FO: Baby's First Toilet

And now for one of the weirdest items I've ever made: a knitted toilet. But wait! There's more! It's a baby toy, complete with jingly ball inside :)

Kind of a strange story. My youngest sister was having a baby (she's had it now, this was made back in the spring) and when she was younger she used to always doodle our family as butts and toilets. Any time she had a school drawing project, she would make a toilet. It because her signature thing. We've given her various toilet themed items over her life, but when I saw that Anna Hrachovec had a toilet pattern, I bought it with the intention of making it for her one day. I've had the pattern for several years now and it was her getting pregnant that finally got me inspired to finally make this up.

This pattern is Flushie by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. Even though I always wanted to make it, I never did because I knew it would be a fairly complicated shape so I just never felt up for the construction. Now that I've made it up, it's really not that bad if you are used to knitted toy construction. It's definitely not a beginner pattern if you want it to turn out like the example one.

You knit the toilet in parts and then seam it together. You start with the base, then the bowl and water, then the lid and tank. I used all stash acrylic yarn for this project: Vanna's Choice in white, and Caron Simply Soft in gray heather and baby blue. I've used these yarns countless times for baby toys and they hold up great over time.

Sewing everything together and stuffing it was interesting to keep things shaped correctly. You want it stuffed enough to stay the right shape, but not so stuffed that it looks too stuffed, you know? Then keeping the indentation for the water in the bowl was interesting. I got there in the end and I'm happy with the results, but it took a lot of focus and squeezing and stuffing to get it in the right shape. I added a jingly cat ball to the middle of the bowl of the toilet to keep the baby's interest.

Since I was making this for a newborn baby, I decided to make felt eyes. I used my trusty Sizzix Paddle Punches to make circles for the eyes and then I embroidered the white gleam and sewed these on. 

I think between the flusher, the eyes, and the friendly open mouth, it really makes this guy have a dapper appearance. Can a toilet seem dapper? lol I made this guy over the course of 3 days at the end of February and had him ready for my sister's baby shower mid March.

The baby shower was the big reveal and my sister loved it. I was very happy that she enjoyed it, lol, this is one that could have gone south easily, you know?

 

Now that it's done and the baby is out, I hope that he enjoys it as he grows. I hope this becomes a beloved baby toy that he has to explain to others when he's older hahaha. All in all, this was a very successful project and I would definitely make it again should the need arise. This was my first finished object of 2023 and it set the precedent for sure.