Penguin stuffie

Little M was nearly 4 before he started to show any interest in drawing, and I was getting a little concerned, because neither big M nor I am artistic. But once little M started drawing, he was a machine. I was pretty excited about this picture, because I really liked how he captured the essence of penguins. And because the things he usually draws aren't immediately identifiable.

He said the big one was a boy and the rest were girls, and one was a kid. The big one inspired this "stuffie" (what softies are called in his preschool), which I made late last night.

I initially cut it out of a heavy grey denim (the wings are denim & quilting cotton) but the beak was simply impossible to turn right-side-out, even after trimming the seam allowance to nearly nothing. So I put the pattern on a double layer of felt and stitched around it, then trimmed the seam allowance to 1/8" all around, and didn't have to turn it.

Little M was a bit upset at first that the feet weren't "flat". Making them "flat" didn't even occur to me; I like its overall 2-dimensionality. Plus which, "flat" would have been a lot harder to do.

Tonight little M and I were talking about how scarves keep you warm by warming your neck, so I knit big penguin a red scarf.

(Bob was a bit leery of big penguin and smacked it a few times before sitting himself down next to it to make sure it wouldn't suddenly come to life.)