henry's praying bear

the other thing i worked on yesterday in my crafty afternoon was my friend's baby (Henry) present for his upcoming baptism.
they are a catholic family and so i thought a praying bear might be a good idea.
i already had the pattern as i had made the larger dog bear before.

i thought this time i would try the little bear in red

but, as per usual with me trying new things, i was (as they say on Top Gear), ambitious, but rubbish

perhaps not rubbish, but if it wasn't a gift, i would have thrown it out many times throughout the process.  :)  it is drafted like a real dressmakers pattern, which i have no patience with at all!  i want to create something, not trace the pattern, transfer the 1000's of markings, match notches and dots etc.  but of course, if you kind of just wing it, then things go horribly wrong.  so many seams unpicked, i had to resew on both arms and both legs when i realised later on that i had them on the wrong sides, somehow got the whole front muzzle bit wrong and had to redo.  luckily for me the hat will hide a multitude of sins!

on top of this, my sewing machine packed up on the first day i was working on it last week, probably because i was forcing the fabric through the machine to get it over lumps and bumps that weren't fitting.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, but a trip to my trusty LQS that isn't actually my LQS fixed it all up, ready for me to mash again yesterday.

but nearly finished now, just have to stuff him and embroider the hands into a praying position.....will post photos when finished.  i was going to take some of the process, but man o man was i annoyed.  and photos showing me unpicking the seam AGAIN aren't that interesting - he he!

pugs and kisses
xx