Red Rhino Found (but NOT red!)

Day One

Finally bit the bullet and set about making my own pattern for Lee's Rhino - see Hunt for Red Rhino post.

I had a picture in my own mind as to what it should look like and had a couple of patterns I could use as a foundation but both would need significant 'faffing' and joining together to get how I needed it to be.  The rhino - Ronny, made previously (see post) - pattern is for a horizontal one and is far too big for what I needed and my Psycho Ted pattern had the wrong shaped head, ears, and body but was the right size.

Using copious amounts of scrap paper, swear words and a large pencil eraser, I drew out a head pattern basing it on Ronny's.  I cut out the pattern in some scrap cotton for the trial and was in the process of pinning the 'yolk' piece (middle piece between the two head pieces) to the head when I realised that the back of the head needed shaping on my pattern.  As Ronny is horizontal, the back of his head is attached to the body so didn't need shaping.  The one I am trying to make has to have a back of the head.  Bu***r, strike one.


Strike two came with the realisation that the yolk for the Psycho Ted wouldn't do as there was no shaping for the wider nose and rounder head bit
between the ears.  How do I get myself into these things?

Remodel number three was done with a piece on the back of the head, shaped nose and longer bit underneath the chin.

Having recut the scrap cotton, I reservedly pinned the two head pieces to the yolk and hand-sewed them together.  There was a little tweaking required but all in all not a bad job!

However, I then realised that to get the full effect I should have added some ears before sewing up the seams and I would also need to work out sizes for the horns.


I hope you can see where this is going?

I have stuck the head on a stick (right) for a quick piccy.  Doesn't look quite right yet, but there are body parts missing!


Using the original Ronny horn pattern, I scaled down the front horn and redesigned the smaller of the two completely just as a 'doo-fa'.  I attached the horns, added an ear - paper pattern not yet made - and added a group of black-headed pins as an eye.  Hey presto!

Finally looking something like ......  This is still in the draft stages but pleased so far.  Just the ears, body, and a tail to make a pattern for now........... lol

Day Two

It doesn't look like it but the material I have to make the final product is an old blouse (not mine) and the colour is 'ecru' - Lee's choice!  For those of you who don't know, ecru was a shade of beige-brown which nylon tights and stockings were back in the day (!!) that was supposed to look natural.  I have tried several different backgrounds and colours to try to get the colour in the photo right but nothing seems to be working so you are just going to have to believe me when I say that it is ecru!  Looks like pink but it isn't!! It's a bit suedey and is great, I have found, to sew with.


I was asked to make the horns silver, but that isn't a colour I 'stock' and one I have struggled to find in an appropriate fabric so gold is as good as it's going to get.  I quite like the way the horns have turned out.  The fabric is some left over from a friend's black and gold shopper I made for her for Christmas.  It's very much like the gauzy stuff you get around flower bouquets, but again, it's ok to sew but be careful you don't sew too close to the edge cos once it starts fraying; it breaks up like glitter and you get covered!!

So the pieces have been sewn together and are now waiting for assembly. The head is done and the horns look even better on :)

The 'inside' of the ears and end of the tail have been done with the gold to 'tie in' the colours and I have four lovely black buttons for the joints.  Freddie Fix-it was made with proper teddy joints as it was for a little kiddie but as Lee is over the age of 21 (just, lol) I think I can trust him not to put the buttons in his mouth.  Also Psycho Ted had button joints so there is definitely a theme going on... lol

Day Three

Day of reckoning!  The pieces have all been sewn together and he looks brill (even though I do say so myself).  The colour looks great, though I had reservations in the beginning.  The gold is a good contrast and considering I didn't really have a pattern, I'm really chuffed.

There is one last 'accessory' to add - the third horn.  Again no pattern but that hasn't been a problem before.  This has to be red - again Lee's decision.

I don't have a lot of red either but remembered that I had used a red scarf previously for some accents on a bag.  I dug it out of my 'stash' and have made up the bit.  As this is to be removable, I have also added some Velcro.


As the Rhino hasn't been given the ok by my Quality Control department - my Aunt - I will leave the adding of this until she has seen it.  At nearly 91 years of age, I believe that it's a little too far for her imagination to stretch!

Lee picked it up last night and he loves it!  Happy Bunny

See you soon   :)

Bob the Tank Bear ?

I was asked to make a teddy for the grandson of Psycho Ted's ' (PT)dad as the grandson, Daniel, liked PT but was a little scared of him.  I was given a list of requirements - white, soft, blue eyes, pink 'highlights' and a theme of Bob the Builder or Thomas the Tank Engine. Brain overload! So I waited a few days for the ideas to slow down long enough to catch one and then set to work.

I had a large white 'fluffy' dressing gown in my fabric stash which I had wanted to make a sheep from - don't ask - as the fabric was just right and realised that the softness of the fabric and colour would be just right for this project. PT's pattern was used but I cut out the fabric slightly larger than the pattern as I didn't know if it would fray and as I didn't want this to happen - who does?! - I made the seam allowance larger.

I had settled on the Bob the Builder theme as there seemed to be more scope for making accessories and I decided to place the ears a little wider apart as I was hoping to add a yellow hard hat.  I also drew up a sketch for a tool belt and some tools to put in the belt.

The fabric sewed like a dream, no problem and the bear was made quite quickly.  He spent the next two weeks on the end of my desk whilst I worked on the accessories.

The belt was an easy do and the felt worked really well.  I added some velcro onto the ends so the tools could be taken off if needed.

The tools were a little more complicated inasmuch as my fingers are quite thick and don't do well at 'delicate' stitching.  However I managed to cut out a hammer, wrench and a screwdriver.

The fabrics were an absolute pain due to fraying but I worked out that if I used a small amount of fabric glue on the edges, it sealed the threads and allowed me to sew the seams a little better.  It was faffy though! lol

I was really pleased with the bear and the accessories but the hard hat was giving me nightmares.  I had already made a bonnet for Boner Bear so knew that I would need a larger sheet of felt, diluted fabric glue and a whole bag of patience!

The first modelling went alright (left) but there were far too many creases and I couldn't work out how to get rid of them.  I tried again, wetting and re-shaping the felt around a different item but unfortunately the felt dried too quickly and I wasn't able to ease the creases out before it dried.
Not wanting to stress out the felt any further, I am ashamed to admit it but I threw in the towel and had to present the bear without the hat..

I am pleased to say that Daniel likes the bear and has christened him Freddie Fix It.

Another satisfied customer but I am still frustrated about the hat!

:)

Hunt for Red Rhinoceros (can't be red though)!!

Ok.  So having made lots of Panda teddy bears, a Psycho Ted and Boner Bear (yes, that is exactly what it is!!), I have now been tasked with making a 3-horned (!) rhino.

Having lost countless hours looking for a pattern, I finally came across this one on the Craftsy site: www.craftsy.com/sewing/patterns/rhino-plush-sewing-pattern/115977

I cleared my desk, found some fabric - tired onesie and some leftover fleece from a teddy bear made for Psycho Ted's 'dad's grandson' - and set to work.

We got off to a bad start as I couldn't get my head around one of the instructions but then, after a chat to my daughter, Emma, I suddenly realised I had cut the pieces out of the fabric before gluing pieces of the paper pattern together to make longer pieces.  Confused?  So was I to start with!  Anyhoo, finally got my head around it, glued the pieces, recut the fabric and set off again.

The making of the toy was actually then quite easy.  My machine has just been re-serviced and has come back better than ever!  I say re-serviced because it had gone to my 'usual' engineer but had come back a little noisier than it had gone and had developed a new problem of thread snapping at the wrong moment - if there ever is a good moment.....  So I had found someone new and taken my machine which had a little 'metal fatigue' which was quickly sorted and as I said, come back better than ever!

So as I was now in the zone, I don't have any photos of Ronny being put together but the pattern pretty much shows it all - just in an animal print fleece, rather than a grey image on the paper.  Here is the finished photo of Ronny.

Can't quite decide which is his best side so you get two for the price of one :)

However, on further conversations with 'my customer' - and at this point I think it would be fair to say that most of them have taken place when we have both had a couple of sherbets (!!) - I realised that Ronny wasn't going to do; he was the wrong shape.  What I mean is that Ronny needed to be in the vertical position rather than being horizontal.

B***er!! :(  back to the drawing board.