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Long-Legged Animal Magnets (In-the-Hoop)

Long-Legged Animal Magnets (In-the-Hoop)

Stretch your creativity with these Long-Legged In-the-Hoop Animal Magnets!


Spindly spiders, elongated elephants, far-reaching frogs, flamboyant flamingos, gangly giraffes, and magnificent monkeys fill your fridge with animal magnetism. Hold the grocery list, pictures, art projects, or anything else with these lanky companions.

These magnets make a perfect gift for kids of all ages! Not only can these designs be used on the refrigerator, but they will be happy to stick to any magnetic surface, like file cabinets or desks. Be sure to brighten up the office with these colorful critters!

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies needed:
- Fabric (we used felt and cotton)
- Cutaway stabilizer
- Tear-away stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive
- Hot glue
- Button magnets or self-adhesive magnet tape
- Ribbon (1/8 inch to 1/4 inch wide, pipe cleaners, cord, or yarn

The designs used in this tutorial include:Β 

- X5101,Β A Long-Legged Animal Magnets Design PackΒ 

Gather Materials:

When you download a magnet design you'll find six files. Four of the files are marked with "_DL," that stands for "dieline." The dielines are what we'll use to cut the fabric to the exact shape of the magnet. The dieline for the body piece is labeled with the letter "a". Dielines for the feet are labeled with the letter "b". If you have embroidery software, open the dieline files and print them at full size.

Paper with a hand-drawn outline of a two-part shape divided by vertical and horizontal guide lines, with a person's fingers resting nearby.

Preparing the fabric for the body piece

First, spray a piece of medium-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive.

Hand holding a yellow spray adhesive can, spraying a white rectangular piece of fabric or felt on a wooden surface.

Smooth the fabric for your magnet on top of the stabilizer. We are using a low-pile fleece fabric to make the body of the magnet and light-weight canvas for the feet.

Hand with three fingers resting on a folded piece of green and white felt on a wood grain table surface.

Place the paper template on top, and cut out the shape. Do this for the front dieline and the back dieline.Β 

Dielines are labeled DLFront for the front fabric and DLBack for the back fabric.

Hand holding orange scissors cutting folded felt and paper with a butterfly outline on a dark wood surface.

If you don't have embroidery software, then you can embroider the dielines. Cut a piece of cutaway stabilizer to be slightly larger than your hoop. Spray the stabilizer with temporary adhesive.

A hand holding a yellow spray adhesive can, spraying adhesive onto a square piece of white felt on a wooden surface.

Smooth the fabric on top.

A hand with a silver ring holding two stacked felt squares, one teal and one gray, on a dark wooden surface.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together.

Hand holding green fabric with brown stitched outline secured in a metal embroidery hoop on a wooden surface.

Load the dieline file to your machine and embroider the dieline.

Green felt fabric hooped in an embroidery machine, showing stitched outline of an animal shape with two long legs, likely a bird or similar figure.

After the dieline has been embroidered, cut out the shape of the front dieline and back dieline.

Hand holding orange scissors cutting a teal felt piece with a rounded animal magnet shape on a dark wood surface.

Embroidering on the body piece

Now that the fabric pieces are cut and ready to go, it's time to make the body piece of the magnet. Hoop a piece of tear-away stabilizer.

Hand holding an embroidery hoop with stabilizer fabric stretched over it, placed on a brown wooden surface.

Load the full embroidery design into your machine; that is the design that begins with the letter "X" followed by 4 numbers. The body piece is labeled with the letter "a". Embroider the design. The first thing to be embroidered is another dieline which traces the shape of the body on to the stabilizer.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a simple outline of a long-legged animal shape on white fabric in a hoop, with stabilizer underneath.

Spray the back side of the front body piece with a bit of adhesive.

Hand holding a yellow and pink spray adhesive can aimed at a white felt cutout shaped like a sitting dog on a wooden surface.

Place that inside the sewn dieline on the stabilizer.

Close-up of a sewing machine embroidery hoop with green fabric cut in an animal shape held by a hand with a ring on finger, stitching in progress.

Continue to embroider the design. The next thing to sew is a zig-zag stitch, and this tacks the fabric down to the stabilizer and hold it in place during the rest of the design's tack down stitch is being embroidered.

Green embroidered shape resembling an animal body with long legs in a hoop under a sewing machine needle on white fabric.

Other elements of the design will embroider next.

Close-up of embroidery machine stitching a green and light yellow frog-shaped fabric magnet on white fabric within an embroidery hoop.

On the color change sheet you will see a note that says "back piece tack down". When you get to this point, stop the machine.

Hand holding a can of spray adhesive aimed at a white felt cutout shaped like an animal with long legs, placed on a wooden surface.

Remove the hoop from the machine, turn it over, and place the back fabric piece inside the shape.

Hand with silver ring touching a green fabric piece stitched onto white stabilizer in an embroidery hoop on a wooden surface.

Optional

Wind a bobbin with the same thread as the top needle and use that for the remaining steps.

Close-up of a hand holding a small metal bobbin near the needle and feed dog area of a white sewing machine on a white work surface.

Attach the hoop to the machine, and continue to embroider the design. The next thing to sew is a tack down stitch which binds the back fabric to the stabilizer.

The final satin border gives the body piece a professional, clean finish.

Green cartoon frog embroidery with a light green belly is being stitched on white fabric hooped in an embroidery machine under the needle.

Remove the stabilizer from the hoop and gently tear away the excess stabilizer.

Hand holding an embroidered green frog applique with black outlines and a light green belly, partially cut out from white stabilizer fabric on a wooden surface.

Preparing the fabric for the feet pieces

Repeat the fabric cutting process for the feet pieces. Cut the front and the back fabric using the "DLBack" dielines. The dielines for the feet pieces are labeled with the letter "b".

Scissors cutting a white paper with a drawn pattern, next to three green fabric leaf shapes on a wood grain surface.

Embroidering the feet pieces

Repeat the embroidering process for the feet pieces. The embroidery file for the feet is labeled with the letter "b". After the design has been embroidered, gently tear away the stabilizer.

Embroidery machine stitching green fabric pieces into rounded shapes on white stabilizer within an embroidery hoop. Four fabric pieces arranged.

Adding the "legs"

Cut equal lengths of ribbon, cord, or yarn to hot glue gun one end to the back of the body piece. We used a 6 inch length of ribbon for each foot; however you can use any size you wish.

Close-up of a blue glue gun applying glue to a green felt embroidery piece with black stitching and three yellow ribbons attached, on a wood surface.

Add a drop of hot glue to the ends of the ribbon and press the feet in place.

Blue and cream frog-shaped fabric magnet with long green ribbon legs on a wood surface. Four green lily pad-shaped fabric magnets nearby. Blue glue gun tip in corner.

Adding magnets

Add small strips of self-adhesive magnet tape to the back of the body and feet.

Close-up of a hand pressing a black square magnet onto the back of a small stuffed green fabric figure with four yellow ribbons, placed on a wood surface.

Or you can hot glue small button magnets to the back of the body and feet pieces.

Close-up of two green fabric animal feet with black stitched edges on a wooden surface, with black circular magnets on them and a blue hot glue gun applying glue.

A fun variation to ribbon is to create legs out of pipe cleaners! Wind the pipe cleaner around a pen or pencil to create a spiral shape.

Hand holding a brown pipe cleaner twisted in a spiral around a blue pen on a wooden surface.

Then, glue the pipe cleaners to the back of the body and feet.

Image shows a brown pipe cleaner being glued with blue adhesive onto a wooden surface, connecting a red embroidered monkey shape on the left to a red embroidered heart on the right.

Your refrigerator has now been inhabited by long-legged creatures! Luckily, they do not eat much.

Text "Long-Legged In-the-Hoop Animal Magnets" in playful purple font surrounds a light green and yellow frog magnet with elongated limbs ending in webbed feet, on a white background.