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Step 3Transfer patterns to fabric
Take whatever fabric you're using (I used brown fake fur and pink sparkly felt) and lay it upside down on a flat surface.
As I said, I didn't bother using a pattern for the top and sides since they're very simple shapes. I just put the Roomba down on the fake fur and traced its edge using a piece of white soap. White soap (pale chalk or brightly colored gel pens also work well) is good for marking up dark fabric. And there you have the top of the mouse.
Then I measured around the edge of the drawn circle using, um, a USB cable (I didn't have measuring tape handy). Using a ruler, I sketched out the dimensions for the side of the mouse - a rectangle as high as the Roomba and as long as the Roomba's perimeter. Here's where things get a bit complicated. Depending on what kind of fabric you use, there may be a discernable direction to the way the fabric lays. This is pretty obvious on fake fur - when you 'rub it the wrong way,' you can tell. I wanted to make a mouse whose fur went the right way. So I drew the side rectangle so that when cut out, the fur would look as if it flowed naturally from the top of the mouse to the floor. This should make sense if you refer back to the mouse picture in the intro.
The tail is another rectangle - this one much skinnier. I sketched mine out freehand and placed it so that the fur flowed from the base of the tail to the tip.
There are two ears, and each ear has an inner (felt) and outer (fur) piece. Note that the pattern (seen below) was slightly asymmetrical, because I wanted the ears to be slightly cocked to the side. Get two small squares of fur and lay them down so the fur is facing the floor. Put the ear pattern down right side up on one piece of fur and draw around it with the soap. Then flip the ear pattern over and put it on the second piece of fur. Draw around it. Now you will have two fur ear pieces, one a reflection of the other.
The pink felt is easier to cut. Take one piece and fold it in half. Lay ear pattern down on the folded felt and trace it in dark pen. Keep the felt folded - when you cut that pattern out, you will get two felt fur ear pieces, one a reflection of the other.
You only need to cut out one nose - it's just a small oval of felt. I have drawn nostrils on the pattern so that you can see how they would go - but I didn't choose to use them on my version of the mouse.
As I said, I didn't bother using a pattern for the top and sides since they're very simple shapes. I just put the Roomba down on the fake fur and traced its edge using a piece of white soap. White soap (pale chalk or brightly colored gel pens also work well) is good for marking up dark fabric. And there you have the top of the mouse.
Then I measured around the edge of the drawn circle using, um, a USB cable (I didn't have measuring tape handy). Using a ruler, I sketched out the dimensions for the side of the mouse - a rectangle as high as the Roomba and as long as the Roomba's perimeter. Here's where things get a bit complicated. Depending on what kind of fabric you use, there may be a discernable direction to the way the fabric lays. This is pretty obvious on fake fur - when you 'rub it the wrong way,' you can tell. I wanted to make a mouse whose fur went the right way. So I drew the side rectangle so that when cut out, the fur would look as if it flowed naturally from the top of the mouse to the floor. This should make sense if you refer back to the mouse picture in the intro.
The tail is another rectangle - this one much skinnier. I sketched mine out freehand and placed it so that the fur flowed from the base of the tail to the tip.
There are two ears, and each ear has an inner (felt) and outer (fur) piece. Note that the pattern (seen below) was slightly asymmetrical, because I wanted the ears to be slightly cocked to the side. Get two small squares of fur and lay them down so the fur is facing the floor. Put the ear pattern down right side up on one piece of fur and draw around it with the soap. Then flip the ear pattern over and put it on the second piece of fur. Draw around it. Now you will have two fur ear pieces, one a reflection of the other.
The pink felt is easier to cut. Take one piece and fold it in half. Lay ear pattern down on the folded felt and trace it in dark pen. Keep the felt folded - when you cut that pattern out, you will get two felt fur ear pieces, one a reflection of the other.
You only need to cut out one nose - it's just a small oval of felt. I have drawn nostrils on the pattern so that you can see how they would go - but I didn't choose to use them on my version of the mouse.
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