Stitches and button eyes

[secondlina]

I am forceful in my attribution of love.

Yeah. I didn't actually try to make a Toothless plushy yet. For those of you who don't know, Toothless is the main dragon in "How to Train your Dragon". He's designed by Chris Sanders, creator of Lilo and Stitch, so he's made of pure cute.

I found a really good tutorial on Deviant art. So i'm willing to try. I'm pretty sure my toothless isn't going to be a Franken-Toothless (i'm not a talented seamstress, but I don't think i,m bad to a point of offending creation). Though I like the comic so much I might actually try to make a Franken-Toothless after I get the "real" one right.



I kinda wish I was a multi-talented person. Yeah, I know you can gain skills through practice, but the fact that I draw all the time kinda seems to have pushed the development of my other skills out the window. I also seem to have trouble imagining things in 3D.  Drawing has rendered my creativity to a flat medium? Perhaps. I guess when you get really good at something and love it, you kinda overlook other types of artistic expression. You should not, but it kinda happens anyways. If only we got days off from work dedicated to trying or learning new things. That would be fun!

At least I know how Lilo felt when she made "Scrump".

Also, this XKCD comic fitted this post too much not to insert it in. Enjoy!

- Isa

Comments

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Gah, that tutorial! My little sister wanted a Nightfury plush, so we ran out to get fabric today, then I got to work on it. (She wanted to be lazy and play more Diablo 2, but she at least was at the table while I slaved away.) The tutorial isn't nearly as easy as it seems, and the pattern bugged me a bit, so I plan on tweaking a few things before I make one for me. Also...do not make this with a sewing machine! I sewed most of it by machine for convenience, but I really did not like the end result. Thankfully my sister was just happy to have a huggable Nightfury with red button eyes...because she's odd like that...

Anyway, yeah, I'm even more keen on doing this as a group now that I've made one. First-time seamstresses wouldn't fair so well with the tutorial.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's good to know since I just cut out all of my pieces yesterday. Any tips you can give would be more than helpful. ^_~

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

If you're basing the size on the pattern, gave the pieces 1/4" seam allowance, and are working with fleece, 1/4" is too much extra. It really should be 1/8" seam allowance, but only do that if you're sewing by hand. Otherwise just be sure to trim the excess after sewing.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

...2,5 cm. so one fourth is .6 cm? doesn't seem like a lot.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

No, but it makes for too much bulk when you turn the pattern inside-out so that your seams are all hidden inside the plush. Fleece is nice to work with, but way too bulky for some things. (The nice thing about it is that you can have very small seam allowances since it does not fray like normal fabrics.)

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I tried cutting out the pattern and noticed quickly yesterday that this was too complicated for me. What edits do you suggest?

I got toxic green buttons for his eyes, to match the ones from the movie!

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

The main thing I plan on changing are the pattern pieces for the extra..whatevers around Toothless' face. It makes for too much extra fabric pieces competing for the same space, so I'm going to combine them. I can show you what I mean later. (I got called in to work, so I need to head out in a minute.)

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

Here's that dragon pattern that I was thinking of alternating (and I still might use it too). http://www.wyrm.org.uk/cuddly/azhreia.html

I think the only thing we would have to change is make the face more round and add the horns to the head which wouldn't be hard. And this is a lot simpler.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I could mix this pattern with the other a bit to add fins and change the head... It would be a lot simpler!

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

I'm now toying with the idea of just doing that. Between the two, this one would be less time consuming. Decisions, decisions. ^_~

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

I had little issue with the body and legs, and the wings and fins were excellent, it's mainly the little doodads around Toothless' head that caused me issue. Hopefully one of the days this week I can make some tweaks and see how they work out.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Also, I want to see pictures of your test dragon!

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

My sister left soon after we finished it, but my mom took some pictures. I'll see about getting them from her later. (Again, work.)