Intention
I wanted to practice the hand sewing skills learned in class and get better at them. I have been interested in making small animal figurines for a little while and felt that this would be a good project to practice with.
Outcome
Process
The first thing I did was find the pattern. It was taken out of a book that Olivia had on making small stuffed animal figures. I then printed and cut out the pattern and the felt. The first thing that had to be sewn for the cow were the spot sizes to the side of the body. After that step was complete, I sewed both side pieces to the bottom body piece. Next, I took two pieces of wire and stuck them down the legs, so an upside down "u" shape appeared across the top and bottom legs. I then stuffed the legs using the stuffing. When this was done, I sewed one of the sides to the body top and partially sewed the other. with both sides around the head attached to the body top, I was able to attach the nose by sewing it to the front of the cow. Then I stuffed the front of the cow and continued sewing the side and top together, stuffing as I went. When the entirety of the cow was stuffed and sewn shut, I worked on the ears. First I sewed the gray and pink felt ear pieces together, before folding the horizontal end and attaching that to the head. I then followed suit with the other ear, trying to place them symmetrically on the head of the cow. Then I folded the felt for the tail and sewed it in half. I attached one end of this to the body and through the other end looped embroidery thread around which I later cut to become fringe. I used pins and makeshift eyes. Most of the hand sewing done was through the form of blanket stitching.
Reflection
I learned a lot about how to sew different components together. I struggled a bit in making the cow become 3D and figuring out how much to correctly sew the sides to the top and bottom pieces. I also learned a lot about how to sew smaller components like the ears and the nose. The nose was an especially hard piece because of how small it was, and it definitely came out a little sloppily. I think that if I could redo this project, I might try to do a better job of attaching that to the body. The ears were slightly less difficult, although they were also extremely small. The second ear I attached also came out better, as the stitches where I attached to the body were less visible. I think that overall the project came out well but if I could do it again I would be more mindful of the stitches and try to make them more evenly sized with small spaces in between them.
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