A Present for Lane

I have been wanting to get some practice sewing dolls. This guy would actually be called a softie, or a plushie. He's a green monster with long limbs. I like the dolls and things that I have seen with elbows and knees which look to me like a line sewn across the limb. I stuffed the arms and legs and sat down in front of my sewing machine. As I was trying to figure out how I was going to get this puffy limb under the foot of the machine, I realized that it might have been easier to stuff the end, sew across, and then finish stuffing the rest. I managed by pinching down where I wanted to sew and then shaking the heck out of the limb until it would fit. I'm not sure how it's supposed to be done. I mean, that could be the correct method. I can just imagine the directions "shake arm vigorously until desired thickness".



I think he turned out pretty cute though. If he were mine, I would name him Clyde. But we will have to see what Lane names him.

Which brings me to something that I've thought about a lot, giving a name to a creature I've made for someone else. It's very common, the creators name the object they have created, even giving it an elaborate character bio. This may help with endearing someone to buy it. It could also be fun. But I often wonder if it takes away from a child's experience of being able to fantsize and create their own name and elaborate story. Or it could be the start of the story that they can expand. I usually leave the creatures unnamed. In the case of my own children, almost everything ends up being named after themselves. So narcissistic!