All dice for now are finished
my 20 sided stuffed die is now finished. (I'll call the die d20 from now, cause it's shorter and easier.)
Here's the description how to do it (with many pictures).
For all dice I took blue fleece. the stuff needed can be seen in the first article on my dice
Cut out of the fleece 20 triangles. Mine have a sidelength of 8 cm. Be careful that all sides of all triangles are of equal length, one or two millimeters difference don't matter, but there may not be more difference between the side lengths.
Stitch all numbers from one to twenty on the triangles. I recommend stitching, it looks better.
I tried writing the numbers on the finished die with a edding felt pen, but that didn't work out.
Then take a normal d20 and put it on the table next to your sewing stuff with the 20 facing upwards. Look at the die, which numbers are next to the 20. It's the 14, 8 and 2. Take the triangles with the 20, 14, 8 and 2 on them and fix them with pins like shown on the picture.
Sew the borders where the pins are with blue thread. Put the triangles together with the right side (that should be outside) facing each other and the "insides" on the outside. This way the edges wil be inside and it will look better.
In this picture the 14 and 8 are already sewn on the 20 and 2 is lying on the 20 with the insides out.
Turn the die that the 2 is facing upwards. Bordering on the two are the numbers 18 and 12. Take the triangles with the 18 and 12 and sew them on the triangle 2 as shown on your die.
Turn the die that the 8 is facing upwards. Take the triangles with the 10 and 16 and sew them on the triangle 8.
Until now you can put all the sewn-together parts flat on a surface. But now it gets three-dimensional.
As you can see on your die, the 10 and the 12 share an edge (indicated with black dots in the picture). Sew the egde of the 10 and the 12 together. This will give us the first hint of a three-dimensional die.
The next step is similar to the steps above. Turn your die to the 14. Take the triangles 4 and 6 and sew them on the triangle 14 so that they look like on the die.
The 4 shares an edge not only with the 14, but also with the 18. Sew these two together.
The 6 shares and edge with the 14 and 16. Sew teh edge of the 6 and 16 together.
Now you have half of your die together. It should look like this:
The first picture is inside-out, the second pic is with the right side out.
You could now make the other half of the die like the first half, starting from top with the 1 instead of the 20. You should then get two halves which you have to fit together.
Or you could take the first half and add more sides to it, choosing a number and adding one or two sides at a time. Like described in about every step.
I can't tell you which method is better. I only tried the first method, sewing two halves and then sewing them together. That was quite easy.
When you get to the last border, don't close the seam. You still have your die inside-out. Just sew the corners together at the ends of the last seam. Then you have to turn the die, you have to pull all the parts of the die through the hole (which is rather small) so that you get the outside out.
Then you fill the die with cotton wool and close the last seam.
Now you have a stuffed d20 which unfortunately looks more like a ball than like a die.
But at least it got the numbers on it so that every roleplayer can see what it should be. And this is more of a toy than a die for roleplaying ;)
One more hint: before attemptimg to make a d20, you should try your skills first on a four-sided or six-sided or eight-sided die. These are easier to do, and if you use the same fabric as for the d20, you get a feeling for the fabric and how you can work with it, which makes making the d20 somewhat easier.
Maybe I'll make a ten-sided or twelve-sided die or a four-sided with stitched numbers, but that will only be done when I have too much free time ;-)
Here's the description how to do it (with many pictures).
For all dice I took blue fleece. the stuff needed can be seen in the first article on my dice
Cut out of the fleece 20 triangles. Mine have a sidelength of 8 cm. Be careful that all sides of all triangles are of equal length, one or two millimeters difference don't matter, but there may not be more difference between the side lengths.
Stitch all numbers from one to twenty on the triangles. I recommend stitching, it looks better.
I tried writing the numbers on the finished die with a edding felt pen, but that didn't work out.
Then take a normal d20 and put it on the table next to your sewing stuff with the 20 facing upwards. Look at the die, which numbers are next to the 20. It's the 14, 8 and 2. Take the triangles with the 20, 14, 8 and 2 on them and fix them with pins like shown on the picture.
Sew the borders where the pins are with blue thread. Put the triangles together with the right side (that should be outside) facing each other and the "insides" on the outside. This way the edges wil be inside and it will look better.
In this picture the 14 and 8 are already sewn on the 20 and 2 is lying on the 20 with the insides out.
Turn the die that the 2 is facing upwards. Bordering on the two are the numbers 18 and 12. Take the triangles with the 18 and 12 and sew them on the triangle 2 as shown on your die.
Turn the die that the 8 is facing upwards. Take the triangles with the 10 and 16 and sew them on the triangle 8.
Until now you can put all the sewn-together parts flat on a surface. But now it gets three-dimensional.
As you can see on your die, the 10 and the 12 share an edge (indicated with black dots in the picture). Sew the egde of the 10 and the 12 together. This will give us the first hint of a three-dimensional die.
The next step is similar to the steps above. Turn your die to the 14. Take the triangles 4 and 6 and sew them on the triangle 14 so that they look like on the die.
The 4 shares an edge not only with the 14, but also with the 18. Sew these two together.
The 6 shares and edge with the 14 and 16. Sew teh edge of the 6 and 16 together.
Now you have half of your die together. It should look like this:
The first picture is inside-out, the second pic is with the right side out.
You could now make the other half of the die like the first half, starting from top with the 1 instead of the 20. You should then get two halves which you have to fit together.
Or you could take the first half and add more sides to it, choosing a number and adding one or two sides at a time. Like described in about every step.
I can't tell you which method is better. I only tried the first method, sewing two halves and then sewing them together. That was quite easy.
When you get to the last border, don't close the seam. You still have your die inside-out. Just sew the corners together at the ends of the last seam. Then you have to turn the die, you have to pull all the parts of the die through the hole (which is rather small) so that you get the outside out.
Then you fill the die with cotton wool and close the last seam.
Now you have a stuffed d20 which unfortunately looks more like a ball than like a die.
But at least it got the numbers on it so that every roleplayer can see what it should be. And this is more of a toy than a die for roleplaying ;)
One more hint: before attemptimg to make a d20, you should try your skills first on a four-sided or six-sided or eight-sided die. These are easier to do, and if you use the same fabric as for the d20, you get a feeling for the fabric and how you can work with it, which makes making the d20 somewhat easier.
Maybe I'll make a ten-sided or twelve-sided die or a four-sided with stitched numbers, but that will only be done when I have too much free time ;-)