Is the dog smiley face toy tough enough for chewers? Discover durable options for long lasting fun.

Okay, so I had this idea the other day. My dog, Max, has been tearing through his toys like crazy, you know? Especially the soft ones. I saw one of those smiley face things somewhere, and thought, maybe I can make something like that, but tougher. Figured I'd give it a shot and document how it went down.

Gathering the bits and pieces

First off, I needed materials. I wasn't about to buy fancy stuff just for Max to destroy it in five minutes. So, I went digging.

• Found an old pair of jeans. Denim's pretty tough, right? Seemed like a good base.
• Located some scrap yellow felt I had from another project ages ago. Perfect for the smiley face itself.
• Needed some black felt too, for the eyes and mouth details. Had a tiny bit left.
• Grabbed my heavy-duty needle and some strong thread. Normal thread wouldn't last a second.
• Scissors, obviously.
• And stuffing! I actually ripped open one of Max’s completely wrecked toys and salvaged the stuffing and the squeaker from inside. Reduce, reuse, recycle, eh?

Getting down to making it

Alright, time to actually make the thing. I started by cutting out two big circles from the denim jeans. Used a dinner plate as a rough guide to get them reasonably round. Tried to pick bits of the denim that didn't have seams already on them, to make it stronger.

Next, the face part. This was a bit fiddly. I cut out a circle from the yellow felt, slightly smaller than the denim circles. Then, I cut out two simple oval eyes and a big curved smile shape from the black felt.

Stitching the face on: I positioned the yellow circle onto one of the denim circles. Then I carefully stitched the black felt eyes and mouth onto the yellow felt. I tried to make the stitches small and tight. Did this before sewing the main toy together – much easier that way.

Putting it all together: Once the face looked sort of smiley, I placed the two denim circles together, with the smiley face on the inside. Started sewing around the edge, using that strong thread. Made sure to do a double stitch or backstitch every now and then, hoping it would hold up better against Max's chewing. I left a gap, maybe a couple of inches wide, along one edge.

Turning and stuffing: Carefully turned the whole thing right-side out through the gap I left. The smiley face was now on the outside! Poked out the edges to make it nice and round. Then came the stuffing. I pushed in the salvaged stuffing, trying to get it firm but not rock solid. Popped the old squeaker right in the middle of the stuffing.

Finishing up: The last step was closing the gap. This is always the trickiest part to make look neat. I folded the raw edges inwards and did my best to stitch it closed as securely and invisibly as possible. Used lots of small, tight stitches here.

The result? Well...

It definitely looked… homemade. Let's be honest, my sewing isn't professional grade. The circle wasn't perfectly round, and the smiley face was a little lopsided. But hey, it was yellow, it had a face, and it was made of tough denim!

Max's verdict: He seemed pretty interested. Gave it a good sniff, picked it up, and the squeaker worked! That was a win. He trotted off with it and gave it a good chew. The denim seems to be holding up better than the usual fluffy toys, at least for now. It hasn't been instantly shredded, which is a definite improvement. It was a fun little project, used up some old materials, and Max got a new toy out of it. Worth the effort, I reckon.