Jaguar: Two Variations

One of the nice conveniences of working with a base template is obtaning different animals simply by varying the fabric. Here is a Jaguar from the Menagerie Cat template, with slight variations.

This Jaguar was made in a sort of ivory cuddle fleece with big-cat markings. The 'rosette' print is really more leopard than jaguar (jaguar 'rosettes' have dots in them; leopard 'rosettes' are empty), but it was what the shop had available, so I went with it.

His ears are Cat ears reshaped to include an earlobe and more rounded tip, and his tail is longer.

I added a full muzzle and a plastic safety nose. The overall effect was slightly canine, I felt.

His paws are of uniform color i.e. made from one fabric, missing the white "socks" that the Cat has.

So that's Variation #1.

Here's Variation #2: faux fur. 

Neither fabric approximates the actual background color of a real jaguar's fur but this faux fur was closer to the image I was trying to render, 

photo credit: www.christianbook.com

so that was what I used.

The fabric had bands of darker and lighter background, so I used the lighter portion for the animal's belly and the darker portions for the rest. 

The muzzle is a little different, too - just the upper half this time, like the Kangaroo's,

and with a fabric nose shaped more like a real jaguar's.

His eyes, like Hope's in the image, are blue.

Here are the two big cats, side by side. 

With even just the minor differences between them, they almost look like different species!

Sloth Revisited

This is another Menagerie Sloth, in different fur.

He's more silver than the taupey-greyish-brown that real three toed-sloths are, 

and his coat borders on simian, even, 

but gah. So furry. So soft. So squishy.

And those toes!

Iguana

This Iguana is officially one of my favorite Menagerie variations. 

I got to use many different shades of green on him!

This variation on the Menagerie base template has an integrated tail. In the 2015 pattern, there were three animals that were made this way: the Dinosaur, the Kangaroo and the Dragon. 

The adaptations for the Iguana were very similar to the Dinosaur's: a straight tail and a row of spines along the center back seam. To create the body markings, I used a variegated green fleece (some kind of tie-dye print) and added darker green applique stripes, sewn separately on the two halves of the body and aligned at the center back seam. 

The limbs are the standard base template ones, with felt claws added.

Here's an interesting feature - the flap of skin under the neck called the dewlap. 

To get it to drape in a flappy way, I cut it like a peplum (think semi-circular skirt). The curved edge was attached to the straight center front seam and the fabric hung in folds as a result.

Iguana spines are long and pointy all the way down to their tail, but I decided that turning dozens of long pointy fabric spines RS out might just about do me in. So I opted for symbolism over precision and gave this little guy five long spines on the top of his head,

and made the rest much shorter.

Finally, there's the little iridescent circular/oval patch near the Iguana's jaw which in the real animal is called the subtympanic shield (a.k.a. helmet scale) and is used for camouflage. In our Iguana, however, it's just a felt applique patch and used for decoration.

I've always thought iguanas were like mini modern dinosaurs, 

and the Menagerie version makes them even more so!

She Said She Was Stopping

. . . and it turns out that she may have lied.

What am I talking about?
Menagerie. 

One month ago, I declared a moratorium on the making of new Menagerie critters to focus on writing instructions for the ones I'd already made.

And in my defence, I had stopped.

But then opportunity called.

So here's the story: I'm on a team that's planning a summer program for the kids in our church and some weeks ago, we pulled up the resource websites for this year's VBS curriculum. And there we saw the mascot-animal-creature-things and whoa:

A sloth.

He's even called Moe, like our Sloth.

And then there was this.

What are the odds that I also happen to have a Toucan sitting around the house somewhere?

Two out of six. Hm.

So then I thought, "A jaguar, a manta, an iguana and a seahorse. How hard would it be to make those?"

So I did.

Last week, I finished these guys. Four of them were Menagerie critters, and the other two were flat, 2D shapes that were really easier to put together. I'd have liked the sloth to have been less silvery and more taupe, but that was the fabric that was available.

We'll be using these animals for props, in the decor, as lesson aids and giveaways at the end of our summer program. FUN.

And I've decided that any Menagerie sewing counts as pattern-developing because I'm refining prototypes and generating new variations. Not to mention easing back into the discipline of taking photos as I cut and sew, in preparation for writing the instructions for you.

But now I really am stopping. I'll pop in again with individual posts of the iguana, new-fur sloth,  jaguar cub, seahorse and manta, and then I'll share a tutorial for another fun and simple project for summer!

(Which, with today's almost-90F temp, has finally arrived. Hurrah.)



(photo credits for the six character screenshots Moe, Beacon, Hope, Rae, Coral and Guac: www.christianbook.com)

Somewhere There Is Summer

And it's not Minnesota, for sure.

How many inches of snow did you guys get this weekend? We got over a foot. And it's still coming down.

I'm afraid April is a washout. Literally. Let's hope May looks more like spring. Either way, you can keep your snow, Minnesota. I'm looking elsewhere for my sunshine.

Like the equator.

I like to remember that there are other parts of the world where the sun shines, and hotly, too. Wanna see some photos? I haven't had the time to curate our Singapore photos, and these are just random ones I picked out. Can't remember if I edited them at all; if I did, it'd have been minimal. It's surreal to gaze upon them - what does warmth feel like? Or seeing the road beyond two feet ahead of you when you drive? Or hearing birds . . . wait, what are birds again?

This was at a beach resort in Indonesia, where we spent a couple of days with the grandparents. 

These next photos are in Singapore. We spent an afternoon at the Jurong Bird Park. Here are the girls in an elevated bird enclosure feeding colorful lories.

Still at the Bird Park, here is Kate with toucans perched on her arms. All I could think of as I watched her was "that would be an easy Menagerie variation." Mother fail, I know. 

Speaking of Menagerie, the children were relentless in their encouragement to Make This! and Make That! whenever they saw an animal - any animal. Which, if you were at places like the Bird Park and the Zoo, kept happening every other second. This here is a cotton top tamarin at the Singapore Zoo (and yes, kids, a Menagerie version would be fab). Incidentally, if you're ever in Singapore, stop by the Zoo. The primates are awesome. These tamarins came  down from their trees to hang out pretty close to the visitors, and the orangutans range free. 

Whenever my world turns blizzard white, I look at pictures of Singapore, where the trees are perpetually green and everyone wear shorts and not a snowflake has ever sullied her sweltering shores. Don't lose hope, friends. If the sun can shine somewhere on the planet, even Minnesota (and Canada! Michigan! Wisconsin! Every other state that's buried under!) must swing around to take its turn sometime. (Like tomorrow. Tomorrow would be nice.)