Weally Wonky Wabbits

Well, I just gained a whole new appreciation for those talented sewers out there who can sew circles and curves. Whew. It ain't easy and boy am I humbled.

I was flipping through one of my new books, Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, the other night and came across the cutest pattern for Peanut, the Wee Elephant. The design was credited to Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls. So of course I had to run to my laptop to check out her site... lo and behold she was offering free patterns to download and I immediately decided I needed to make a wee bunny.

I was very enthusiastic at first! I printed out the pattern and picked out my fabric. (That was definitely the easiest part!).

I cut out all the pattern pieces and I made the ears about 1.5 cm bigger all around because I thought I would like them bigger and floppier. You can see in the picture above the original line on the inside of the ear. In the end I'm glad I did because they would have been itty bitty I think.

Next I made the ears and pinned them on to the solid front piece. Easy peasy!

Then I stitched the two patterned back pieces on... it was at about this point I realized that I can't sew curves. I think I read somewhere that having a walking foot really helps with the whole curve thing. Um... okay, I admit it, I'm looking for excuses. I know what helps with curves: PRACTICE! But you know what? I wasn't daunted. So my wee bunny would have a wonky seam, big deal. Adds character right? (Meanwhile I'm nervously eyeing that round bottom piece...)

I was so preoccupied with sewing curves and circles that I forgot to leave an opening in the back for stuffing! Oooooops! Where's my seam ripper again? (aka my very best friend). That was a pretty easy fix.

Now it was time to line up the bottom with the rest of the body. I was pretty excited and needed to start getting ready for work in 20 minutes. I tried pinning it together and the darn thing wouldn't fit. In fact, I had about an extra inch of circle and not enough body. So what do I do? Decide that I'll make it fit at the sewing machine. I sit down and sew away, casting pins aside.

The result?

Not so good. I've managed to create the wobbliest, ugliest, most puckered bunny bottom the world has ever laid eyes on...

So what do I do?

Throw some stuffing in there anyway!! I can't wait to see what my "completed" bunny looks like!!

If you look closely you can see a bottom gone horribly wrong.

I left it as is and headed off to work. I thought it would be kind of fun for Dennis to come home to a silly rabbit sitting on the kitchen counter. He said he thought it was really cute, God love him.

While at work I processed my bunny bottom predicament. I knew I wasn't going to learn how to sew curves and circles tonight so I needed to think up an alternate plan of attack... the bunny has three sides... what else can I do? AHA! A triangle!!

Yes, I made the bottom into a triangle. Hindsight is always 20-20 and this was not actually as brilliant an idea as I had thought. Obviously. Or the original pattern would have come with a triangle.

Oh, and I also deviated from the pattern (again - such a bad idea) by sewing on the eyes and embroidering the mouth and nose before adding the stuffing and sewing him up because I couldn't really imagine how to do that without having access to both sides (Please remember, I'm new at this!).

And then I realized that I didn't have a tail so I improvised and made my own. And when hand stitching the back closed, I sewed the tail on. And didn't really give much thought to placement because I already knew this wee bunny was beyond all hope. So I popped it on and now my ugly, deformed bunny looks like he has a hideous wart growing out of his back. Poor wee bunny. :(

Can you tell I'm delaying the unveiling?

...

Okay... prepare yourself!

He's drunk!

Note the wart... :)

He looks best from behind!

I've since removed him from my computer desk and put him on my sewing table. Wanna know a secret? I love him!! I laugh out loud every time I look at him and that deserves a whole pile of love in my opinion. I think I will keep him on my sewing table for a long time... for now as a reminder of "there's only one way to go from here... up!" and hopefully in the future as a reminder of just how far I've come.