The perfect rainy day activity for kids that love My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away.
The Backstory of the Soot Sprite Dolls
I am a dad who tries to encourage a low screen time environment for my kids, I always try to come up with ways to find low screen time, offline games for them to play.
My daughter loves the movie My Neighbor Totoro. She especially loves the scene in the beginning of the movie where Mei and Satsuki move to their new house in the countryside and are exploring the old run-down house. When the two sisters first open the door to the kitchen, which nobody has been to in years, there is a sudden ‘whoosh’ of black creatures scurrying away into the nooks and crannies of the old house. “What was that?” they ask each other. When they are exploring the upstairs, the younger sister Mei tries to catch one of the creatures in her hands but ends up with soot all over her hands. They later learn from the granny next door that these are called soot sprites and they live in the dark corners of houses.
The Limits of Screen Time With Kids
While my daughter loves watching this movie, and can watch it over and over, I want her to steer away from always wanting to watch the movie and, more so, just passively watching it. I want to find ways for her to enjoy the story and the characters without sitting there watching the movie and help her find a way to enjoy it in a screen free way. This started with getting a picture book version of the movie. And she loves reading this book as much as she does watching the movie. Books obviously are a good screen free activity.
Beyond the Book
But beyond that I wanted to make a more interactive story that my daughter can use to engage with the narrative and also use it as a rainy day game or game to pass the time. So I have been thinking of sewing projects for screen free activities related to My Neighbor Totoro.
I recently read the excellent book Sew and Play by Farah Wolfe, which has a collection of home made games that parents can sew for their kids. The book has a lot of sewing projects for screen free activities or rainy day activities. One of my favorites from the book is the bug hunt game, which involves sewing several small “bug” style pouch toys that kids can hide and hunt for around the house. I especially like the idea of using paracord for bug legs. This makes it a lot more sturdy than using fabric.
I had the idea of doing a Totoro-themed variation of the bug hunt game outlined in the book, making soot sprites instead of bugs. It is still a super easy mini plush toy that you can sew yourself in under an hour and have your kids play hide and seek with, or any other game variation they come up with, endlessly.
To mimic the eyes I am sewing on two pieces of white felt and then doing a French knot embroidery for the eye pupils. Then stuffing the inside and using a ladder stitch with a hand sewing needle to seal it up. It’s a very simple sewing project that allows me to churn out a lot of soot sprites in a short amount of time.
Variations of the Soot Sprite Dolls
Another good variation of this if your kids are older or you don’t even have kids is to sew it as a keychain and use it as a backpack accessory. You can take an old keychain that you have and put it inside the soot sprite body. Then sew up around it when you are closing the hole.
This makes a great hide and seek game to keep your kids occupied. It also makes a great rainy day kids game. As noted above, you can also use this pattern to make a Gibli inspired soot sprite keychain accessory.
Materials You Will Need to Make the Soot Sprite Dolls
- Black cotton canvas for the body
- Black paracord for the legs
- 1 white felt sheet for the eyes
- Black embroidery floss
- Embroidery needle
Steps to Make to Soot Sprite Dolls
The process to make the hide and seek game soot sprite toys is pretty straightforward. You will cut out the body pieces, sew on the eyes, and stitch the eyeballs. Then you will sandwich the legs in between the two body layers and sew it shut.
- Start by cutting out the canvas pieces and eyes using the free pattern.
2. Position the soot sprite eyes on one body piece and fasten it down using a zigzag stitch. I prefer to use an appliqué foot for this type of work since it makes it easier to slide around the foot.
A Note About Using Fusible Web
Some instructions for sewing appliqué patches will recommend using fusible web under the eyes so they don’t move after you’ve put them in place. This is a good method if you are worried about them sliding around and don’t mind the extra time. You can also use pins to secure them, then pull them out as you move around.
3. After you’ve sewn down the white eyes do the embroidery for the pupils. You will be sewing a French knot for each eye. The trick that I’ve found to make these soot sprite toys look like real thing is to put them closer to the inside of the eye.
For more information on how to sew a French knot check out this tutorial here.
Make sure you tie a knot on the underside to keep the eyeball from popping out. The first thing my okiddo did when playing with these Gibli inspired soot sprite toys was pull on the eyeballs. And one came out.
4. In the following step you will prepare the legs. For each figure cut out 8 pieces, each about 2” long. You will need to secure one end using a lighter to melt it a little then seal it up.
If the paracord you are using is like mind and has the white tassels inside then it helps to pull them slightly down so you are just melting the two black sides together. Hold it inside a the flame for a couple seconds then pinch it shut.
I use a marker and push it down onto a piece of cardboard until it shuts.
5. Once you’ve finished the legs you will combine the two sides together. Start with the eye body piece. Place it down with eyes facing up. Place the legs around the edges (the melted ends will be on the INSIDE. Leave a little bit of the ends on the outside. The amount on the inside will depend on how long you want the legs.
6. Place the other body piece on top and clip the body pieces together at the points with the legs.
7. Stitch all the sandwiched pieces together using a short zigs zag stitch.
Leave about a 1” opening at the end to use for turning.
Clip the excess ends clean once you sew the two body pieces together.
8. Make sure all the legs are secured down with the stitch and turn the soot sprite toy right side out through the hole you just left open. As long as the legs are secured nice and tight you can pull on them to get it turned out.
It helps to use a chopstick or pencil to poke out all the edges and get it nice and turned. Then nice and flat. If you are using heat erasable pens to do your marking like I am then this is a good place to iron down the toy and remove the markings.
9. Once you’ve fully turned the soot sprite stuffy body right side out stuff it using your choice of stuffing.
I like poly fill. A good rule of thumb when stuffing stuffed animals is to overfill. The filling tends to flatten out over time so when you feel like it’s already really full then stuff a little bit more. Just make sure that you can squeeze the opening enough to stitch it closed again. A chopstick comes in handy again here.
10. Finally use a hand needle and thread to sew a ladder stitch and close the opening up.
For guidance on sewing a ladder stitch this is a really good tutorial.
11. Back stitch and close the opening up and you’re all done.
Now you can make as many soot sprite dolls as you want. I made five. Each morning before my daughter wakes up I’ll hide them under somewhere in the house for my daughter to discover after she wakes up. Then she goes and hides them for everyone else to find.
As a parent this is a good option for occupying your kids long enough to make dinner or wash the dishes.
Do you want to learn how to sew this? Sign up for my machine sewing class. You can learn to use a sewing machine in half a day and use this skill for the rest of your life to make cool stuff for your kids and save money!
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