That braided fleece toy pattern took me 4 hours to figure out

I saw all those cute braided fleece toys on here and thought hey, how hard can it be? Turns out my first attempt ended up as a tangled mess that took 30 minutes to untie from my golden retriever's legs. The second try I watched a video 3 times but still got the loops backwards, so I had to rip it all out and start fresh. Total time from cutting the strips to having a finished toy my dog actually played with was about 4 hours, not counting the break I took to cuss at the fabric. Anyone else have a pattern that looked simple but took way longer than you expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_harris351mo agoMost Upvoted

omg the cussing break is so real. @taylor.phoenix is absolutely right about taping the strips down, that was the only way I didn't lose my mind too. It took me a solid 3 hours for my first one that looked halfway decent, I feel your pain.

taylor.phoenix1mo ago

My third attempt I realized I had to tape the strips down to the kitchen table with painter's tape to keep them from sliding around while I braided. That's the trick that saved me. Also cutting the fleece strips narrower than you think you need them makes a huge difference because thick strips just turn into a giant knot. Once you get the muscle memory down on the braiding motion it goes faster but yeah those first few tries are rough.

hayes.tara1mo ago

Wait, you're saying narrower strips actually work better? I always went wide thinking it'd be faster but maybe that's why mine came out so lumpy.