Go For The Gold: Make A Plush Olympic Torch & Gold Medal

The Olympic Games officially begin later this week.  The whole world will be watching & cheering for their favorite teams and events.  What better way for the kids to celebrate the magic of the moment than having their own Olympic torch and gold medals? 

I originally designed these plush Olympic accessories as part of an Olympic-themed party over for Bird's Party Magazine.  You can see the full spread HERE.

Here's how to make your very own and get into the Olympic spirit:)

You'll Need:
- Fleece scraps in red, orange and yellow
- Scrap polyester batting
- Gold pleather fabric
- 1 1/2 inch wide red grosgrain ribbon
- Fiberfill
- Sewing Notions (shears/rotary cutter, tape measure pins, thread & sewing machine, hand sewing needle)

For the torch flame, start out by cutting out three leaf-shaped pieces as shown below, the yellow being about 3 inches high x 1 inch wide, the orange being about 4 1/4 inches high x 2 inches wide and the red being 6 inches high by 3 inches wide.  Sew the layers together to get three layered flames:

With right sides facing, sew all three flames together, leaving a small opening at the bottom.  Clip the curved edges and turn right side out.  Stuff with fiberfill.

To make the handle portion, cut a long, thin isosceles (aka two equal sides) triangle from the gold pleather.  Mine was 15 inches long and 4 inches wide at the base.  With the right sides facing, sew together lengthwise and then turn right side out and stuff with fiberfill.

 Baste the open end and cinch closed by pulling threads:

 Pin flame to handle piece and slipstitch together by hand.

 Now it's time to light the way to greatness:

Ready to go for the gold?  To make a medal cut two lipped circles about 4 1/2 inches in diameter and a  single matching out of batting.  Cut a length of grosgrain ribbon (personal preference of amount, I did 28 inches) and overlap raw ends.  Sandwich batting on bottom, a gold piece right side up, ends of ribbon and then remaining gold piece (gold side face down).  Coil up ribbon in middle and pin outer edges of fabrics.

Sew all the way around, leaving a 1 1/2 inch gap for turning right side out.  Clip around raw edges and turn.  Fold opening inward and slipstitch closed by hand.  Now we're ready to award a little champion.

Let the games begin!

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