A long time ago someone convinced me to try calamari. And it was fine, but I’ll never be able to eat it again now that I’ve sewn up some super cute little squid. Who could think about eating these guys?

Besides, it’s so much more fun to fling these squid around. Have an all-out battle for who can land the most cephalopods on a target or who has the better range!

Kids of all ages will love playing, and your older kids can even help with the sewing. Booyah!

• Felt (choose wool or wool blend for longer lasting squid!)
• Elastic
• Black and white embroidery floss
• Scissors
• Needle
• Squid Flingers Pattern (download here)

For each squid you are making, use the template to cut two top pieces and two bottom pieces from felt. Cut the arms/tentacles into the bottom pieces. You can make the pieces all the same color like I’ve done, or mix them up!

Embroider a face onto one of the top pieces. There’s a happy squid face and a fierce fighting squid face. Make the eyes with french knots, the mouth with scallop stitch, and the eyebrows with straight stitch. For more help with these stitches, see my post on making faces.

Cut a 6-inch piece of elastic and fold it in half. Use three strand of embroidery floss to stitch the ends together. If you overlap the ends only partway, you’ll have a wider piece to stitch into the top of the squid.

Sandwich the two bottom pieces between the two top pieces, and place the elastic loop between the layers at the top. Stitch around the squid with running stitch and three strands of embroidery floss. Be sure to get a few stitches through the elastic, and hide the knots between the layers.

You can follow the outline the entire way around, or stitch around only what would be the mantle, leaving the side fins free.

Now, loop the elastic on your index finger, pull back, and let the squid fly! Or rather…swim!

I found that when my squid sail through the air, they often have a movement that looks a lot like they are rocketing through water. But no two felt squid swim the same way.

For true squid flinging fun, you’ll need to make a few more cephalopod friends. Or maybe enemies. I’d like to think that the squid with happy faces are one team, and the fierce squid are another. Which will win in a flying frenzy?

In the end, I suppose they’ll all become friends.

Now, how will you use your felt squid? Well, I admit that I’ve been enjoying ambushing my family with them (Don’t worry! They’re super soft!). But they’re perfect for target practice, so mark out a square on the floor with tape, or aim for a bucket or empty kiddie pool. Or simply see how far you can make them swim through the air!

Happy crafting!