Thursday, May 6, 2010

Pig Pattern!


Here is the Pig pattern - I've sat on it a while, looooong
after it got back from my lovely testers/vetters.



Earlier this week I made a whole new Pig family for one
last test run and to estimate things like exactly how much
stuffing is needed for something so huge, and whether it
would work with notions actually available in fabric stores
in the US (as opposed to stuff I have in my stash that come
from various countries). For instance, I hadn't realized that
JoAnn does not stock 10" zippers. They only have 7-9"
zippers, and 12-14" zippers. Why?

So for a short while we have two sows and
a dozen piglings in the house! Crazy.

Thankfully, the new Pig clan is headed off elsewhere soon.

You can click on the little button at the bottom of this
post to buy it, or on the icon in the sidebar. As with my
other patterns, this is an instant pdf download, so you'll
get an email with a link to download the file at your leisure.

Some info:
  • The Pig is 20" from snout straight through to tail; the Piglets are 4.5".
  • Personally, I feel this is a simpler project than the Chicken, even with the zipper and the bigger pieces of fabric to work with. I prefer not to define my projects according to the (very arbitrary) levels of sewing experience a person might have. Something like a zipper, for instance, might be tackled by a person who's only been sewing for 3 months but who is highly motivated to try new things (or lucky enough to have a teacher), while other folks with years of sewing experience would rather not ever touch a zipper. So I'll just say up front that if you are comfortable sewing curved seams (rather than only straight lines), folding some darts and attaching a zipper with a zipper foot, that's about as tricky as this pattern gets.
  • I like using fleece for stuffed animals because it is easy to work with, doesn't fray, is not expensive, and forgiving because its plushness and slight stretchiness make very nice, smooth finished seams. You are welcome to use another fabric, of course - you'll need a yard if it's 60" wide and 1.25 yards if it's 45".
  • There is some hand-sewing (attaching the snouts), and I recommend the ladder-stitch because it gives a practically invisible finish. There are tutorials everywhere for this stitch, but here (especially) and here are a couple of good videos.

10 comments:

  1. hooray! i've been waiting for this pattern (didn't want to be pesky and ask if it was still coming)! i need a mama for my sweet baby pig...and some siblings while we're at it. :) now i just need to convince myself to buy it...and the chicken...and the owie doll. that's my problem--i won't just be satisfied with one. i need them all! thanks, lier, for sharing!

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  2. THANK YOU... My kids have been waiting. Very excited.

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  3. The US is rather finicky about the zipper lengths you are allowed to buy, aren't they! Your pig is adorabe! IF I ever learn how to sew in secret maybe I'll try your farm animals for Christmas this year...

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  4. omigoodness. this is adorable! I need to start saving up!

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  5. I bought the pattern in May (a birthday present to myself) and used my birthday giftcard to JoAnn to purchase the supplies. I've finally gotten around to making Pig and her suh-weet piglets. (Just in time for the county fair! I'm such a nerd.)

    You can see them on my blog:
    http://sproutingflowers.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/roly-poly-pig/

    Thanks for the incredible pattern!

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  6. Wish me luck! I just bought the pattern in hopes of making a mama pig and babies for each of my twin 2YO nieces, and after my 18YO niece saw the absolute cuteness of the piggies, she begged to make one for her too. I hope my sewing skills are strong enough since I'm gonna be knee-deep in pigs!

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  7. Cute! 10" zippers on etsy at zipitzippers. I just got them. Nice and lots of colors

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