How to Make a Batch of Tribbles

They multiply ravenously, they jam up ventilation systems, they chew your wiring, and they worm their furry little ways into your heart: Tribbles!

Yes, everyone secretly wants one. The bane of James T. Kirk, the menace of Klingons, the eye-roll inducer for Trekkie purists, yet some of the most sickeningly cute little blobs of Wookee hairballs ever to venture onto a starship.

And now you can have your own.

 What you need:
Craft Fur
Jingle Bells, dog toy bladders or other noise-making source
Polyester fiber stuffing

Step 1: Cut out paper oval-shaped templates in various sizes (or egg or bean, depending on how good you are at making an oval). Small ones are about 4”X2”, mediums about 5”X3.5 and big ones about 6.5” by 4.5”. Trace the pattern on the back of the fur (make two for each tribble), and cut them out. Carefully, they shed. No joke. From my experience, you can get one large, two medium or four small tribbles from one standard “slab” of craft fur.

Step 2: Place the two sides evenly back to back, fur side facing each other as you would when making any other stuffed critter, and sew around the edges leaving gap big enough to insert bell (or other noise-maker) and stuffing. I like to leave the gap about an inch wide, but I’ll let you be the captain of your own destiny, here.

Step 3: Turn them right side out by pushing the tribble body through the gap. You might need a chopstick or capped pen to help with this. Now, stuff the tribble, inserting the bell into the center of the stuffing, and sew up the gap.

Quick tip, when you have the tribble finished, some of the fake fur might still be pushed in the seam giving it a little wedgie. Use a needle or toothpick to carefully tug this out, for a more genuine “wild tribble” look. Now repeat these steps until you have all the tribbles you need, but really, can you ever have enough tribbles?

 Sure you could purchase these through novelty catalogs for $20 a pop, but you can make several of your own easily and for much, much cheaper.  Plus, you can choose the colors you want. FYI Potterphiles, make them pink and purple and you got yourself a sleeping Pygmy Puff!

What can you do with these babies, now that you have, I’m bettin’, at least 10 of them? Oh the possibilities are endless. They could:

Have a tea party:

Pose for awkwardly humiliating family portraits:

Enjoy your favourite BBC programmes with you:

No matter what they do, they will always be part of your family.  You just might want to keep a watch on your air vents during mating season.

Lisa Kay Tate
Staff Writer and resident geek mom