Buttons and Pockets: Fleece Pokeball

Like most of the world, I've been enjoying playing Pokemon Go since its release a few weeks ago. I've had a deep, deep love for Pokemon ever since the first games became available. I must have been twelve or thirteen when I got my copy of Pokemon Red--and my life has never been the same.

Desperate for a Pokemon craft, I realized that assembly a fleece Pokeball would probably be pretty simple. There are other ways to craft Pokeballs--from styrafoam to tiny ping pong balls--but I always use fleece by default. It's such an easy material to work with.

So, for my first attempt (and I know there will be several more) I stuck with the average Pokeball. That is, the red and white one.

First, I cut out a pattern of a rounded triangle, 3 inches long and 3 inches high. (I realize now that I could have mirrored the pattern for an elongated oval and cut my sewing in half; next time.)

I cut this pattern out four times on the red fleece and four times on the white fleece.

Next, I sewed the white pieces together, right side to right side, to form a dome.

Then I repeated the same thing for the red triangles.

Putting them together, right side to right side, I stitched up their seams, leaving an inch opening.

Turn it inside out.

Stuff with Polyfill.

Hand stitch the opening. Don't worry if it's not pretty; it'll be covered by the black band around the middle.

Next, I cut out a strip of black fleece that was a bit longer than the circumference of the Pokeball.

With a hot glue gun, I glued down one side of the black strip to the center of the Pokeball.

I glued the strip down all the way around, trimming the end for a nice finish. Again, don't worry if it's not the prettiest because it will be covered up with the round button.