Sunday, February 22, 2009

Peanut, My Wee Torment

I decided to try to make a gift for Raf's cousin, Marcos. His first birthday party was today....and guess what? I'm nowhere near finished! Shocker, right? Lol. I'm such a sad little crafter.

I started last weekend. I had found the toy I wanted to make, Peanut the Wee Elephant, an adorable stuffed animal from the book, Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I picked out adorable fabric, that (I hope) even works for a little boy, spent an hour in the stuffing aisle reading the back of every package, and started cutting from the very first pattern I've ever used. So far, so good.

Then, it all went south. First, I sewed the 4 legs together (into a little 2 leg pocket). I was SO confused. So I got out of bed at midnight (cause the confusion wouldn't allow me to sleep) and googled my question to see if anyone else had the issue. Turns out they had. There's a whole forum of confusion from other novice sewers (thank goodness!) So, I ripped the seams to give Peanut 4 legs, then went on to the next step. Which I also couldn't figure out. So I went back to the forum--this was my last chance with them though, it was the final step they discussed. Then I threw a temper tantrum because I'd never sewn curves and had no idea how to do it on a machine. Then I figured it out. And now I've had the pieces sitting on my desk all pinned together (like the picture above), but am too mortified to take it to the machine! I've never sewn anything three-dimensional before (clearly) and I absolutely cannot conceptualize how the machine's presser foot (the purpose of which is to press the two pieces flat) is going to allow me to sew together one flat piece, and one piece that's all bunched up?!?!

So here I sit. Still. Blogging instead of sewing. I'm hoping to work up the courage to have Peanut finished by Christmas. Btw, here's what it's supposed to look like. Doesn't it look so adorable and simple?!

2 comments:

Kathy said...

Hi Brooke,

This is Kathy - Valerie's mom. I have a couple tips for success on your cute stuffed elephant. I don't have time right now cuz I have to get ready for work but I can get back to you if you want and share a few decades of lessons learned :-) or maybe Valerie already has...

brooke said...

Hi Kathy! I'd LOVE to hear your tips! As I mentioned, I figured out the curves part. I emailed Val during my tantrum, took a break, then returned to the machine with some patience and slowly but surely finished it. Val's explanation back to me was great--and validated that what I'd figured out was (agonizingly) accurate. The hilarious part (which I figured out after I finished my post last night), is that I actually wrote my issues out of order. First I threw the tantrum about the curves, then I figured out that the legs were not supposed to be sewn together...so all that hassle had to be ripped. Ugh! Oh well, good practice.

Anyway, at this point it's the scrunchy 3-dimensional part that I could use some tips on! And/or anything else you anticipate me having issue with as I progress with Peanut.

Thanks!!!
b