Some more softie fun

The great part about teaching a class sometimes is that I get the fun of making samples. The Softies class for adults at Fleisher is halfway finished, and I've been able to make a few myself to demonstrate specific skills. Below is a porcupine softie. He was made by drawing a pattern, tracing and flipping onto white broadcloth, using black fabric paint to create detail and texture, and then cutting out, sewing, and stuffing. He was a sample piece for the idea of a 2D silhouette shape becoming a 3D object when stuffed.

 For my porcupine I actually asked on facebook for ideas from my friends what animal I should make. The person who responded is getting to keep this one.

 My 2 kitty cats are sort of a sample piece. I'm going to use them to show how to make a more complex and multi-limbed construction. The ears, tail, and legs have to be sewn and stuffed before being inserted into the head and body pieces, and then the head and body are stuffed and joined together with a blind stitch.

I made these two for my niece's twins, because they got so excited by my student's cat softies I'd also posted on facebook. There's a calico cat which reminds me of my mother's cat, Putter, and a tuxedo/musical cat which is a lot like my own cat Jolie. They're an awful lot of fun to play with as a pair, especially when someone discovers a mouse finger puppet in my sewing nook, and ends up playing cat and mouse and laughing with me all night.

Adults shouldn't forget how to play- it's important to play with your kids, and the ability to play is a key component to artistic and creative thinking!