My fifteen-month-old’s first word was “oon,” or “moon” if you have a more mature vocabulary. Any evening trips out of the house, my husband and I found ourselves pointing to the moon, saying “moooon,” and one night we watched our little boy stand under the window, point up at a crescent moon and say “. . .oooon, oon, oon.” So, it’s only appropriate that I make this little boy a stages-of-the-moon mobile.
Here’s what you will need:
1. A pencil or a dark fabric pencil/pen
2. A piece of white chalk or light fabric pencil
3. White felt (I used about 24x18--Wash all fabric before crafting or sewing with it.)
4. Black felt (I used about 5x10)
5. Something perfectly round to trace around (I used an empty espresso can)
6. Either batting or something to stuff the moons with
7. Black paint
8. Black yarn
9. A thin dowel rod, llarge embroidery hoop, or some kind of hoop
10. A small awl or large yarn needle
I had everything except the black yarn and black felt, so I headed to The Upcycle Exchange and was able to pick up both for a dollar.
Step one: Fold the white felt over the length of diameter of the circle you will trace. My can was about four inches across, so I folded the fabric over four inches to create a double layer of fabric. Then trace as many circles as you can on the two layers. Cut these out and repeat until you have 9 circles. Do the same for to make one double layer black moon for the new moon.
Step two: Create the stages of the moon. First, create the first waning and waxing moons. With two of the nine double-layered circles, using the can, trace about ⅛ of a circle on the edge and cut this out (for shape, see moon A below). The moon should look like it has been bitten like a cookie. One of these two moons will be the first stage of the waning moon and one will be the final stage of the waxing moon. Then, create two moons. With the next two white felt circles, trace a larger circle within the moon to create the next stage. I moved the can just about 3 cm in from the crescent of the first waxing and waning moons, trace a crescent, and cut it out (see moon B). Move the can a little over half way across the next two moons to create the next stage of the moon (moon C), and move the can a little less than ¾ of the way across the fabric to compose the final stage of the moon, the crescent (see moon D). When you are finished, you should have a full moon, two first stage waning and waxing moons, two 3/4ths moons, two half moons, two ⅓ moons, a two crescent moons, and a black new moon.
Step three: Sew and stuff each moon. I like using felt because it’s forgiving. For the full and new moon, with the “dirty” side of the fabric--the side you traced on--facing out sew around the round the outer edge of the moon, leaving about 1 ½ inches with which to turn the moon inside out and stuff. Most people leave a ¼ inch edge, but I only leave a little less than ⅛. Be sure to lock the seam in place by sewing backwards a couple stitches at the beginning and end of the seam. Turn the moon inside out and stuff it, but not too full. I leave the pieces pretty flat. Next, iis the hard part. Fold the open side in. Think of pulling your lips in over your teeth, like you are pretending to be toothless. Pin the fold in place (see the unfocused picture below), and then backstitch around the entire circle. Backstitching makes things look professionally done. If you don’t want to sew the black yarn through the finished moon, you can sew it into the moon as you backstitch. Backstitching means sewing around the edge as close to the edge as possible. Be sure to take the pins out before you sew over them.
The eight crescents are much easier because I don’t sew the inside of the crescent together after I stuff them, but you could if you wanted to. For each of the eight waxing and waning moons, sew first around the outer edge of the moon, leaving the inner crescent open so you can turn your moon inside out and stuff it. Use the edge of a dull pair of scissors to push the points of the waxing and waning moons out when you turn them inside out.. Once you turn and stuff, backstitch and close the crescent. You can sew in the yarn at this point, but I didn't. Trim any uneven edges to make the moons smooth and round. See, you can’t even tell that you didn't sew the inner edges of semi-circle crescent of the moon before backstitching--yay, felt!
Step four: Paint the hoop or dowel black. If you paint the dowel, you can stick it in a potted plant to paint it. If you paint a hoop, like I did. I painted as much as I could with my right hand, while holding it with my left. When I finished, I used a hair blow dryer to dry it in five minutes, then painted the rest and dried it with the dryer.
Step five: Attach yarn with which to hang the moon, if you didn’t do it when you backstiched.. On each moon, I attached a about 10 inches of yarn. I used an awl to poke a hole through the fabric. Then, I tied a knot and the end of the yarn, strung the knot on the edge of the awl and pushed it through the small hole. I double knotted it to secure it.
Step six: Hang your mobile and moons. With two pieces of yarn a couple inches longer than my mobile, I made a cross over the hoop and tied the yarn to the hoop with a double knot to secure them. Then, I looped about 12 inches of yarn around the crossed yarn where they met. I secured the loop with a double knot and hung it. Finally, tie the moons to the hoop (or dowel if you chose). I hung the ten moons in an arc and just eyed the length that I wanted each moon to hang. I tied them loosely at first and then double knotted them when I liked their length.
Last step! I trimmed all the loose yarn and hung it. My sky sailor is already pointing at it, saying, “oooon!”
