Bunny & Carrot Pattern in the "testing labs"

First: Thank you for responding to my call for testers for the Bunny & Carrot pattern. The call for testers is now closed. I am no longer accepting responses.

That said, you guys are the best.

I was floored by the number of offers to test this pattern. There were so many fun stories to read in your background bios - the experiences you've had sewing, the kinds of projects under your belts, the work you do in the professional world that utilizes your sewing skills and talents. It was very hard to choose just four. I eventually picked six who represented a wide variety of skill levels and experiences which fit the target users of this sewing pattern. Some have more years of sewing experience than I have years of life, and some are just starting out in stuffedtoydom. Some have been pattern testers in the past and some haven't. Some are self-declared perfectionists and some love the journey even more than the destination.

I am very excited to have the pattern in their hands (imagine how much more excited I am to have it ultimately in yours!). But by selecting them, I was unable to select you, and I wish I could've have, because boy, do you guys have serious skills. Thank you for sharing photos of your projects, for your interest in the pattern, and for your willingness to put nose to grindstone (or presser foot) for me. Pattern-testing is not glamorous in the way that pattern-reviewing is. It is hard work, and enjoyable though it may also be, for the next week or so, these ladies will have to think like target users and be prescriptive in their sewing.

I am saving the contact details of all who submitted their names for consideration, however. Because there will be more ikatbag patterns in the future and maybe some of you would be perfect to test those and I wouldn't have to write an entire "recruitment" post like the last one. I could just ask one of you guys!

But that would be Other Patterns for Other Times. I also want to acknowledge your support in this pattern. So: anyone who'd responded to my call for testers before this post went live gets a discount on the Bunny & Carrot pattern when it's available for sale (mid-November, one hopes).  I'll email you guys with a code of some sort when we launch the pattern. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I leave you with two random photos:

This is the head of one of the earlier prototype bunnies. There are quite a few of these disembodied bunny parts lying around in my sewing room. Kate does not like this, naturally, but this is the sad consequence of making stuffed toys - sometimes you kick aside a pile of fabric and a head rolls out. Or an amputated limb.

This here is from an outtake (lest you think these Bunnies are well-behaved - were you misled by their innocent faces? Big mistake.).

And now I must sew those Halloween costumes. I have two days before the kids' Fall Parties at school when they'll need those costumes. As of yesterday, said "costumes" were still just folded piles of fresh-from-the-store fabric. Um. This might be a new record, both for speed and - regrettably - shoddy workmanship.