Blogdaughter Tammi of Road Warrior Survival has her Saturday question posted:

Tell me about your favorite stuffed animal.

Here it is:

(click to enlarge)

It's not particularly handsome, but then again, it's hand-made by me, and actually isn't TOO bad for my first try.

Back in my Navy days (1988 or so), I was stationed in Alameda, CA. I had a few months before our next cruise, so I decided I'd impress the crap out of TNT (who was Beloved Girlfriend back in those days) by hand-sewing her a teddy bear. I was no stranger to needle & thread, so I figured it couldn't be THAT hard.

Trip to the library, find a book on the subject, photocopy the relevant portions. Easy.

Trip to the big-ass fabric store, ignoring all the "what the hell is a man doing alone in a fabric store" looks from the women, poke around for a while, buying fake fur, tan felt, plastic eyes, embroidery thread, and a bag of stuffing. Easy.

The actual assembly process... not so easy. Transferring patterns onto the material, careful cutting, and a bazillion tiny stitches. I tell ya, fake fur is a very loosely woven material, and not easy to make a tight seam with. Plus I was simply NOT cut out for embroidery work. The nose is uneven & lopsided. Looks like he was in a barfight.

The cool thing about it, though, is that the arms & legs move. I'm just glad the fabric store sold plastic doll joints. The pattern called for making my own out of brass paper fasteners & cardboard discs, which was just a little too old-school for MY taste.

Anyway, the bear was well-received, and TNT has kept it safely tucked away these many years, even through all the times I was no longer involved in her life.

She's sentimental like that.

And I'm REALLY glad she kept it, because there'll be pinapple plantations in Alaska before I ever go through THAT again :-/

Posted by: Harvey at 11:25 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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