Peanut Progress

By now I figure you've completely given up on the idea that I'll ever finish Peanut. Have no fear, Peanut is still a work in progress, I just have to work with him in bite-sized pieces or I kinda want to throw something through a window. The good news is, Val's mom, Kathy, helped me resolve my three-dimensional bunching complex with a little email coaching. I was able to (fairly) successfully sew the pieces you saw pinned in my last post, and it was even easier than I thought to add the other side. Go figure, things really do get easier with experience.

Tonight, not only did I do my first gathering stitch to close off Peanut's trunk (while taking note of how I might do it better next time--take the stitch over each interior seam allowance, rather than under), but I actually got to the stage where I was able to turn him right-side-out and stuff him! YAY! Stuffing is yet another interesting little process that I'm clueless about. It said to "stuff firmly" and man did I have him packed, but it just seemed a wee bit too firm, so I pulled some back out before closing him up. Now His legs are a little wrinkled, which I was hoping to avoid, but whatever, at least he's not lumpy and looking ready to burst. Want a sneak preview? TA DA!My biggest torment this evening was closing his belly opening. The book gives instructions for doing a blind stitch, but let's be honest here--my noviceness is way beyond learning a hand stitch technique from a bunch of text. I spent most of the evening combing the internet and found a couple tutorials/videos that I was able to piece together into some semblance of understanding.

The good news is, I think I figured out the basic blind stitch process. The bad news is, I had not prepared Peanut properly for blind stitch closure. A blind stitch is supposed to be sewn just inside the fold...which was fine on the beginning edge near where my sewing ended, where the fold still existed. But considering I haven't taken an iron to Peanut's seams in a good 2-3 weeks, there was no hint of a fold left in the middle. And there was NO WAY I was unstuffing this guy to re-iron the opening. So, I said screw it and skipped over to a whip stitch about an inch in. It's visible and ugly, but you know what? I kinda like it. It's like my little stamp making it clear to the world that this was HAND MADE BY BROOKE (who is quite a clueless little sewer).

Hopefully I'll be showing you a finished product before summer. I did the beginning steps for his big elephant ears tonight and held them up to him...SO CUTE! I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice blind stitching to get the ears finished and attached, so I'll keep you posted.