Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 10

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 10

I am leaving the Rabbit’s Face for now and moving on to the Ears

Rough Drawn Ears

I took some Black material and Folded it in half. I Pinned it to make sure that it didn’t move. Then with a piece of Chalk I drew a Rough Rabbit Ear Shape.

I cut out the Shape and repeated so I had a pair of Ears. Next I Hemmed around the Pair of Ears.

Sewing Pipe Cleaner

The next part was a little difficult. I wanted to Stiffen the Ear with a Pipe Cleaner. Unfortunately it was a little short so one Side of the Ear would be a bit softer.

However I placed the Pipe Cleaner on the material and Folded the Hemmed Edge over it. I Pinned Sewed as I went along. I was also adjusting the Shape as I went.

Rabbit Outer Ear

Annoyingly I was half way through and the Pipe Cleaner had come out so I had to Unpick and redo. I then finished the other half of the Ear. Please note that I am only putting Pipe Cleaners in One Side of the Ear.

Rough Rabbit Inner Ear

Now the Outer Ear was complete I could now start on the Inner Ear.  I took a piece of White material roughly the same Size as the Outer Ear. I will continue this in the next blog.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 9

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 9

I am continuing making the Rabbit’s Face

Sew Rabbit Face

Now everything is Hemmed I can Sew the White part on completely.

Rough Nose

I drew and cut out a Nose for the Rabbit. I checked the Rough Nose for size and then proceeded to Hem it. I Sewed the Right Hand side of the Nose in place

Nostrils Sewn

 

I then cut out some Nostrils. I stuck these on to the Nose. I also Stitched around them. I am a bit concerned that these might Fray.

Once this was done I Stuffed the Rabbit’s Nose and then continued to Sew the rest of the way around.

Sew Mouth Shape

Now I had the Nose in place I could make the Shape of the Mouth. I did this by using Black Thread and Backstitch. Looking at it now I probably could have done with making it a bit Wider.

Sew Teeth

I took some White material and Hemmed it. I then Folded it Half and proceeded to Blanket Stitch it together. After this was done I Back Stitched some Black Thread Vertically along the Middle.

Attach Teeth

The problem with the Teeth is they were Rectangle at the Top and the Mouth was Curved. Therefore I had to Fold the Teeth at the Top and Stitch them together prior to adding to the Face.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 8

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 8

I am no artist but I need something I can use as a guide so out with Pencil and Paper.

Rough Rabbit

This is a Rough sketch of the Front and Side view of a Rabbits Face.

Rough Face Outline

I Draw the Rough Outline of the Rabbits Face in chalk then cut it out.

Even Up Face

I Fold the material in half. I then trim the Face until both sides are Even.

Checking for Size

 

I check the Black Face material against the Stuffed Body. I have managed to get it large enough.

Black Face Hemmed

I Hemmed the Black part of the Rabbit Face and Pinned it against a piece of White material.

White Rabbit Hemmed

With the material Pinned in place I start to Hem the White material. I did not go all way up to the Top. This is because I want to curve that part of the White material.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 7

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 7

I am now moving onto the Tail End part of the Draught Excluder.

Hemmed Tail End

Taking one of the black cut out Circles I Hemmed it with a simple Tacking Stitch

Attach to Top

 

I began by making a few Tacking Stitches to hold the Circle in place. This will stop it moving around whilst I do the next piece.

Part Sewn End

From where I attached it I Blanket Stitched the Circle to the Excluder. I Sewed 90 degrees in both directions. Thus leaving half of it still Unsewn

Double Thread

Taking the Pom-Pom I had made I Threaded the needle with both Threads of Wool. I then proceeded to Sew the Pom-Pom to the middle of the Circle. I also Sewed through the Pom-Pom as well as the material in order to give it extra strength.

Gathered Excess Material

Now the Pom-Pom is Sewn in place I can continue to finish Blanket Stitching the Circle to the Excluder. I found that I have Excess material. Therefore I have to gather the material prior to Sewing.

I do this by putting the needle through the Excluder as usual. However each time I make a Stitch I take a little Extra material from the Circle part.

Tail Added

I have finished Sewing all the way around. By using the Double Thread and Sewing through the Pom-Pom it has stayed in the Centre of the Circle rather than dropping.

I can now begin to Stuff the Body.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 6

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 6

Now the Legs and Thighs are Attached I can start on the next bit.

Thigh Tube Closed

Last time I had added the Leg and Thigh together and sewn at an angle. This left part of the Tube loose and untidy. If you look at the bottom of the photograph above you can see this clearly.

In order to tidy this area I bent the loose part back on itself. Then I Sewed it to the Thigh as show at the top of the photograph. I did this with all four but I made sure that each pair was Folded opposite. If I hadn’t one side of the Body would look untidy.

End Measurement

The next part of course is to add the Thighs to the Body. However getting the right Height was essential. Too High and it would flap about and too low it would be trailing on the floor.

Mark Attachment Area

After I had puffed out the Body by slipping it over a water bottle I now had a 3 Dimensional image to work with. I could then place the Thigh against the Body and Mark where to Attach.

Velcro Thigh

In previous Draught Excluders I have Sewn the Legs in Place. However this time I decided to use Velcro. I felt that this would give me more leeway when Attaching the Thigh.

You see I have carpet but the recipient has hard flooring. Therefore there would be a slight difference in Height. I always think better safe than sorry.

Thigh Attached

With the other side of the Velcro (The Loop) Sewn on the Body I can now put them together.  One Thigh Attached Three to go.

Incidentally I decided to use the Velcro that way around as it meant the Body would be softer.