then sew on the lines through the paper.


 When I was done sewing all the lines (remember to back stitch each line so they don't come out) I tore the paper off.  This part I had to be extra careful and was the hardest part of the process (it's an easy project, so it wasn't that bad.)  I placed my finger on the stitching and pulled the other side of the paper like trying to tare a coupon!  Especially my Costco coupons that you have to do extra carefully!  Once you get one side pulled up the other side of the stitching comes quite easily.
 Finished lines!
See, a few of my maze trails were a bit tight, so I'm extra glad I used a stretchy material.  You can use a non stretchy material and it would be easier to sew with, but you'll have to make sure that the marble can get through!

2 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of making something like this for my nieces, calling it a 'car book' they live in the bay area and are in the car a TON!

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  2. That would be fun! They have quiet books too that you can make! I've seen a ton. Some people make them out of felt. I've been thinking of making one. :)

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