Plush of the Month: Meet Ferdinand and Sweetie


We haven’t had a plush in a while now, for a couple of reasons. For one, the patraeon patterns I was getting were either not quite my style, or so elaborate that I wasn’t feeling up to them. Not for lack of skill, but for lack of patience and time. I need a bit of instant gratification from my hobbies, so spending weeks on a project didn’t appeal to me. Also, with my back fucking up, sitting was painful and I needed to conserve my sitting down time. But my back got better (damn, you , exercise) and the little one came to me with a project. She’s in the school cheerleading team. Now I must clarify for my American readers: we do not have a school football team. While there are American Football clubs here and they do have cheerleading teams, it’s also purely done as the amazing sport that it is (and deserves recognition), so one of the teachers who loves cheerleading and is involved with a sports club cheerleading team is also training the school team. Their school team is the Flying Bulls (because the teacher’s team has a similar name) and she wanted to make a mascot. We went pattern shopping and soon created Ferdinand (named after this good fellow). Of course the wings were not included, so I had to make up my own pattern for them, but he turned out really cute:

Black plush bull with white and green wings sitting on a table

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Black plush bull with white and green wings full frontal view

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Black plush bull, face close up

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Isn’t he handsome? The eyes are made from epoxy and UV resin and secured with screws. The wings get their stability from pipe cleaners. While Ferdinand was a big hit with the cheerleading team, saying goodbye was hard and I needed something to comfort me. Well, why not make another plush? I have to say that Ferdinand is a completely different style from the last plushies I made and I quite liked it. Instead of the machine embroidery, these designs live from old fashioned eyes and designs. The creator has a couple of plushes in that style and one of them is my favourite animal, a hippo, so I had to go for it. Please meet Sweetie:

Grey hippo plush sitting on a couch, full vieew

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Grey hippo, torso and arms

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Grey hippo, view from above

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Yes, she’s incredibly adorable. It’s amazing how much of that look comes from adding the eyelids. Depending on how you place them, you get dreamy, sad or angry. She’s moved in with us and has become a full member of the hippo crew. I hope she can brighten your day a little as well.

Comments

  1. Tethys says

    They are wonderful, and I’ve always been very fond of the story of Ferdinand the Bull. I also really like the throw pillow.

    You can get college scholarships for cheer/dance line in the US. It’s not just limited to girls and Pom-poms anymore, it’s a team sport that combines gymnastics, dance, and cheering.

    I am still curious as to what was in your b-day box from SO? Hopefully it was a good choice and your birthday was enjoyable.

  2. says

    @Tethys
    I got sushi tableware, which was a great gift since I had invited our friends to cook Japanese food together for my birthday.

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