i’d like to introduce you to two new friends that i made for the bee for christmas! first octo:

he’s a tiny baby octopus! he’s already a bit loved and dirty, but that’s a good thing.

his underside. (sorry octo.) the pattern came with tiny headphones! i don’t love the whipstitched seams, but there was no time for experimenting with altering the pattern when christmas loomed!

and this is his friend narnar! he was supposed to be a baby narwhal, but his horn fell off; it was poorly constructed and attached – my bad. the pattern piece was so tiny, and they told you to sew it right sides together and turn right side out. using felt?? impossible i say! anyway, i kind of tried to fudge it but it didn’t work out so great. he’ll get a new one soon, but i think i’ll use some interfaced quilting cotton instead.

i printed metallic spots on his side, instead of sewing on sequins. the pattern from grainline studio was for a christmas ornament, but i enlarged it to about 9″ long.

i sort of love and don’t love making softies with felt. felt is super-easy to cut out and sew (have you used the freezer paper method?), which is a great thing. and the colors of the 100% wool felt are superb! mostly i think i don’t like it because of all of the black cat hair that gets stuck in it. eww.

side note: have you been reading the sew mama sew six weeks of softies posts? i haven’t been able to dig into them as much as i’d like, but from what i have been able to skim, they’re a great resource. six whole weeks devoted almost entirely to softie sewing! there have been so many great softie designers featured (so much inspiration!) and lots of great tips. there’s even a contest!

but back to these guys… our sea theme continues! the bee’s obsession is still going strong, while mine grows every day. this won’t be the last ocean themed project that you see here. that i can assure you.