Game Time!

A few months ago Sara commissioned me to make a baby mobile for her college roommate, Missy, who recently gave birth to a baby girl. She didn't put any parameters on the theme of the mobile and let me do whatever I wanted. As Missy is very into basketball (player and coach) I decided to combine the age-old barnyard animal theme with a basketball theme.



Since it was a gift from Sara, I also wanted to include an element that spoke to Sara's style, hence the colored converse. Sara is a big fan of the ol' chucks (even wearing a pair for her wedding). I found a pattern for converse on a cake decorating website, adapted it and scaled it down until they fit my animals. They are cut, sewn and fabric-glued out of flat felt.


Instead of crocheting this mobile, as I did here, here, here, here, and here, I decided to make another needle-felted one. I added a little bit of crochet in the net, just for ol' times sake.



The center basketball is also needle-felted, and the black lines are embroidery thread, soaked in clear glue and then carefully laid on the orange ball. This was the hardest part - if any glue got on the ball, it left a mark that looked horrible. I had to do this a couple of times before it looked okay.



All of the animals, ball, and hoop are suspended with white ribbon. This is a new approach for me, as I've always used yarn in the past. I liked the look of it, so I think I'll use this for future projects as well.


Missy is a particular fan of Duke basketball, so I added a little Duke blue in the pennants around the hoop, and the "D" logo to the top of the mobile. Mike was a particular help on this mobile, as he offered great advice on how to apply the finishing blue touches.

Congratulations Missy - game on!