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Tips for Designing Reversible Toys

February 19, 2014

Toys are fun! The goal in designing a toy is to make something so appealing that people young and old will want to sit down and play with it. Toys spark our imagination.

One of the interesting challenges of being a toy designer is coming up with something that will evoke that emotional response.

Chick and Egg New Cover

A toy that turns inside out hits the nail on the head. Whenever someone comes into my studio and picks up this chick they immediately want to turn it inside out to explore how it works. The reaction is always the same. "Oh wow! How clever!"

I love interactive plush toys like this!

Designing a reversible toy takes some mind bending. One shape has to fit inside another, with some sort of opening so that you can flip it inside out and then right side out again.

The first reversible toy I designed was the chick and egg. It's a fun project to make: quick and easy to sew, cute, and most importantly, clever. (I'm excited to say that I've just relaunched this pattern with an updated format. It's one of my favorites!).

Caterpillar and Butterfly

I've also designed a caterpillar and butterfly reversible toy. He's the ultimate metamorphosis.This guy is super fun.

At some point I'd love to really delve deeply into how to design these sorts of toys, but for today I thought I'd start with some tips that might get your creative juices flowing and help you bend your mind into designing a reversible toy of your own.

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Tips for Designing Reversible Toys

1. Come up with two related ideas. There are so many pairings that would work well together as a reversible toy. Here are a few: cat and mouse, bee and hive, fox and hen, and tortoise and hare. I'm sure you can think of many more! Brainstorming is so fun.

2. Create two compatable shapes. We're delving into 3-d thinking here. You're shapes can vary somewhat (the butterfly has wings, for example), but they should be similar in size and scale. They have to fit inside one another, giving the illusion that it's only one toy.

3. Allow for enough inside space. There's no stuffing involved in the toys I'm showing here (you could create some small stuffed parts, like a head or arms, as long as they don't take up too much space inside). You want a shape that has some volume and it helps if the stretch of the fabric goes from side to side so that the toy will stretch a bit and be easier to turn.

Chick and Egg How-To

4. Choose a place for the two sides to attach. Once you've designed both parts, you'll need to figure out where it makes sense to attach them to one another. The chick and egg are attached around the bottom. The caterpillar and butterfly are also attached along their underside.

5. And now for the trick…The trick for assembling a reversible toy is to turn one part right side out and leave the other one inside out. Push the right side out one into the inside out one, so that the are right sides together. Be sure you've left an opening somewhere else so that you'll be able to turn the whole toy right side out. Stitch the two toys together at the attachment spot.

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Once you've designed a reversible toy that works, think about variations you could make on your original design to make it go further. My chick and egg became a penguin and egg, for example.

Penguin and Egg Collage

I'm looking forward to playing with more reversible toy shapes. They're addictive!

I recommend checking out Flip Dolls and Other Toys that Zip, Stack, Hide, Grab and Go by Laura Wilson if you're interested in exploring some more interesting design techniques for interactive plush. You can read my review and see what I made from the book here.

And if you have some great ideas for reversible toys, I'm all ears!

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Filed Under: Sew With Me, Softie Design Tutorials

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Comments

  1. Vanessa @ Mixed Martial Arts and Crafts says

    February 19, 2014 at 11:30 am

    I haven’t made reversible toys but I do make double sided aprons. That way if one side becomes too dingy with stains, you have the other side to wear.

  2. Mirjam says

    February 19, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    Thanks for these great tips. The chick and egg are very cute. It reminds me of a reversible toy my sister had (still has): a kiwi and an Australian bird 🙂

  3. Kristen says

    February 19, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    I love the caterpillar and butterfly. How come you never run out of ideas?
    Kristen

  4. cucicucicoo says

    February 19, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    Those are really so clever! Love them! 🙂 Lisa

  5. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 19, 2014 at 9:22 pm

    Now that’s a good idea, Vanessa!

  6. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 19, 2014 at 9:22 pm

    A kiwi and a Kiwi! Oh my goodness. That is too amazing.

  7. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 19, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Sometimes I do feel like I’ve run out of ideas, Kristen, but when I sit down and just start drawing and dreaming new things occur to me. It never fails. I truly love to design toys and I think I could do it forever and never get bored!

  8. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 19, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Thanks, Lisa!

  9. Anne says

    February 20, 2014 at 11:24 am

    I’ve always thought reversible softies were kind of magic. I’ve linked to your post over at Craft Gossip:
    http://sewing.craftgossip.com/abbys-tips-for-designing-reversible-softies/2014/02/20/
    –Anne

  10. Anne says

    February 20, 2014 at 11:25 am

    Forgot to add, the post is scheduled to go live this evening. –Anne

  11. wendy says

    February 21, 2014 at 5:03 am

    I have the book you mentioned but I’m a bit scared to try anything, I really must give it a go. thanks for the tips!

  12. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 21, 2014 at 2:39 pm

    Give it a try! I like the whale pattern in Flip Dolls. It’s not at all hard to sew and the results are really cool!

  13. Terry Webber says

    February 21, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    Wow! Your chick and egg is adorable! Would love to sew them – are they in the book you have published?
    Also, about what age child could use these toys? ( besides adults! I’d be playing with it all the time)

  14. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 21, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    Hi Terry,
    Thank you so much! This pattern is one that I sell as an individual PDF. It’s not in my book, but you can purchase it right here: http://abbyglassenbergdesign.bigcartel.com/product/chick-and-egg-reversible-toy
    Thanks again and happy sewing!
    -Abby

  15. Béatrice says

    February 23, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    I know it: I am your first fan all over the world;
    Béatrice from France

  16. Abby Glassenberg says

    February 23, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    Merci, Beatrice!

  17. Béatrice says

    March 1, 2014 at 7:12 am

    Bonjour Abby,
    Non, non, c’est Ă  moi de dire MERCI pour tout ce que vous faites de merveilleux.

  18. Edith Miller says

    March 21, 2017 at 6:35 am

    Hello Abby
    My 3yr old grandson just loves cars and robots so I had this idea to sew a toy car that is reversible to a robot but I dont know how to begin. I have read your page and ordered the book so cant wait to get started. My son years ago was given a plush allblack football that flips out into a kiwi (thats 28 yrs old now) he always loved that.

    Edith from Australia

Welcome! I'm Abby Glassenberg and I'm glad you're here. While She Naps is a blog about designing and sewing stuffed animals and running a creative business.
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