Back in February, I was sick. Not seriously, but my cold/flu-like symptoms showed up around Valentine’s Day and eventually caused me to miss five days of work – and that never happens. I spent a lot of time spaced out on the couch, or heading down for a 12:30 nap (I miss the naps), and I discovered that fuzziness from sleeping poorly, when combined with fuzziness from a cocktail of over-the-counter and prescription medications, makes me prone to buying stuff online with little regard for whether I need it. I bought this, for example. And when I got an e-mail from Etsy touting last-minute instant-download Valentine’s gifts, well, that was just asking for trouble.
I bought a Love Elephant.
Whyyyy? I certainly didn’t need another stuffed animal, or another sewing project. But hey, there I was, with my freshly printed PDF pattern. I promptly “filed” it and forgot about it (hooray for NeoCitran!), until my friend was over one evening some time later and saw it. He had recently been through a bad breakup – that is to say, they’re definitely over, but she keeps popping up like a bad penny – and I thought he could use something to cuddle, so it was off to the fabric store for us to find a suitable colour of fleece.
The end result:
The recipient has named him “Cupcake”. But before he went to his new home, he spent some time exploring the jungles of the back yard.
I’m really quite pleased with the finished product. I made a few changes: for example, I was too lazy to add the extra centimetre recommended for a seam allowance, so he is oh-so-slightly smaller than he ought to be, but with no adverse effects. And because I was using a slightly more “masculine” colour and left the hearts off the ears, “Love Elephant” didn’t seem appropriate, so I came to think of him as the “Love Pach” (as in, pachyderm), which might have been a mistake as it led to a B52s earworm like you wouldn’t believe.
Cupcake’s owner thinks he’s the berries, and is fitting in well in his new home by all accounts.
Thanks for looking!
The Witty Child 