It's that time again, and boy, this week's project was a doozie. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I just purchased the book Little One Yard Wonders and was excited to jump in and make the adorable octopus hiding within its pages. Last week's stuffed robot was a huge success, so this would be just the same, right?
Right?
Only my friend and shop owner at City Craft, the wonderful Callie, warned me that this project was a bear. Those of you that are fortunate enough to know Callie will attest that she has a super positive attitude, so if she says that something is a pain, you'd better watch out.
Man, was she right.
I heeded her warning and proceeded with caution. I knew I wanted to make two of them - one for Henry and one for Max - so I was smart enough to cut the fabric for both octopuses at the same time. And yes, it's octopuses and not octopi; I googled it. That way, if the first one was a huge pain in the ass, it would significantly increase the chances of me completing the second one if the fabric was already cut.
I made this face literally the entire duration of this project.
I resorted to ridiculous games to keep myself going.
If you decide to attempt this adorably awful project, here are some tips that I learned on the first one that made the second one significantly easier. If only the author had thought to mention these.
Fabric choice. I had leftover grey and white houndstooth and faded red linen from my Grandmommy's stash. Beautiful fabrics, but the open weave meant that the seams wanted to bust and fabric unravel. The. Whole. Time. I popped 3 seams on the first octopus (houndstooth). I learned my lesson and, although it was a huge pain, I zig zagged all of the raw edges of the tenticles after I straight stitched them. Basically serging them. That kept me from popping any stitches on octopus #2.
To avoid this whole mess, use quilter's cotton. The tighter weave will make this much easier.
Turning it out. On the first octo, I used a couple of wooden kitchen spoons to shove the tentacles right side out. WRONG. Pushing just jammed everything up and made it impossible to turn out. It also made me want to blow my brains out. I learned after tentacle #6 that pulling the fabric from the outside, rather than pushing from the inside, was the way to go.
Stuffing. This was awful. Again, resist the urge to shove the stuffing in. It will just get, for lack of a better word, constipated within the tentacle. You'll get the stuffing halfway down and be stuck. For the love of God don't shove more stuffing behind the blockage to try and dislodge it. Think of a clogged toilet. Adding more to the bowl will only make things worse.
My advice is to stuff in small amounts and think about pulling the fabric over the stuffing, rather than shoving the stuffing through the fabric. Like when you are putting on tights in the winter. You don't just shove your leg in there. It would get stuck and you might get a run in your stockings. Instead you keep your foot steady and gently pull the tights over your leg. Same concept here.
I used two different wooden kitchen spoons (one with a wide handle and one with a narrow) to get the job done. It's not perfect, but it's good enough.
I have probably made you never want to attempt this project, but don't give up on it just yet. Yes, it was an ordeal. But the second one took 75% less time than the first (about 3 hours compared to 8 or more). And they are friggin adorable.
This guy, named Red October, is making himself at home in Max's room.
Max is enjoying eating him (with parental supervision, of course). Can you believe this is the first thing I've sewn for Max in his entire 7 month existence? For shame.
And this guy, whose name changes every 4 minutes but last time I checked was Mondoo, is happy as can be in Henry's room. He even made a friend.
All griping aside, I'm glad I went ahead and made these. I love them. The boys love them. I may even make one for a future niece or nephew if I'm drunk when the parents ask me.
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