I just wanted to show a photo of the next step in creating my folk art lamb. I have her ears and tail stuffed and sewn on. It does not seem to be much of a change from the last photo, but a good bit of time between the last blog post and this one was spent on reinforcing all the seams with hand sewing. The animal body is very firm and sewing through the fiber fill took a long time to complete that step.
The ears were a bit of a challenge. Sheep and lambs move their ears all over, so whatever way they pointed would have been okay. However, I wanted my lamb's ears to stand up and show that she was interested and engaged in whatever was in front of her. (I am calling this lamb a her, but I suppose it could be either. I don't know if all male sheep have horns, but this one does not, so by default it seemed like a female I have seen some photos of male sheep without horns, but I am not sure if the horns have been removed or whether it is because they are a certain breed.) Anyway, I wanted the ears to stay up but not be stuffed so thickly that they looked unnatural. That required a little strategy on design and some needle sculpting to get the ears to hold the position I wanted. 
On the pattern, the ear design shows a long tube at the base of the ear. Once the pattern piece was sewn and turned, it was a was very narrow. I had to stuff it using just the tiniest pieces of fluff from the polyester fiberfill. It was so narrow that I had trouble inserting a thin bamboo skewer to push the fiber fill into the ear. The tube was long because it would be folded over on itself to provide a base for sewing the ear to the head. It proved to be a little too long and I ended up cutting off a portion. After shortening the tube, folding it over and sewing it to the head, it left a small, more or less square piece material visible behind the ear. You can see it in the first photo. I was not worried about that because it will be covered over by the wool roving in the next step. |
| My original pattern. Modifications were made after this one. |
At the moment, the ears look a little large. This is one of those cases that I have to keep telling myself that the project at this stage does not look like the finished project. I know that the wool roving that will be added will add some depth to the animal. The ears need to be long enough to stand up above the wool roving. Creating a folk art lamb is somewhat like painting in that it is built up in layers. You have to anticipate how things will change between one step and the next.
The tail was not much of a problem, although I did lengthen it from the original pattern. It was just a matter of finding the proper placement. A few minutes and a little experimentation found what I think is the right spot. It was hand sewn into place with some hand quilting thread. A heavier thread, such as a button thread or upholstery thread would be preferable when making a stuffed animal. However, I did not have any in an appropriate color, so I went with doubled quilting thread. The tail was sewn on with two sets of thread to give some extra strength in an area that may have a lot of pulling. I did the same with the ears and legs. The tail looks a little small at the moment. It will be thicker after the wool roving is in place.
Well, I have already spent more time than anticipated on today's blog. Check back on Sunday for the next post on the lamb.
No comments:
Post a Comment