Made for a Swap

I finally got this done.  I planned to get it all out of the way over my vacation week but. . .yeah, I could trot out excuses like "I got a cold" (which I did, and it did knock me on my ass for a few days) but to be honest the reason it took so long was two fold.

First, I couldn't decide what to make.  Well, one part of it I couldn't decide on.  Then once I decided I just wasn't excited about the choice. 

Ok, let me just show you what I made then blather some more.

The dinosaur was the part I did manage to get done before the new year (during my vacation time).  While it's not an exciting item to make, the finished product is super cute.  And it's very easy to make.  The hardest part is cutting out the pattern pieces (which isn't "hard" just kind of tedious).  The rest is just very basic sewing, perfect to do while listening to the t.v.

See.  Very cute.  You don't have to stuff the plates and spikes, so after you do a tiny bit of prep stitching (to get the plates to stand up) you just sew the sides to the back strip and bob's your uncle.  Even stuffing it isn't that tricky (sometimes these smaller felt items can get irksome to stuff, forcing you to roll tiny bits of stuffing and bascially sew around them--tedious as hell but you get nice results for the effort).

After the dinosaur came out so well, my enthusiasm for the glove bear really dwindled.  I wanted an easy project that would make a cute very baby safe item.  So going with the glove bear was the prefect choice.  They sew up very easily (I got the bear done in a few hours start to finish, even with wrestling with the safety eyes--they're cute but so belligerent to install sometimes).

I'm glad I used the safety eyes.  They're really cute and give this very minimalist doll some cute expression. 

Like most projects that I'm less enthusiastic about, once I started working on it I got more interested (that's why I decided to use the safety eyes--I was into making the doll by the time I got to working the head).

I'm glad I decided to make the glove doll.  I haven't made a glove doll in a while and this bear pointed out some tricks I hadn't thought of before, like trimming the bulky fabric off the cuff.  The cuff on this particular style of stretch gloves (mens sized gloves) has a double layer of fabric at the cuff.  As long as you don't cut right where the cuff is sewn back onto the base of the glove, you can lose a whole layer of bulk without doing any damage to the structure of the glove.  Losing that bulk makes the muzzle of the doll much sleaker.

(I learned this the hard way--the first go round with the bear's head, I trimmed the bulk by cutting along the seam where it attached to the body of the glove and I ended up with a nice row of tiny little holes all along what would be the bears snout--had to scrap that head and start over.  No big loss time or supplies wise but still annoying--but a good lesson was learned).

I also trimmed the bulk on the cuff of the glove that makes up the body, so the doll's neck wasn't as narrow and bulky.  Made for a much nicer finished product.

Since I was into the doll once I got started, I even decided to add a little rattle to the tail.  Instead of stuffing the tail with polyfil, I lined it with another fingertip (the tail is one of the fingertips from the glove--I made a double layer of finger tips) then put a small jingle bell inside.  It makes for a cute little rattly tail I think a baby will enjoy (yet not be able to hurt themselves on--if a baby can gnaw that bell out of that tail, well then that baby needs to be examined, I think it might actually be a puppy).

So, this pair (well, trio--I added a little ewok I had in my stash--I made it for a future Regretsy charity sale but there might not be any of those for a while so. . .) is off to Canada in trade for. . .wait for it. . .a pair of crocheted Yip Yips.  Oh, you know I'll be showing those off when they arrive (I'm so excited about them I could pee).

Next up on my crafty to do list?

The kitty hoop and a valentines day themed dotee doll.

WOOT!