The Animals Went In Two By Two...

Liz said Rosie has lots of clothes, could she please have toys for her birthday. So we got her a Fisher Price Noah's Ark set. It is great fun!

Click on the collage for close up views. There are 16 animals plus Mr and Mrs Noah. Mrs N has a tool kit, and Mr N has a box of food. There is also, mysteriously, a small barrel with 2 goldfish! Are these [a] pets for the family [b] fish which could not have survived in the floodwater [c] emergency rations? I hadn't thought about fish being on the ark before!
The ark itself has lots of good features - a rainbow flag [with three possible positions on the roof] hatches in the side and on the deck. The top lifts off,  so you can open up the hull, and get to the inside [decorated with more food troughs, pictures on the wall etc] The lions and 2 pairs of birds are both male&female, and the leopards have turned their heads so you can make them kiss! Mr&Mrs N have open palms so they can hold hands. Lots and lots of "play value"
BUT Toys like this are an absolute pain to keep together - so I took some spare fabric from my stash to make a storage bag for them.

This opens out to be a playmat, then can be gathered up and velcro-d shut into a little pyramid bag which can stand on a shelf or be hung on a hook.
Method

1. Cut two large squares of fabric and seam [right sides together] leaving a turning gap.
2. Turn out, and press, then topstitch the edges.
3. Press creases across the middle in both directions. 
4. Cut 4 lengths of Velcro, about half the length of each side.
5. Split each piece, sewing 'hooks' and 'loops' on either side of the 4 crease lines.***please check diagram below for position of hooks and loops!
6. Sew four small tape loops [about 20cm long] on each corner, and on one corner only, sew a 2cm ring [curtain ring, split key ring...whatever]

Now you can fold the square in half, closing Velcro to make a rectangular bag,  put the toys inside, then close up the other sides, and thread all loops through the ring.

I used the blue fabric because of the ark floating on the floods

- but I suppose that technically, I should have sewn a brown or green 'island' representing the top of Mount Ararat somewhere. Now it looks like the animals are all walking on the water!
When Liz and Steph were tiny, we used to sing this song together...