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Friday 10 February 2017

Rhino Winter Project WIP


Hello lovely peeps. Today is a good day. It is Friday, it's sunny, I have a vase full of flowers my husband surprised me with and I have made progress on my Rhino. Whoop!


Here he is.


Do you make softies or soft sculptures? I really enjoy the slow process of sewing something by hand. Just focusing on making each individual stitch, going slow and enjoying every moment.


The most magical part of sewing a softie is making the face. That's when they come alive. They change from a few pieces of fabric and thread into a little animal with a personality. This rhino 'came alive' when his ears were sewn on above his eyes. Then he really looked like a rhino.


He isn't quite finished yet, as you can see in this rather undignified photo. He still needs feet, which are just little circles of felt sewn to close up his legs.

I've stuffed and re-stuffed this rhino a few times. His legs are particularly troublesome. He's a rhino which, of course, are natures tanks. So I want him to look strong but not too bulky. The nice thing about the wool felt I'm using is that it stretches and forms ever so slightly with the stuffing, which means I can make him look like he's got strong muscles under his 'skin'. I don't think I'm quite there yet. I'll un-stuff and re-stuff a bit more until I get it the way I like.


To finish I'd like to embellish him to make him a bit whimsical. I'm thinking embroidery or adding some 3D elements out of polymer clay to make him all the more sculptural. Maybe something that makes him look like a mountain? Or just some nice swirly or floral patterns? I'll wait until he's all sewn up to decide.

I'm linking up with Jennifer's Winter Projects link party at Thistlebear. There are always lots of fun and inspiring projects that people share over there so I encourage you to go have a look at what people are up to.

Have a lovely weekend

                                                                     *B*

10 comments:

  1. Your rhino is looking strong and powerful even with unfinished feet! I'm looking forward to seeing it all finished, especially the embellishments. x

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  2. Hi Bekki, thanks for joining in with my link party! I love your rhino, he's so sweet! I have only made a couple of stuffed toys and I agree it's not easy to stuff them well, but I think you did a really nice job with him. So cute!

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    1. Thank you Jennifer. Softies and soft sculptures are one of my favourite things to sew. Thanks for popping by!

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  3. This rhino looks like a real sweetheart! I don't make a lot of softies, but I have to agree with you about adding the face to make them come alive. I like your choice of wool felt for this brute, suits him perfectly. I have the same issues with stuffing softies and they never get stuffed properly in one take! Good luck with your finishing embellishments!
    Wendy

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    1. Getting the stuffing right is well worth the effort in the end. Thank you for your lovely comment!

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  4. Hi Bekki, I have been having a look through your post here and you have some amazing projects. The scarf is rainbowtastic and the Rhino is very well made. I will try and pop over again but without a feed link (bloglovin, google reader etc.) I might forget so keep visiting me and that will remind me to pop over. Jo x

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    1. Hi Jo, Thank you for your lovely comment! I love to read your blog so I will definitely be popping back :) I will have a look at bloglovin, I'm still quite new to blogging so haven't got my head around everything yet :)

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  5. That rhino is really fabulous! I love how much personality he has.

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    1. Thank you so much Gillian! I've enjoyed having him sit on and around my work table, overseeing things :)

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I'd love to hear your comments