{little mister blue}

I am an aunt to a little baby boy who lives in Alabama. This November is his first birthday, and my in-laws are going down for his party, but Mechanic Man and I won't be able to make it. But I still wanted to make him something special, and I figured that if I got it finished in time for the missions trip that my in-laws are coming on this week I could send it with them and save us some money on postage.
That being said, I decided to make him a little stuffed animal of some sort. I have lots of them pinned on Pinterest because I plan on sewing some for my own kids someday. But when I went to see the tutorials, I couldn't find but one that actually had a tutorial, and it was for a pig. I kinda had my heart set on an elephant {don't ask me why...} but the elephant "tutorial" I had pinned was not a tutorial.

So I sighed, and I got frustrated, and then I decided to just draw my own pattern and see how it went. I think it turned out pretty good. But I decided to take pictures and make my own "tutorial" for Mister Blue, the elephant.

First, I obviously cut out the pieces. two sides, two heads, two blue ear pieces, two orange ear pieces.

 First I did the ears. I pinned them together, and cut tiny {like, 1/16th of an inch} notches all around the curved edges to help it lay smooth. Then I sewed around the curved edge. I think all my seam allowances were at about 1/4'' but I can't remember for sure. I'm pregnant, folks. It messes with the brain.

 Anyway, after sewing the ears, I turned them right side out and then pinned them between the head and the body {this is the only reason there's a head and a body. otherwise, i would've just made it all one piece and then struggled to attach the ears somehow} with the head facing backwards like this:

When you sew across that top line then, you fold the head forwards and get this:

 





 Next I took a little piece of white ribbon and cut it a few inches long. I melted the end with a match so it wouldn't fray and then tied a knot in that end. This is the makings of a tail.

 I took that tail and pinned it inside the elephant when I pinned {like crazy} the two sides together with the wrong sides out. I left his back leg open so I had a hole to stuff through, from about the back of his belly to the back of his foot. Then I notched around all the edges again. And stitched away, though it took a little more effort than usual {my machine was having some temperamental issues that day}.

 Then I turned him right-side-out and stuffed him with some batting, making sure to get his trunk nice and stiff. You can see in this picture a little better where I left an opening for stuffing.

 I did this while I watched The Waltons. Have I ever mentioned that I love that show? Probably... Anyways, next I stitched up his leg. I really need to work on those invisible stitches that are great for projects like this. At this point though, they don't stay stitched, and I wanted this toy to be durable.

 So I just stitched it up on the outside with matching thread. I don't think it turned out too ugly.

 Lastly, I gave Mister Blue two little black eyes with some embroidery thread. They ended up crooked somehow, but what can I say? How about "Happiness is homemade and homemade's not always perfect..." I think I'll make that my motto for all my crafting/ sewing projects from now on.

 And here he is! He reminds me a little bit of Babar, even though he's blue. I was pretty happy with how he turned out, and I'm considering making one for our baby too. I might even make them to sell someday.

Anyway, I hope he makes one little Alabama boy happy this November!