If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen the little quilted ponies I’ve been making. I picked up the pattern because it was cute and I thought I might try making them on commission. I started with making one for Dijon’s owner because I owed her a favor and thought she’d get a kick out of having a little stuffed Dijon. She loved it and so did everyone else.
It’s pretty ridiculously cute. I wasn’t actually anticipating it coming out as well as it did, but as soon as I finished it, I knew I needed to make one for myself. A lot of followers on Instagram and Facebook were asking if I was going to sell them. Well… that was my initial thought on trying out the pattern, the process turned out to be a pretty time intense. It ended up taking me about 20 hours to make that first horse. At that rate, I figured I’d need to sell them for about $800 to make it worth my time. So, yeah…
A lot of my time on the first horse was spent on pouring over the directions, which are very detailed, but this is not what I would call an “easy” project. I did some quilting as a kid, but haven’t done a lot recently and my machine sewing skills are somewhere in the intermediate area. The directions walk you through the project step-by-step, which is awesome, but I spent a lot of time going back and forth from ironing, cutting and pinning to sewing. I also had to change out my thread colors a bunch. For the second horse, I didn’t need to read each direction multiple times and I did all the ironing, cutting and pinning in one batch before moving on to do all of the quilting in one batch before finally starting to combine the pieces.
For the second quilted pony, I did have to modify the pattern to make it into a mule. I added a mohawk, enlarged the ears, and added her shoulder and back striping. This wasn’t too hard, but it did slow me down a little bit. All in all, the second one took me a little over 10 hours. To be fair, these weren’t 10 straight hours completely focused on sewing. I definitely looked up occasionally to watch the TV that’s playing in the background – I haven’t entirely memorized Psych yet – or go get a drink, let the dogs out, etc. Even without distractions, it wouldn’t be a quick turn project.
At this point, I was pretty addicted to making quilted ponies. It’s not like I don’t have other things I should be doing – like paid work – but I just want to sew ponies instead. I debated doing a fun one, like a galaxy pattern or a cute kids fabric, but decided to make a Eugene instead.
I didn’t time myself for this last one. I didn’t take me as long as the Nilla, but it wasn’t fast either. I once again had to spend some time figuring out how to make modifications, like adding the coronet band and darker legs. I also spent an annoyingly long amount of time hand embroidering his brand because I don’t own an embroidery machine… yet.
In the end, I don’t think I could make these and sell them for less than $200. If you’re interested in one, let me know. I’ll probably make some more for fun no matter what. If you’re interested in making your own, the pattern is from RumpledQuiltskins who sells the pattern on her Etsy store. She also has a bunch of cute patterns aside from the horse like a lion, cow, and pig. I reached out to her and asked if she’d like to share a coupon code for readers and she generously created one for 25% off. To get 25% off the pattern use: RQS2018 at the link above.
You know you wanna make one…
As always, this isn’t a sponsored post and there are no affiliate links. I didn’t receive anything in exchange for writing this post or sharing the coupon code. I am sharing the pattern because I really like it and I asked RumpledQuiltskins if she’d like to offer a coupon code because a lot of people have asked for the pattern. Enjoy!
Those are so adorable! I love the detail of adding Eugene’s brand. I wish I had a better relationship with my sewing machine, but as it is, I can barely sew a simple straight line repair.
Straight lines are the hardest.
Oh my heart….I need a Gemmie! Ridiculously adorable. If I knew how to sew or owned any sewing equipment I’d lock myself in and make ponies forever.
I think you need a stuffed Nash too.
They are cute as can be (LOVE both the Nilla one and Eugene one). but had to laugh at….RumbledQuiltskins. LOL Laughing so hard. what a cute name!! I could never do one of those but I love seeing how you did it and the finished projects 🙂 Great job!! Thanks for sharing…..:)
I love the name too.
These are SO adorable! I know so many people having babies right now and you know I try to corrupt all of them with some semblance of a love for horses! Totally purchased the pattern (and one for a stick horse!) and am going to take a stab at this — thanks for sharing!!!
Have fun making ponies!
Eeeeeh those are SO CUTE! And yeah, selling stuff you sew is hard because of the amount of time it takes. I did some saddle pads and they would have easily been $200+ because of the time invested. But hey, if you’re going to spend the time anyway, maybe you could do the occasional one? They are AWFULLY cute!
I’ve thought about making saddle pads, but they are infinitely cheaper to buy. Just the fabric alone before my time is more expensive than buying pads. I will probably make more ponies for fun, but I have another project I need to finish as well.
I’m obsessed. These are so cute! I’ve never quilted but am comfortable sewing – I might try? Maybe?
If you can sew on a machine and follow directions, you can definitely do this project. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.
I need this pattern in my life. It is decided.
Do it!
You are the CRAFTIEST!! SO cute. Making money off of crafts is hard unless you are mass producing schlock.
Mass producing them would definitely cut the time down, but till not enough to make them cheap.
Ugh, these are just the CUTEST ever. I don’t sew, but this totally makes me want to learn!
Sewing is a great skill to have. I’d recommend starting with a beginner sort of project before tackling this one though.
THESE ARE SO CUTE OMG.
They’re even cuter in person too.
These get cuter every time I see them! I don’t sew, but I’m tempted to buy the pattern and send it to my mother in law and ask her to sew me in a tiny Moe and Gina.
That’s a good way to get it done.
zomg I love the NIlla!
Nilla has a distinct advantage in the cuteness department.
Wow!! You are so talented!!
Thanks, but I think I’m just good at following directions.
These are fantastic! Your eye for detail is awesome, I love the little brand on Eugene. How big are they?
Probably about 12″ tall. They’re actually a really decent size.
So many adorable details!!!! I am so tempted to figure out how to use my mother-in-law’s sewing machine and take 300 hours just to learn how to sew so I can make a little Chimi 😁 Or i’ll just have to find a friend that sews and tell them about this cute pattern I found, buy the fabric and not tell them how long it takes 😂 I think I like that plan the best! Hehehehe
I don’t think this is a great starter project, especially if you don’t know how to use a machine already. So foisting it off on someone else is probably a good plan.
These are ADORABLE and I wish I knew how to use a sewing machine!
I think sewing is a great skill to have. I certainly use it a lot and I’ve been wanting to take some advanced quilting/alterations classes.
I absolutely love these!
Thanks!
Those are so incredibly adorable. I love them.
They turned out cuter than I thought they would.
Super cute! I don’t sew, but appreciate the effort and detail that went into this! I’ve looked into selling crafts too, and come to a similar conclusion, that the money to time ratio isn’t worth it. I also like making a few things for friends, I really don’t want to make a whole bunch of each item. Keep crafting!
SO CUTE. I’m so impressed. And don’t begrudge you one little bit for the cost you’d have to make them either – sewing is hard!
Okay what, this is so adorable. No wonder people want to buy them off of you