A Tale of Two Stuffings

In the course of making the elephants shown in the previous post I experimented a little with stuffing.

Oh Stuffing! You have come a long way since that gloppy, clumpy stuff I struggled with as a youth!

Finding that the bag of stuffing I have had for (a few) years was nearly empty, I embarked on finding new goods.  I’m not so thrilled with some of the larger fabric/craft retailers around here and wasn’t willing to play stuffing roulette with whatever they might have in stock.  Instead I turned to my mother, who works in the interior decorations world, and asked what she might have access to.  

We came up with two types of stuffing: the standard non-allergenic, polyester hollow fiber fill and a new to me version: Polyester cluster fill, touted as a down alternative.  

Not being shy, we ordered a bag of the standard

(Note, this bag is no longer 100% full. Also note the sleeve board for size comparison)

So, having made up a few Elephants with the standard stuff, and being largely satisfied with the results, but intrigued by the cluster fill, we decided to give it a try.  

Both were fun to work with but the cluster fill was so silky! so bouncy! and chasing those little puffballs around the sewing room was kind of fun (at first).  

I learned a few things in the process of making the elephant – 

 primarily that this stuff compacted down seemingly more than the other stuffing, but bounced back more.  This made for a delightfully soft and comfy toy, but also made it easier to over-stuff the elephant.  

This had some unfortunate effects on my seams.  

Then I learned something after my kids had played with said elephant:  The little cluster fills like to clump together and did not like to stay in the corners.  

Miss Elephant’s trunk has become a bit deflated and if she is going to attempt ballet en pointe, she will need some help!

 

Solution:

1)      I quickly learned how much fill to add and to stop before I had over-stuffed.

2)      A combination of stuffing made for a great result:  I put the standard fill in “corners” such as the trunk, feet, etc.  and filled the remainder of the body with the cluster fill.

End result: happy elephants!

Elephants Marching

These little cuties make the best fun gifts and are quite addictive - this is only a small sampling of the herd that has marched its way out of my studio.

The pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.
It is a great little pattern - I made only one modification: I sewed the ears on by machine prior to stuffing.  I've seen what I did to my stuffed animals as a kid; we don't want an earless elephant running around :)

Quilt Inspirations and Ideas

I love to make bags and I have found that I enjoy making quilts.  I am not as adept as some or as inspired as many, but it is fun nonetheless.

I came to make quilts long after I first learned how to sew and long after I made my first bag.  I resisted it at first  but finally on a trip to Venice where I was stunned by the mosaic floors of St. Mark's, I found myself thinking, "this would make the coolest quilt!"

I still haven't made a quilt based on any of these mosaics; I started smaller, simpler.  

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back - Vintage Merimekko

But once I allowed myself to think quilt, I began to find little inspirations everywhere - so just a few that a re percolating now (please pardon the grossly sub-par photography)

Note to self: that red light is shorter than you think...