Fluff Project Update (and what I'm taking to the Fair!)

BAM!

BACON IN YOUR FACE!!

Yup, the latest Fluff Project offerings are done and they are bacon and. . .

eggs, of course.

What's that there in the lower left corner?  Is that. . .yes, it does appear to have to yolks. . .DOUBLE YOLKER, y'all!

That special egg is off to the fair!

Yes, I'm entering stuff in the Big Butler Fair this year.  Why?  Well, because my sister is.  No, we're not competing against each other.  She's all about the baked goods (holy crap, the family gets to taste the practice items and there's a whole lot of yum going on there).  But since she was entering she was all "ooh, do it too!" and I was all "yeah, peer pressure!" so I did.  Well, am doing.  I don't have to take them over until the end of the month.

Bacon and egg here are being entered under the "doll" category.  The description of what they consider a "doll" was a bit lacking.  They had "traditional" and "art" (I think that was the second category).  The only other stuffed toy/plush toy (or stuffie/plushie since internet culture has to have everything all "ie" or "y" to be cutesy at all costs *eyeroll*) was specifically "stuffed animal" so. . .bacon and egg here ended up in the "doll" category.  I'm entering the "stuffed animal" category too.  Going to whip up a chameleon (have a mess cut, just have to finish some and pic out the absolute best for the fair).

It's kind of silly how much I want to win a ribbon.  I haven't won a ribbon since I was in 4-H.  I don't even care if it's first prize.  Participation works for me.  You know I'm totally going to start calling myself an Award Winning Sewist.  HAH!  That's so funny.  I crack me up.

Ooh, I could also win prize money.  I think the grand prize for each category is. . .wait for it. . .$4!  (but there's no entry fee so. . .)  You know if I win I'm going to retire. . .kidding.  I'm going to get an elephant ear and eat the hell out of it.  Mmmm, elephant ear.  And I love how there's always that one super sugar drunk wasp all crooked flying around the table where they keep the shakers of sugar.  I want to be that wasp, drunk on sugar and tripping because I won a participation ribbon.

DREAM BIG!!

TUTORIAL: Bacon Plushie

Ok, here it finally is.  You're going to totally eyeroll when you see how stupid simple this "pattern" really is.

First, a recap of the supplies can be found HERE.

BACON PLUSHIE TUTORIAL:

Start by making a pattern/template.  I didn't provide one in the tutorial because it's really simple to just do yourself.  Then you can make the bacon whatever size you want.

To make the template, I started with a piece of paper and drew the wave side the length I wanted the finished bacon to be.  I cut out the wave and then traced it onto a piece of cardboard, making sure the waves were parallel to one another and were spaced as far apart as the width I wanted for the finished bacon.  Then I made a second template for the fat using the cardboard template (so the fat would match the wave of the bacon).  Use the bacon template to decide how wide to make your fat stripes.  Also, keep in mind the seam allowance (add a 1/4 inch all around the bacon template if you want the finished bacon to be the exact size of the template. . .if you don't add a 1/4 inch on each side, your finished bacon will be smaller than the template.  You do not add a seam allowance to the fat since you will be top stitching it to the bacon pieces before you assemble them)

(I strongly recommend you make the templates on cardboard.  It helps to have a thicker/sturdier template for this project, especially for the fat stripes since the fat is a narrow piece)

Cut out two bacon (mirror images of each other) and 4 fat total (2 a mirror of the others).  Before you sew, double check that you have matching fats for each bacon side.

Tip:  I use a super fine point sharpie when working with darker colored fleece.  I have tried using tailors chalk and wax pencils and it just doesn't give a good enough line for me to see.  The fine tipped sharpie makes a dark line (I will double trace to make sure) but it's also a narrow line, so when you cut on the line it pretty much disappears and won't be able to show through on the finished item.  (use a disappearing pen for the white fleece so no pen marks will show on your finished product)

Pair up a set of fat with each bacon half, making sure the wave of the fat is parallel to the wave of the side of the bacon (that's hard to describe but the picture shows what I'm talking about).

Take one bacon side and fold it in half to get the mid-line.  Center a fat on each half of the bacon side and pin (to the right side of the bacon side).  Pin the fat strips to the right side of the other bacon side, making sure the sides match one another.

My tip for getting a good match on the two sides is to layer them.  Pin the fat onto one front of the bacon and place fat stripe side up on your work surface.  Then lay the loose fat stripes (right side down) onto the pinned fat stripes (making sure the waves match).  Then layer the loose bacon side onto the stack (right side down).  Flip the entire stack and pin the loose fat stripes to the right side of the bacon side.  I know it seems fussy but you'll get the best results if you match the fats as best as possible.

With the fats pinned on each side, TOP STITCH the fat to the right side of each bacon side.  Use the same zig zag stitch you used for the egg (wider is better than narrow).  Be careful to make sure the stitch goes over the edge of the fat and into the bacon.  Top stitch all the long sides of the fat for both bacon sides.

Cut two eyes from black felt.  The size of the eyes will be based on the size of the fat stripes on your bacon.  I like the fat to be a bit wider than the eye.  Position the eye low or high on the toy (I prefer low) and hand sew using three strands of matching embroidery floss.  I position the eyes on the fat to insure they won't get caught in the side seam during assembly.  Using three strands of white floss, add shine to the top of each eye (I do a single stitch on each eye).

With black floss (three strands), hand stitch the mouth between the eyes and between the fat stripes.  Use a back stitch or stem stitch.  I prefer a back stitch (and usually take three to four stitches for each mouth, but it will depend on the size of your bacon).

(really, you could put the eyes horizontal or however you want, this is just how I do it)

Pin the two bacon sides together (ride sides facing) and sew using the same zig zag stitch you used to attach the fat stripes.  Leave an opening at the top of the bacon, between the fat stripes.  Clip the corners and turn the bacon right side out.  Roll the seams to make the wave of the bacon really stand out and then smooth the bacon flat.

Now you will topstitch along the sides of each fat stripe using a straight stitch.  This is why you wanted to line your fat stripes up as best as you could before you attached them to the bacon sides.  If they are lined up nicely, when you do the straight line top stitching the stitches will line up very well on the back of the piece.

When doing the straight line top stitching, stitch with the bacon's face UP.  You want the best stitching on the front side of the item (bobbin stitches aren't as pretty as top stitches).  By topstitching on the front side of the bacon, you also insure you'll get the stitching as close to the fat edge as possible for the best look.  Don't fret if the stitching misses the mark a bit on the back.  It happens even with the best pinning and careful sewing.  That's why I prefer to use nappier fleece for the bacon (and neutral thread).

When top stitching you'll encounter a lot of bulk at the ends of the bacon.  My tip is, when starting the stitching (at the beginning of a fat stripe) start with the bulk behind your presser foot (so start a bit in from the bulk).  Sew all the way down the fat and keep stitching right off the end of the bacon.  I've found my machine is fine with going over the bulk when it's at the end but does not like starting on the bulk.  Then you can go back and stitch the small bit you skipped (turn the project and stitch down/off the edge of the toy) or just skip it entirely.  It depends on your preference.  I've done it both ways and you can't really tell when you skip that inch or so at the edge.  In fact, you could probably stop/start before all the bulky edges.

Tip:  you don't have to back stitch on the top stitching step if you don't want to.  You can pull the top thread to the back of the project and knot it off.  I do machine backstitch but only a tiny bit.  I've found the nap of the fabric hides that tiny bit of extra stitching (neutral thread helps, too).

Ladder stitch the openings shut and enjoy you deliciously cute new friends.

BONUS TIP:  Since you decide what size to make these, you can make them smaller to make tree ornaments or cat toys.  I used the trimmings from the fat stripes on these bacon to make fat for a cat toy sized bacon using the same steps (but I didn't make a face).  Add some cat nip before you do the top stitching (for the bacon) and as you add the yolk (and before you topstitch around the yolk) on the egg.

TUTORIAL: Bacon and Eggs plush toys

AT LONG LAST.  A tutorial for the bacon and egg plush toys.

First, let me preface by saying this idea is far from original and is super simple but I did figure it all out on my own with trial and error.  I didn't use any existing pattern as a jumping off point, though I have seen plush bacon and egg toys and other kawaii food toys.  This "pattern" is just so simple that I don't want anyone out there thinking I'm merely recycling some existing tutorial (I haven't even googled to see if a tutorial for the way I make these exists, though I'm sure it probably does since this is such a simple design/pattern).

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's start with a list of supplies:

SUPPLIES:

Fleece (red, white, yellow)
Embroidery floss (black, white are the minimum you need color wise)
Felt (black, I prefer wool blend)
Neutral sewing thread (I always use off white)
Ball point sewing machine needle
Sewing machine with/zig zag stitch option
Scissors
Marking pens
Pins
Cardboard template (for bacon)
Drinking glass (for egg yolks)
Poly-fil

For fabric sizes it will really depend on how big you want your finished products.  I tend to get my fleece from the remnant bin and base my finished items on the fabric I have on hand.  For the egg fleece I prefer a shinier type for the white and a nappier for the yolk.  For the bacon I prefer nappier for both.  (for those unfamiliar with fleece there are different qualities, I think the lower quality stuff is the shiny and the "anti pill" is what I refer to as "nappy".  For the bacon fat I highly prefer "nappy" so it looks more like sticky fat).

For felt and embroidery floss you only need scraps.

We'll start with the egg tutoral.

EGG TUTORIAL (click pics to enlarge):

Trace a drinking glass to make your egg yolks.  I use a disappearing marker when working with light color fabrics especially if the raw edge will be visible on the finished product.  Always test your markers on a scrap first (some don't disappear as well on different types of fabrics).

The size of your yolks will depend on the size of the drinking glass you use and will determine the size of your finished egg.

Free hand cut small circles from black felt scraps.  Size of the eyes will depend on the size of your egg yolks.  You could also fully embroider the eyes if you prefer.

Situate the eyes either low or high on the face.  I prefer low but higher up is just as cute.

Hand stitch eyes to face using matching floss (you could use colored felt for they eyes, but I prefer black).  I use prefer to use two or three strands of floss.  A running stitch makes a neater eye than a whip style stitch (where the stitch comes up under the felt and whips over the edge of the felt to catch the felt to the fleece).  A whip style stitch will make the edges pucker a bit and distort the roundness of the eye.

Using two strands of white floss, add the shine to the each eye.  Shine can be on either side but keep it higher on the eye and have both eyes match.

Using three strands, embroider the mouth using a back stitch or stem stitch (I prefer back stitch, and for this size egg I only need three stitches to make the mouth).

This is a great way to use up some of those little floss scraps in your collection.  For the egg yolks I use reds, pinks, darker yellows, and oranges for mouthes.

Using the prepped egg yolk face, free hand draw a fried egg shape onto the wrong side of the white fleece.

DO NOT CUT OUT THE WHITE.  If you want to make your fabric more manageable, cut a square around the egg white shape.  It will be easier to sew later if you DO NOT cut out the exact white shape.

(or you could make a template on paper/cardboard and have all your egg whites be identical. . .I like free handing them for variety).

Place the egg yolk face down and situate the traced white on top of the yolk so the yolk is positioned on the white as you want it on the finished product.

Flip the white over and top stitch the yolk to the white using a wide zig zag stitch.  Stuff lightly at about the half way point in sewing.  Make sure the zig zag goes from the yellow to the white to insure the yolk is fully attached (and you'll get a nicer finish if the stitch completely covers the raw edge)

(for the zig zag stitch, I don't change my standard stitch length I only change the size of the zig zag.  My machine has a very small choice and a wider choice.  I pick the wider choice for all the zig zag stitching for the eggs.  Test the zig zag on a scrap to see which option on your machine works best for you).

With the yolk now attached to the right side of the fleece, assemble the rest of the egg by placing the yolk side face down onto the right side of another piece of white fleece.

Using the same zig zag stitch setting you used for attaching the yolk, sew along the line you drew for the shape of the egg white.

Leave a small opening for turning.

Trim around the seam leaving a generous 1/4 allowance.  Clip any severe curves or dips as you see necessary.  Leave a bit of extra allowance at the opening (to make it easier to hand stitch it closed).

Turn the egg right side out and roll smooth all the seams to get a nicely defined fried egg white shape.  Hand smooth the egg to get it as flat as possible.

SWITCH SEWING MACHINE TO A STRAIGHT STITCH.

 Top stitch around the edge of the egg yolk, staying just to the edge of the yolk.

(pic shows back of egg)

Ladder stitch closed the opening.

Enjoy the cuteness!!


(I'll post the bacon tutorial tomorrow)

Fluff Project: September Items DONE!

Yes, yes, it's now October but I didn't show off the September offerings for the Fluff Project.  Why?  Because I didn't have them totally done until last night.

True confession:  I don't enjoy ladder stitching toys closed.  It's not hard but I just don't like it.  More to the point, I don't like STARTING it.  I'm fine once I'm in the middle of closing up a bunch of stuff but getting started on that step is just a huge hurdle for me.  I probably have some kind of hang up about actually finishing a project or something but I don't feel like psycho analyzing it.  It's just how I am so I have to just live with it (and "force" myself to do the last step).

Blah, blah, blah, SHOW US THE FLUFF!!!

Candy corns, y'all!

NINE candy corns.  Woot!  I love going over my 5 fluff minimum requirement for the month.  These little buggers were easy (once I got the size of the strips all set and fiddled with the pattern so the corns weren't too pointy or sagged in along the sides--fatter is better on the pattern).

You'll notice one of the corns is not like the others.  He was a test corn that I deemed acceptable to donate but I didn't like that style so I re-worked the pattern to make a more stumpy corn.  It felt wrong to waste this corn just because he's a different shape.  I do not body shame my candy corns, thank you very much.

Orange ones and. . .

brown ones, just like the real thing.

ONLY CUTER!

Super simple "pattern", too.  I got the basic idea from the internet (shocking!).  Then I just had to figure out the size of each of the different colored strips for the size of the body template I ultimately decided on.  I had to draw the body shape a few times to get it the way I wanted.  If you plan to draw up one yourself, I recommend you make your body shape "fatter" than you think you want.  I noticed when I drew it exactly like I wanted the finished product, that finished product turned out with sunk in sides (like bowed in) which made the points all funky.  So make the sides a little more bowed out then you think will work and then you'll get a finished corn that's almost straight (to slightly bowed out) on the sides which is more like a candy corn.

Here's the kicker.  I think I may have lost the template I used (which had the strip sizes on it).  I don't think I tossed it, I bet it's just in the random pile of paper/cardboard templates I have.  I need to find it so I can officially make a nice pattern piece from cardboard for this (and write down the strip requirements right on the pattern).

I may make a few more of these once I get the chameleons and crabs done.  I have just a little bit of that yellow left so I'm tempted to make corns until I use it up.

What's up next?  Well, finishing those chameleons and crabs (that will be for October and November's offerings).  Then I want to make something Christmas themed.  I have an elf pattern I've been keen to try and a gingerbread man.  Maybe a couple of each of those.  Hmm, maybe christmas candy corn?  Who knows!

For a Swap: Creepy Doll

Finished up my creepy doll swap the other day.  It's all packed up and ready to ship, so now it's time to show it off.

Here she is, a creepy cat like creature and her three equally creepy children.

Yeah, that mouth is creepy.  I got that mouth fabric (and the packet of plastic dog noses) at the sally army fabric sale.  The front fabric is a batik and the back is a felted wool sweater.

Watch out for her stinger.

The tail is just a roll of faux fabric with a jaggy, tooth-like bead at the top.  I got those beads to make a lantern fish (using socks, from the sock toy book I've shown off before) but never got around to it.  So I used a few for this project.

Creepy children.

The girl is already sporting a nice stinger of her own.

The boy doesn't have a stinger (or maybe he had one and it got bit off in a fight?  he is sporting a kind of eye patch so we're not sure what the story is there)

And the baby.  No tail or stinger just yet.  But s/he does have a little lure/toy.  Does s/he lure prey in so the family can sting it?  Hmm, maybe.

All the babies are made from cotton fabrics.  I received the creepy baby faces as an extra from some swap eons ago and wondered just what the hell I was ever going to do with them (besides cringe and ponder tossing them in the goodwill bag).  HAH, I found the perfect use for them.

The baby faces are hot glued on, which turned out really well.  I was worried it wouldn't work out.

Bye, creepy family.  Have fun doing whatever creepy things you do.

What's up next?  Disney themed patches.  It's a series where we work through the alphabet.  I have A,B, and C in progress (C is almost done) and have ideas all picked for D, E, and F.  I also have to work on some Fluff stuff and I want to get a quilt made this month.  Oh and that tutorial for the bacon and eggs plushies.  Got to get busy!

Fluff Project: May/June DONE!

Guess what?

I didn't make mermaids for May/June (like I thought I was going to).  So I've pushed them back to July.

BUT. . .I did get May/June done.

Bacon and eggs!

That's one big breakfast right there.

We need some portion control!   (sing that to the tune of Prince's "Pussy Control". ..aaah, portion con-trol!)

Cute little sets!

Or, if you're watching the waistline, a small breakfast?

Though who really eats only ONE strip of bacon?  I guess if it was as big as this bacon one would be plenty.  (bacon is roughly 12 inches long or so)

Both bacon and eggs are original patterns.  Super simple, too.

The eggs are just a circle (used a drinking glass to get a good circle) cut from yellow fleece.  Add a face (eyes are felt, mouth is embroidery).  Using the circle as a guide, free hand draw the egg white portion onto the back of the white fleece and cut out leaving a seam allowance around the drawn line.  Sew the yellow circle to the cut out white part (lightly stuffing as you go).  Then sew the cut white part down to another piece of fleece (right sides together).  Trim and turn the whole egg right side out.  Then top stitch the around the yellow circle and hand stitch the opening closed.

The bacon I had to make a template for (after I made one free hand and the fat stripes didn't line up like I wanted them too--but it still looked good but not how I wanted it to look).  From cardboard I cut a wavy line.  Then I used the cut off bit to make the same wave on the other side of the bacon.  Then I used the cut bit of cardboard to make a fat template (so the wave on the fat would match the wave on the meat).  Cut out two meat (red) and four fat (white) paying attention that you're cutting mirror images (so the waves line up properly).  Top stitch two fat stripes to each meat piece.  I did one side completely and then the other (so I could make sure the fats would line up as best I could).  When spacing the fats, make sure you don't put them too close to the edge of the meat (don't want the fats getting caught in the seam).  Pin a lot so the fats don't shift on you as you top stitch.  Cut out two felt eyes and sew them to one of the two meat/fat pieces (I just pick the nicest of the pair), making sure the eyes won't get caught in the side seams.  Add the mouth.  Put a face side and a blank side together (right sides together) and sew leaving an opening to turn (I left the opening at either the top or bottom between the fat lines).  Trim and turn right side out (making sure to roll the seams really well to get them as flat as possible so the wave shows).  Pin along the fats so they line up as best as possible then top stitch down both sides of each fat wave.  There will be a lot of bulk at the  ends, so you can stop before the thick seam bulk if you want.  Hand stitch the opening shut.

Fleece works GREAT for these.  Felt would be a bit too rough and stiff.  Fleece is also good price wise.  You can find decent pieces in the remnant bin but even if you have to buy it it's not expensive.  Felt (I like wool blend) would get pricey.  I'm sure fleece has a right and wrong side but for these I like having the fuzzier side of the fleece as the "right" side.  That light fuzziness adds to the cuteness a LOT.

The eggs are super fast to make.  The bacon takes a bit more time (to get the fats all lined up nicely) but they're not time consuming either.

I had a first making these, too.  I broke a needle.  Scared the crap out of me but didn't cause any issues (just turned my machine upside down and shook the piece out).

I'd love to make more kawaii food for the Fluff Project.  My sister says, "TOAST!".  That would be cute (with a little pat of butter on it that has the wee face!).  But toast would involve so odd sewing (sewing "walls" where you have to attach a long strip to a flat piece) which I'm not keen on fussing with right now.

I'll mail these out before I go on vacation and then I can get down to making the mermaids I said I'd make!

For Swaps: Embroidery and a stuffie

First up is the embroidery hoop I made for the "negative space" swap.  You just had to make an embroidered design where you focused on the negative space, not the actual image.  Easy peasy.

But. . .boring.

I love, love, love how this turned out but I had a hard time keeping interested in it to get it finished.

I blame the heap of french knots.  They look cool but they are boring as boring can get to make.  But I'm glad I went with the french knots, which was my original plan.  It's worth how dull the project can get for the results.

Next up is a stuffie I made for a kawaii "food with a face" swap.

Cute fried egg!

So damn EASY, too (over easy?  hee hee, egg pun!)

I traced a glass for the circle for the yolk.  Then add two free form cut eyes (just used a scrap of felt).  Attach the eyes and then add the little white stitch to each.  Embroider the mouth (though you could do that at the very end, too).

Cut out a random egg white shape.  Attach the yolk to the right side of the white, stuffing lightly as you attach it (using a zig zag top stitch).  Then sew the cut out white to another piece of white fleece.  With odd ball shapes, I found it's easier to cut one out and then sew it to a non-cut piece versus cutting two identical ones and then fighting with the edge as you sew.  Fleece is stretchy, so having a bit of wiggle room with the non-cut piece of white fleece was nice.  (oh and use a zig zag to sew the two whites together--zig zag and a ball point needle for the win when it comes to fleece).  Turn the egg right side out and then use a straight stitch to stitch around the yolk (to really make it pop).  Hand stitch the opening along the white and your are DONE!

That's a BIG egg right there (that's a full sized dinner plate, not a saucer).

I want to make more of these or the Fluff Project.  But I kind of want to make bacon, too.  So I think I'll have to get some red fleece and make up some nice floppy bacon to go with the eggs.  Or maybe add arms and leg to the egg (and the bacon) so they can hold hands?  We'll see how that works out.

Speaking of the Fluff Project, I'm going to make up some mermaids for May/June, too.  I decided to combine May and June  since I'll be vacationing at the end of June. So I want to get 10 stuffies mailed out before I go on vacation.  Doing eggs (or eggs and bacon) will be FAST.  (the egg I made took about half an hour start to finish, once I had the steps all figured out--I did make a test egg that wasn't nearly as cute--I might give that to my cats to play with).

For a swap: Advent cookie plate

Yeah, this project was so cute it needed its own post.

The theme was One Tiny Thing:  Christmas.  So you make one thing that's no bigger than 4 inches with the theme "christmas".

Here's what I came up with:

It's an advent calendar.

I know, I know.  It looks like a little plate of itty bitty cookies.  It's that too.  But since I was only to make ONE tiny thing, I'm calling this an advent calendar.  Well, a revers advent calendar?

See, there are 24 cookies on that plate.  So on December first you put the plate out and one cookie.  Then you add a cookie every day until December 24, when you have two dozen little cookies for Santa to enjoy when he comes to leave you fabulous presents (which he will because you left him such a crazy cute gift!).

Aren't they so freaking cute you could pee!

There are four different shapes (circle, rectangle, tree, and star) in three different shades (beige, green, and gingerbread--oh and one chocolate brown) decorated in three different ways (frosting/glitter, beads, ric rac).

I used a quarter for the circle ones, a weird star paperclip I found in my mess for the star and I free drew the tree and rectangle (and the rectangle proved to be the biggest pain in the ass to get the shape right).

The circle cookies have the most variety.

There are a few chocolate chip ones (french knots, yo!)

And two sandwich cookies.

Only one of them is an "oreo" because I ran out of chocolate brown felt or I would have probably made all the circle cookies chocolate chip and oreos.

That pic also shows the one side of the plate.  I used two different vintage feel christmas prints for it.

The other side right there for ya.

It's just a circle (traced a margarita glass!) with some batting in it.  SUPER simple.

And one last pic of all the cookies.  Each is lightly stuffed (so each is an itty bitty stuffed toy!).

I got glitter all over my kitchen (despite being VERY careful) and that means I now have glitter CATS.  Yup, last night I noticed both Murray and Eugene were sparkling.  They had bits of glitter in their hair.  My beautiful sons, looking like strippers!  What's better than pussy?  GLITTER PUSSY!!

Yeah, you read that and laughed, don't lie.

For a Swap: Giving Tree Stuffie

Ok, I'm not even going to try and hide it.  I'm so effing proud of this I have to show it off and ramble about it in its own little post.

Backstory:  I made this for a swap.  The requirements were that it be handmade, no bigger than 4 inches, and be based on one of your partner's favorite cartoons.

I freely admit I was disappointed when my partner listed The Giving Tree as one of her favorites.  BOR-ING!

But there-in lay the challenge.  I'm no fan of the glurgy, kind of preachy feel of The Giving Tree but that doesn't mean I can't make a kick ass item for it.

Yeah, I totally chose the stump on purpose.  Kind of like a protest.  But a super fabulous cute as a freaking bug's ear protest (if I do say so myself).

The stump is two layers of corduroy (sew inside out, then turn) attached to a piece of cardstock/thin cardboard paper covered with muslin (embroidered onto low loft cotton quilt batting).  I attached the muslin circle to the cardboard circle doing the running stitch to gather the edges around the cardboard (then tie it off).

Attach the muslin/batting/cardboard disc to the corduroy bark just above the top seam (helps keep it even) and only stitching through one layer of the bark and just along the edge (and slightly under) the muslin disc (so you can't see the stitches when you're done).

Then cut a piece of cardboard tube (paper towel tube in this case) and cover with a layer of batting (I just tucked it in, no sewing or gluing necessary).  Insert the padded tube into the corduroy bark.  Make sure the roots are fully stuffed (polyfil) and lightly stuff the bark where it looks necessary.  THEN seam up the bark over the tube.  I did it in layers.  The part of the bark that touched the tube I tacked down first (but didn't close up the opening--only tack down one layer).  Then I tucked the free end into the tacked end and finished closing up the seam being careful to make small stitches and get as clean a closure as possible.

Then I needed to tie down the muslin a bit.  It was poking up and not laying smooth, so I ran one anchoring stitch over the french knot in the center (up from underneath and back down) and then all the way through the tube and tied off on the bottom of the piece.

But first I needed to make the heart (it was just a bit of batting with embroidery, then stitched on with minimal stitches) and add the grass.  The grass is just ric rac attached with clear thread.  Clear thread is a bitch to work with but SO worth it.  You can't see the stitches at all (the whole point!) and it really made the grass pop (so did twisting the ric rac a bit to give it more dimension).

Free hand embroidery for the rings.  No need to make it perfect since trees don't have perfect rings.  I did back stitch for this but stem would look really pretty.  It's single strand (except for the french knot, I think that was double strand).

With the whole stump done, I added a bit of polyfil into the tube (minding the thread hanging out--the thread that will anchor to the base) and got ready to make the base.

The base is just a basic square with batting in it and straight quilting.  It could have been fancier but my free motion skills are non-existent so I decided to play it safe.  My walking foot got a good work out.  I love it so much I haven't taken it off the machine yet!

Then attach the base to the stump.  First do the anchor stitch, which is the only one that will show on the bottom.  It really can't be avoided.

Then, cinch up the roots.  Hold the stump down onto the base (on a flat surface) to see where the roots naturally gather and fold onto themselves and then tack them down.  Keep the stitches small and deep in the crease so you can't see them.  THEN, sew the whole stump to the base, making sure to hide the stitches and NOT go through all the layers of the base.  You want the bottom of the base as neat as possible (except for that anchor stitch, which is an ugly necessity).

I was so happy that I got such a great finished item ON THE FIRST GO.  I only re-made one part of the whole thing.  I made the first embroidered disc on brown felt but it looked bad next to the corduroy.  Then I remember I had the natural color muslin and it was PERFECT.  I also had to edit my bark pattern a bit after the fact.  I had to lop a bit of the sewn bark off because it was just too long and made for too bulky of a seam.  But that turned out to be a good thing because it left me with two open ends (instead of one) which made attaching to the tube (and then seaming) much tidier.

I can't wait for my partner to get this.