Giraffe!

I made a new softie: a giraffe! This was a birthday gift for my friend JJ, who I also made these guys for a few years ago and this guy even longer ago. She's got a regular collection of my work!

(this picture of him walking just kills me)

I'm happy to report that this is an original design of mine! It didn't come together as smoothly or quickly as the hippo; I had multiple versions that were too sea-monster-y. I'm still not sure the scale works in relation to the hippo, but I was pretty pleased with how this guy turned out! Even though there will be more tinkering in my future.

I have sewn quite a few softies from a number of different patterns, and one thing I absolutely HATE is sewing in foot pads. I find it horrible. The pieces are so small, the seams are never smooth, it's a fight to turn everything carefully under the presser foot... Blergh. So when I decided to design my own giraffe pattern, I first had to figure out how to deal with the feet (I used a different, easier method with the hippos, and a more intensive hippo post is forthcoming, I promise!). Here's a detail shot:

So, yep, pretty pleased. There are some more silly shots of him in action on my Flickr page.

Also, something I forgot to mention previously: Chrissy, whose wedding dress I made and blogged about here, posted her own take on the experience here. Click over for some really exciting pictures of me ironing, some ridiculously cute pictures of my cat, and Chrissy's write-up of the incredibly sweet thank-you gift she made me.

Psst! This is my 300th post! Yowza!