The making of a hobbyhorse

Last Christmas I made a hobbyhorse for my niece, but I did not take pictures in the process. Now I was hired to make another on. This time I made some photos which I want to show you here. This is more an inspirational post than a tutorial.

Lets start! For the head we need seven pieces.

• 2 side pieces
• 2 felt ear pieces
• 2 fabric ear pieces
• 1 fabric strip 10 cm wide and as long as the circumference as the side pieces.

Sew a felt ear pieces to a fabric ear piece.

Turn the ear inside-out.

Fold ear in half and sew on the bottom.

Repeat for the other ear.

For the head pin the side pieces to the fabric strip. Don’t forget to already put the ears in place.

Turn the head inside out.

For the harness prepare two strips of fabric 7.5cm wide and 140cm long.

Fold the fabric strips lengthwise 2 times (like in the banjolele strap tutorial) and sew them shut. Cut one 100cm piece and add hooks on the ends.

Gather more material. I use 2 buttons for eyes and two buttons for nostrils. Two large keyrings will become part of the harness. A dollar store walking stick becomes the “body” of the horse. Not shown are two bells which are attached to the harness.

After inserting the handle of the walking stick I filled the head with stuffing.

I folded the long neck of the head inwards and used thick embroidery thread to seal the neck by wrapping it tightly around (sorry, no picture here…).

For the harness I cut 3 strips of the strap and attached them to the keyrings. I did this step by step ensuring a tight fit on the horse head.

For the hair I cut wool threads of approx. 40cm length. I folded the threads and pulled the loop through the fabric on the neck. The ends of the thread are then pulled through the loop.

Finally the horse looks like this.You can cut the hair or add additional features.

That’s all!