How to Make a Baby Mobile

Making a Fabric/Felt Mobile

Purchase your supplies. For this kind of mobile you will need a metal hoop or ring, about 10 inches in diameter, several different colors of felt and/or fabric, strong thread, cotton balls or batting, and yarn. The felt, fabric, yarn, and thread, can be in any colors you want. For this project you will also need a pair of scissors and a needle. You can choose to use hot glue or tacky glue if you aren't comfortable with your sewing skills.

Wrap the hoop in yarn. Taking the metal hoop that you bought, wrap it in your yarn until you have completely covered the metal. This is what the fabric and felt will hang from. Start by tying a bow when you first begin to wrap your yarn. After you have wrapped the entire hoop, untie the first bow that you made, and then tie it in a knot with the other end of the yarn. Cut any remaining yarn. It could be fun to wrap the hoop in a brightly colored yarn, or you can keep it simple by wrapping it in a white yarn. Make sure that you keep the yarn tight together as you wrap it so that none of the metal will show through. You'll want to give yourself a good thirty minutes to do this, and try to do it in one setting so the yarn doesn't unravel.

Create your fabric/felt shapes. Here you have lots of room to create whatever shapes you like and be creative. Cut your fabric or felt out in your desired shapes, making sure to cut two of each shape so you can sew them together. You can make as many shapes as you want, but a good start is making at least three shapes, with two cut-outs of each shape. To come up with shape ideas, think about the theme of your baby's room. Maybe you want to make little clouds, flowers, hot air balloons, dinosaurs, or stars. Use your creativity to make different shapes suited for your baby. If you aren't sure what to make or you need help creating the shapes, you can find pictures of the shapes online, print them out, and then trace them onto your felt or fabric.

Sew your shapes together. Take your needle and thread, and sew your cut-outs of your shapes together. Flip your pieces around so that their fronts are against each other, and then match the pieces of fabric or felt up so that they are lined up together. Begin by sewing around your shape until you have about an inch left of fabric to sew. Then, turn your fabric right side out. You can sew your shapes with a needle and thread, or you can use a yarn needle and your yarn for a thicker seam. It's your personal preference what kind of seam you want. A yarn seam can be a really cute addition to a baby mobile, especially if you have used felt fabric, but a regular thread stitch looks great too. If you sew with yarn, you'll want to match the shapes with their right side out, because you won't be flipping them once you have sewn. The yarn stitch will be outside of the fabric instead of inside the fabric.

Stuff your mobile pieces with batting. Now that you've sewn most of the way around your pieces, you'll want to stuff them with cotton balls or batting to give them some depth. Fill your shapes with as much stuffing as you want, and then sew them up so that the stuffing does not come out. Then, cut off any remaining thread.

Cut pieces of thread. You will need the same number of pieces of thread as the number of fabric shapes you have made. You can cut your thread equal lengths, or you can cut them in different lengths so that some shapes hang down lower than others. Make sure you use light weight thread here as your shapes may not be heavy enough to pull down heavy thread. You can also use fishing line here if you want your connections to be less noticeable. Whatever connection you choose to use, make sure you cut pieces that are longer than your desired length, as you'll need some extra thread to sew into your shapes. To figure out the length of your thread you may try holding your mobile up above your crib or in your baby's room, and then holding the shapes underneath it at your desired length. Then, cut a piece of thread for each shape that is long enough to connect the shape to your hoop, with a few extra inches for sewing.

Attach thread to the fabric/felt pieces. Take pieces of thread and attach them to your fabric pieces by sewing them to one of the seams. Make sure to start sewing the thread into the side of your shape, and then finish once you have reached the middle, top of your piece. This will ensure that your shape hangs straight. Once you have reached the middle of your shape, tie a knot in the thread but don't cut it. You can also sew a line straight down the middle your shape. Start the thread in the middle, center of your shape and sew a line upwards, to the top middle of your shape. This could be a good idea if the color thread you are using is the same as the color of the shape.

Connect your thread to the hoop. With your remaining thread, bring it up to your yarn hoop, and connect it by tying a secure knot around the hoop. You'll want to space your thread out evenly around the hoop so that your shapes hang an equal distance from each other. If you want more security with the knots, after you have tied them you can glue them to the inside of your yarn hoop with hot glue.

Attach strong thread to the hoop to hang. In order to hang your hoop, you'll need to attach three pieces of thread to your hoop, equal distance apart. The pieces should be about 36 inches long. Once you have attached your pieces around the hoop, tie a loose knot in the middle of the thread by taking the three pieces of thread and wrapping them around each other.

Position your mobile. After you have tied your loose knot, hang your mobile to figure out the perfect angle. You'll want the hoop to lie flat, so you'll need your knot to be in a place that doesn't cause your hoop to lean one way or another. Once you have the right angle for your hoop, secure the knot on the thread. Once you have done this you should see your hoop with three threads connected to it, that meet in the middle to form a knot. Then, the rest of the threads will be used to hang your mobile.

Hang your mobile. With your remaining thread, tie a loop at the very end of it so that you can hang it onto a hook. To make the loop, loop the end of the thread so you have a small loop, and then tie it to the hanging thread with a double knot. Hang your mobile up, and if you decide you want it shorter you can cut some of your thread and tie the loop lower.

Making a Paper Mobile

Gather your supplies for making the paper mobile. For this type of mobile you will need different colors of construction paper or card stock, an embroidery hoop, yarn or thread, and hot glue or tacky glue. Your mobile will be more secure if you use a sewing machine instead of glue, but you can use glue for the sake of simplicity.

Cut out circles in your paper. You can cut any shape you choose, but circles are the easiest. If you want an ombre or multi-colored paper mobile, use five different colors and cut them as follows: Color #1: twenty-two, two inch circles Color #2: seven, two inch circles, and 11, 1.6 inch circles Color #3: 19, 1.6 inch circles Color #4: 11, 1.6 inch circles, and nine, 1.3 inch circles Color #5: 22, 1.3 inch circles

Position the circles. Lay out the circles on the ground, in the order that you want them. To use the above circle numbers and colors, create 11 columns of circles. You will then lay the colored circles in rows across the columns until you have used all of the circles. Your columns will not be an even length, but this will make your mobile look more fun. First, lay the color #1 circles in two rows with an inch between each row. You will have two rows of the same color with 11 circles in each row and two circles in each column. On the third row, you will start by laying your color #2 circles, alternating between sizes. In your first column, lay one of the two-inch circles. In the second column, lay a 1.6 inch circle and underneath that in a fourth row lay your two inch circle. In the next column, lay the two-inch circle, and in the fourth column, repeat the second column (lay a 1.6 inch circle and below that, lay a two-inch circle). Continue to alternate these until you have used all of that color. For the third color, you can begin to place the circles out randomly. For example, on column one you can use two circles, on column two you can use two circles, and then on column three you can use one circle. Place the circles in these columns with one inch separating them, but have fun in placing them randomly. There doesn't have to be a specific order, and it's okay if on one column you already have a ton of circles and on another you only have three or four. You will fill in the gaps with the remaining colors.

Place your remaining circles until you have used them all. As with the previous step, you will begin to place your remaining circles in a random order on your mobile. It looks best if you place all of one color at once, meaning you don't place color #3, then #4, then #3 again in the same column. Try to group the colors together when you place them. After you have placed all of your colors, you can go back and make the changes you want. Your columns should be all relatively even, with only one or two circles difference between the column length. You don't want one column to have 5 circles and another column to have 15, so make sure that they are somewhat close to the same length. They don't have to be perfect, though, meaning the space between your circles doesn't have to be the exact same length. Sometimes it looks better if it looks like you didn't try to make the space perfect -- then it looks like the randomness was intentional.

Attach your yarn or thread to the circles. Take the yarn or thread and cut out 11 pieces, each piece long enough to cover the length of your circles with two inches remaining. Then, place the yarn along the circles and begin to glue each circle to the yarn. Make sure you glue the yarn to the entire diameter of the circle so that the circle doesn't bend over. This is the step where it may look better if you use a sewing machine. If you choose to take on that task, use thread instead of yarn and push each circle through your machine. To use your machine simply place a circle under the presser foot, sew it, and then pull the thread some before you place your next circle down. Don't stop your machine between each circle. You won't need any special thread or needles -- so it can make this project much easier by using a sewing machine. If you choose to use glue, yarn is better to use than thread because it will hold better against your paper.

Paint your embroidery hoop. Choose a color for your hoop and paint it before you attach the circles. It can look good to use the same color for your hoop as your first row of circles, so that there is some uniformity. Let your hoop dry before you attach the yarn.

Attach the yarn to your hoop and hang the circles. Take the end of the yarn and tie knots around your hoop, securing all your strings to the hoop. You'll want to space these out somewhat evenly, but because there are so many strings, it won't be very noticeable if some of your circles are closer than others.

Hang your mobile. Following the final steps in the previous section, attach your thread to your hoop, and tie a knot to connect the three strands. Then, position your hoop as you would like it and secure the knot. Hang it on your wall and enjoy!

Making a Ribbon Mobile

Gather your supplies. For this mobile you will need about 10 to 20 spools of ribbon and an embroidery hoop. You can choose to use different colors of ribbon, or you can use one or two colors, depending on the variety you desire for your mobile. Basically, you'll need enough ribbon so that you have enough to cover the circumference of your mobile, with each ribbon being doubled up.

Cut your ribbon. You will use your ribbon to cover the entire circumference of your embroidery hoop. Each piece of ribbon needs to be long enough to double over and knot around the embroidery hoop. So if you want your ribbons to be a foot in length, then you'll want to cut your length of ribbon to be about 26 inches in length. Your ribbon might look better if you cut different lengths, so you can vary each length of ribbon by one or two inches. To figure out how much ribbon you will need, place your embroidery hoop on the floor. Then, take a piece of ribbon and place it over the hoop. Do this until you have covered the entire hoop with ribbon. Then, you'll know how much ribbon to cut for your mobile.

Tie the ribbon around the mobile. With each piece of ribbon you cut, double it over, so that both ends meet each other. Then, place the folded end over your embroidery hoop. Take the rest of the ribbon and stick it through the loop of the fold, creating a full circle around your hoop. Pull tight, and your ribbon should create a knot around your embroidery hoop. It's best if you use relatively thin ribbon here, because you will be able to create tighter knots. If your ribbon is too thick, your knot won't stay secure and you may have to glue the ribbon to the hoop.

Tie the ribbon to hang your mobile. Take two pieces of ribbon, about three feet long, and tie each end of the ribbon to the hoop. Tie one end of the ribbon to one side of the hoop, and tie the other end to the opposite side, exactly across from the previous end. Then, take your second ribbon and tie one end in between the other two ends, exactly in the middle. Then tie the other end across from the previous end. Once you are done tying you should have your ribbons evenly spaced on your hoop, at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 hands of a clock.

Hang your mobile. Attach a hook to your ceiling and hang your mobile by taking the middle of the ribbons you just tied and placing them on the hook. Your mobile may lean one way or another, so you may have to position your ribbons so that the hoop of your mobile lies flat.

Making a Flower Mobile

Visit a craft store for your supplies. For this mobile you will need silk flowers, thick ribbon, straight pins, and a straw or styrofoam wreath. A 12 inch wreath will be a good size, and you'll need several bouquets of flowers.

Wrap the wreath in ribbon. Start by attaching the ribbon to the inside of your wreath with two straight pins (push the pins into the wreath). Then, wrap your wreath in the ribbon until it is fully covered. If you have lots of ribbon to spare you may want to wrap it tightly so that the ribbon continually overlaps. This will prevent your wreath from showing through. Then, secure the end of the ribbon inside your wreath with two more straight pins. It's easier to wrap your wreath if you leave the packaging on. Styrofoam wreaths don't always have packaging, but straw wreaths generally do. This will keep the straw from falling out of the wreath.

Cut your flowers. Take your flowers and cut off any excess leaves, stems, or parts of the flower that you don't like. The flowers will need to be relatively flat, and you want each bloom to be an individual, meaning you don't want to leave the flowers connected to one another. You can use different colored flowers here, but one flower would look pretty as well.

Pin your flowers to the wreath. Hold your wreath and place each flower on the outside of the wreath, securing it with pins. Make sure you place the pin as far inside the flower as you can so it doesn't show. Cover the entire wreath with flowers. You can use glue here instead to attach your flowers, but pinning is easier and will provide a more secure hold for the flower. You don't want to place the flower on the wreath as if you were hanging it from a door. Instead, imagine your wreath is flat on the ground. You want to place your flowers on the side of the wreath, that is more perpendicular to the ground, rather than the top of the wreath that is parallel with your ground. Place your flowers around the wreath as if you are creating a crown.

Attach ribbons to the wreath. Take two ribbons and attach them to the wreath as you did in the previous section, on the 12, 3, 6, and 9 points of a clock. Because your mobile doesn't have anything hanging from it, your ribbons will need to be much longer. Cut your ribbons four to five feet each so that when you hang them the mobile will hang down about two to two and a half feet from the ceiling. It may be better to start off with longer ribbon, because you can always cut it if it's too long. If you cut your ribbon too short, you will have to cut another length of ribbon to make it longer.

Position and hang your mobile. Hang the ribbons from a hook attached to your ceiling and position your mobile so that the wreath is parallel with the ceiling. If you find it is too long you can always trim the ribbon and reattach it to your wreath. This wreath is a simple, yet elegant mobile. You can make it more exciting by adding different types of flowers, or you can keep it elegant by using a white or off white flower with a solid color ribbon.