Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Ginger, Clover, and Gus

Lots of little hands to sew on!  I like cutting everything out and getting it ready to sew all at once.
 




 Amy has a really neat set-up here with the armadillo!  I like this pattern.  It's like a little puzzle.  One change I made was the fabric that I cut the gusset from.  Instead of using twill, I used the armor piece because you have to go back and sew a circle on the head anyway... so this kind of saves a step!




 This little ear has been sewn on just to hold it down easier.




I made one more armadillo and to work out the kinks and then started a small assembly line. 
Here's a deflated one ready to stuff!






One of the few changes I made was where I turned and stuffed the armadillo.  Instead of on the belly, I am using the back because it gets covered with the armor piece.






That huge box of stuffing I got at Hobby Lobby is the most awesome stuff I've ever used!!!  It's kind of a sticky feel, almost like 100% cotton but it's still polyester.  It really packs down hard and stays put.  The other stuff I've been using feels "soapy" and just kind of slides all over the place.  This stuff is great!  And there's SO much of it!









I was having a lot of trouble making the gathers for the armor piece.  I really needed something more concrete rather than "gather hither and thither" and just sew it down.... that just wasn't working for me so I sewed some sections together to make it curve a little bit.  This fits perfect!  My secret combination is this: Starting with the first 2 rows of pyramids, sew 2 rows of pyramid sections together and then skip a row in between.  You can get 3 sections for the pyramids.  Then, sew 9 dots together, then ease the machine off at an angle.  Then sew 7 dots, on each end of the pyramids.  This fits perfect!!!



Peek-a-boo!!!



Meet the my newest armadillo friends: Ginger, Clover, and Gus.