CHALLENGE MET!!!!! 40 for Fluff DONE!

Yeah, that's right.

I did it.

I made 40 critters for the Fluff Project (which was also Hopeful Threads second quarter charity sewing project--double dipping for the win!).

Yes, I am bragging.

Brag, brag, brag, brag.

And being that obnoxious person who shoves pictures in your face and is all, "LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!!"  (said in my best Stuart voice)

That there is what I completed in the last two days.  Yes, two days, 15 critters.

Ok, so I did hedge my bet and make some easier stuff.  I'll admit it.

These puppies were a free pattern I found through the Hopeful Threads pinterest page (it might have been on the blog, too).

I think it was meant to be a bit bigger but I didn't enlarge it a ton.  These were just big enough that they weren't a pain in the ass to machine stitch.  You get too small and the machine is like a hungry beast ready to chew up bitty fabric pieces.

Hello Kitty puppy.  Yeah, I think it's CUTE.

Five puppies total.

Five stegosauruses total.

This was another free pattern (via Hopeful Threads' pinterest).  But I altered it a little bit.  The original pattern had loops of ribbon for the spines but I didn't want to do that.  I wanted them to be more appealing to more kids (and the ribbon loops made them very "baby").

SO. . .I took the arm pattern piece (from the large My Funny Buddy dino pattern) and made plates.  It worked PERFECTLY.  I didn't have to resize or anything.  Yeah, I'm gloating about that.  I got the creativity, my friends.  (and straight up laziness--I did not want to make my own shape).

This one is my favorites.  Big Bang Theory dinosaur.  *slaps knee*  It's so funny!  The two white plates have a fern print on them.

OH, and I accidentally cut one of the dino sides the wrong direction and was miffed about it but then I used just about all of it making the plates.  WIN for me.

Birch organics dinosaur.  This is from a scrap pack I got a while back (reviewed it here, like I do).  I think it's technically two different lines but they play well together.

Butterfly dino with bright plates.  I had so much fun putting together the fabrics for these.  Fun scrap buster for the plates.  I was pawing through my small scrap basket and holding the pattern piece to bits to see if they were big enough.

Polka dot and purple/pink dinos.  Check out that little bit of Briar Rose there on the polka dot one (the rose print).

I really love seeing all the scraps on these stegos.

When making the plates using the arm pattern, just trace the arm and then sew on the line.  So that means you can just draw the pattern on a folded over piece of fabric (or two layers of scrap) and just sew then cut it out (using pinking shears).  No need to backstitch at all, either.  Turn them right side out and roll the seams a bit (to make them nice) and then baste them along the back of one of the sides.  Just make sure you have them in the right direction.  I just hold the plate along the top of the side piece (as it would look finished) and then fold it down so it's flat against the side piece then pin it.  One pin per plate.  Super easy.

DEFINITELY BASTE.

I'm a total basting convert and now I preach it like the gospel.  Go forth and baste.

The Dinosaur family says "Hi!".

(take a small Pee-Wee's Playhouse break and sing along to that fabulous theme. . it's ok, you know you want to. . ."Come in, and please pull up a chair LIKE CHAIRY.  Let the fun begin, it's time to let down your hair. . .)

The triplets.

All these dinos are My Funny Buddy patterns.  The babies are a free pattern that includes this baby, a baby coming out of an egg, and an egg.  These babies are super easy and fast to make.  Very cute.

Adult dinos.

I was worried this pattern would be involved but it's really fast and easy.  The faces have a bit of applique (as most MFB patterns do) but it's not bad at all.  Definitely worth the few minutes it takes (most of that is cutting out the pieces--but that's a great felt scrap buster).

There is a bit of curve sewing to get the belly to the front tail piece and to get the face/head back to the body pieces but it's not bad at all.  Actually, it's good practice.

I switched the pattern up just a tiny bit and put the arms in the opposite direction so they pointed up to give a real, "HE-ey" feel to this pair.  I like the up arms a lot.  Makes them cuter and happier.

That fabric was PERFECT, too.  It's from years ago when I bought a remnant box from fabric.com.  It's a damn shame they upped the price on those because they are great.  Nearly full yards of fabric (I reviewed it here, so check out the "review" tag if you're interested).

THE ENTIRE LOT.

That there is:

10 bunnies
9 "peanut" puppies
6 dollies
5 wiener dogs
5 stegosauruses
3 baby dinos
2 adult dinos

TOTAL 40 critters.

And I had a box that was just the perfect size so they can all go together in one shipment.  WOOT!

One last pic just to show the bunnies sitting on the puppies' heads.  The bunnies look so worried!

(oh, random funny moment when I was taking pics.  I put the dollies next to the wiener dogs and one dollie looked like she was totally eyeballing the dogs' butt.  Her face was right up in there.  I had to move it, after I cracked up, of course.  Yes, I have the maturity of Beavis.)

I'm so damn happy I met my personal challenge and that everything turned out looking so well and there was NO drama.

Ok, the only thing close to drama was when my needle fell out of my machine.  Yup, the screw had wiggled loose and BOOP, needle just fell on out.  Didn't cause any drama but I was like, "Huh?  What do you think you're doing, crazy machine?  NO RESTING!!!"

OHHHHH!!!   I almost forgot to share this great thing that I finally got.

CLEAR THREAD.

Yes, I got a spool over the weekend and let me just tell you it's a god send.  I'm getting decent at ladder stitch but with the clear thread you can just do a very shallow whip stitch and it looks good.  No need to match thread to fabric or labor to get the perfect ladder stitch.  But there is a cost.  It's irksome to work with.  It holds the coil from the spool which is frustrating and knotting it is trickier than regular thread (seeing it and manipulating it).  And it likes to just delicately pull out of the needle (when you get your fingers all caught in the curliness).  BUT, it's easy to thread the tiny eye needle I prefer for closing stuffed toys, since the clear thread won't unravel.  Damn, I totally hate when I'm trying to thread the Tiny Eye and the thread just blows up on the end and I have to trim and slobber all over the thread (yes, I use my mouth when I sew--put the thread in my mouth, hold embroidery floss in my lips when I'm separating strands, lick my finger tips to separate fabrics, you know regular stuff like that).

AND, I also got thread conditioner for use on my embroidery floss.  I only used it on the second of the adult dinos (the one with no whites on the pupils) but I can already see a difference.  I'm a convert.

Ok, I'm done yapping now.  I'll get the box of stuffie goodness in the mail this week (before vacation!).