Making toy food for toddlers can be easy

The 29-year-old from Orem, Utah, first made a whole stuffed apple, then sewed a ham sandwich with a felt lunch sack.

She is one of a number of mothers who, worried about plastic toys' safety and environmental impact, have created interest in homemade play food.

"It's not a run-of-the-mill, China-made toy," Haacke said. "I get tired of my kids playing with plastic all the time."

Miranda Kuskie, 25, of Nampa, Idaho, went on a felt food sewing spree for her 3-year-old son because she was unimpressed by the play food for sale and concerned about contaminated plastic. She likes that her children can pile up separate strands of felt spaghetti instead of a plastic blob of noodles.

"They like to stick all the noodles in the pot and stir it up. And they can't really do that with the plastic food," she said.

People with little or no sewing experience can make felt food; there are fabric versions of strawberries, hamburgers and cupcakes that can be sewn by hand with one or two basic stitches.

Crafter Deena Neimat, 29, of Nashville, Tenn., said it's satisfying to whip up a fabric carrot in 15 minutes or a milk carton in about an hour, then watch her daughter play with them.

"It's really just a night sitting in front of the TV sewing. It's not like you have to set aside hard-core work time," she said.

The items are durable and wash up easily, and many people expect them to become heirlooms.