Though this picture is heinous. I had to stand on a chair and hold my phone (yes, my pics are from my phone--I'm just too lazy to get a real camera) out over my ironing board to get this.
So that should give you an idea of how large the body is. It's about 3/4 of my ironing board (which is a generic cheapo Target ironing board--so not some big fancy job).
Sunday I got the majority of the pattern cut out and the head area sewn and stuffed (except the very bottom which I'll fill once I get the whole thing assembled). I still have to cut out the leg ring strip and the circle that covers the bottom. But I'll cut the leg skirt strip based on the size of the finished legs (and body) and the bottom circle based on the assembled size. I probably could cut the leg skirt strip earlier but I'd hate to underestimate the size and then have to cut twice.
I also got the two long legs (I call them arms) sewn and turned.
The arms before I stitched them. Yup, their almost exactly the same length as my ironing board (just a wee bit bigger).
And yes, I did iron every piece again before I stitched them together (yeah, you see that giant wrinkle there at the bottom of the yellow arm but I got rid of it with a fizz of steam, no problem).
So far, all the sewing has gone really well. No issues and I'm very happy with the end products. I just have to work some lumpiness out of the body. That shouldn't be a huge issue. The body needs a lot more stuffing before it's done, so working more in should help smooth everything out. I'm also not overly concerned about mild lumpiness since this sucker will have to be shipped and that will cause a little lumping (and wrinkling--that saddens me a bit what with how dutifully I've ironed every step of the way).
I'm LOVING the sushi fabric. The print is just the right size for the underside of the tentacles. You can see plenty of the images and the size gives the feeling of suckers.
The only snag (which is minor and wasn't really a snag, just something I had to keep in mind) is this print has writing on it, so I needed to make sure I cut all the legs so the images ran down the legs (so you could read the printing). Not a huge deal at all.
This pattern is also kind of awesome for how easy it is to be economical when cutting the pattern. I was able to get both head pieces from the width of the fabric and I squeezed the fin pieces in next to them, so it was probably only about a yard (to a yard and a quarter) to get the body pieces cut. Since I have SO much yellow, I wasn't as uptight about leg placement. I put the long ones side by side (with the wide ends opposite each other, to conserve) then arranged the smaller legs in the remaining area next to the large legs. It saved a lot of space but I think I did even better with the sushi fabric. Since I had to keep the print going the right direction, I couldn't stack the long legs (round end to quare end) so I put them on the sides of the fabric and then arranged the smaller legs in the space between the longer ones.
I have plenty of fabric should their be any mishaps (god forbid!). I only had to throw out the tiniest bit of scraps (I toss anything that's just super stringy or the trimmings from the frayed edges) and kept a nice handful of Tester Scraps (those are small pieces that are under one inch in size but still wide enough to make a stitch on--I use them to test my machine when I change stitches or re-thread it or if something isn't going right and I have to fix it). And I have a nice stack of Usable Scrap. Usable is anything over about an inch in size and/or has usable images. Perfect for small patchwork and such. I think there will definitely be a bit of yardage left when it's all said and done, too. If I make no major errors, I think I might just have enough yardage to make a medium sized squid (mediums take a yard for the main color and half a yard for the undersides of the tentacles--though with this sushi fabric I might need more, since I have to cut with the print).
I also bought some super cute flannel fabric to make another medium sized squid. It's whale print. I bought it specifically to make another medium squid (it was on super clearance, too).
This weekend wasn't all squid, either. I also cut and stitched up the last of the Spoonflower pre-prints. Remember all those cute foods? I just have to stuff and close a whole stack of them and I'm officially DONE with the Spoonflower fabrics.
I also picked out some fabric for a new hoop for my cubicle at work. The Earth Day one has been there too long. I have image that's just perfect. But first I want to keep working on the squid a bit more. At least get through the easiest parts (assembling the legs). Assembling the whole thing will be a bit more tricky so I may have to plan to have an extra set of hands around for that, we'll see.
But so far, so good!
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