Wednesday 26 December 2012

sewing : two christmas elephants

Two elephants I made for my boys this Christmas from some super-thick and super-cheap denim fabric bought from Simply Fabrics in Brixton and left over from a (not quite yet finished) mei tai style baby carrier.

I used the reverse side of the denim for all but the elephant's belly, hoping this will reduce the colour rubbing off onto everything - we will just have to see how successful this tactic is. The ears are V&A/Liberty quilting fabric - also left over, this time from baby trousers.

The pattern is from the Sew Everything Workshop book by Diana Rupp. I have made the baby elephants from this book many times but this was my first time with the 'mommy' elephants. They were pretty easy to sew and took about a week of late-night sewing (the only sewing time I have).

Boy #2 opens elephant
Both elephants were 'finished' Christmas Eve at 11.45pm - just enough time to wrap them up, not enough time to sew on any eyes. Not that I'd have been able to sew them on even if I had more time, there is only so long my fingers can take hand-sewing through several layers of thick denim.

Happy boy #2 with his new elephant
These were the first toys opened on Christmas Day and the boys were very happy. However the poor elephants couldn't compete with the bright and shiny plastic toys which filled the rest of the day - and most of our living room by the end of it - and they soon fell into obscurity.

Maybe over time they will become well-loved treasures rather than languishing in a bottom draw... only time will tell.

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