Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 18

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 18

Nearly there.

Sew through 3 Layers

I needed to attach the Head to the Body now it was in place. I decided to do the Bottom half first. I am using a Blanket Stitch as usual.

First of all I place the Body and Head on it’s Side. In order to make it secure I am passing the Needle through the Bottom Flap then through the Body and then Top Flap. I do this as far as I can on both Sides

Sew Head Flap

 

I then continue in Blanket Stitch Sewing the Bottom Flap to the Body. This joins the two Sides and now the whole of the Bottom Flap is Sewn and the Body cannot move.

Measure Velcro

To make sure I place the Ears in the correct position I have to have to add the legs. This will make it sit properly. Unfortunately I have lost the other half of my Velcro. Therefore I had to measure the half that I had already Sewn and cut two new pieces. Then I sewed the pieces to the Body.

Pin Ears

I move the Ears into different positions until I am satisfied. I then Pin both Ears in place to double check.

Pin Ear

The Pin is holding the Ear in place whilst I make a start. I keep switching between Sewing the Front of the Ear and the Back of the Ear.

This is because the Pin is only holding the Ear very loosely. After initially Sewing the Front and Back of the Ear to the Body I remove the Pin. I now can Sew the Ear more securely.

Sewn Ear

I have now Sewn one Ear in place. Then Sew the Front of the Head Flap to the Body as Far as the Ear. I then Sew the other Ear in place and do the same.

Two Bunny Ears

After Sewing the two Ears in place and the Front Flap to them I can continue across and Sew the rest of the Flap to the Body.

Easter Bunny

The final part is to add the Eyes. I have bought some Googly Eyes and I Glue them in place. I normally wipe down any gift I give however with the Corona Virus this time I am using Anti-Bacterial Wipes.

Bunny in Situe

After it is dried. I take to my friend and here it is in situe.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 16

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 16

Finally I am on the last section of making the Rabbit’s Paws.

Simple Paws

The above photograph shows the Paws as they are now. As you can see that they are Curved. However they have all ended up with slightly different shapes. I decided that this simply will not do.

Start at Side

I have found some material and though not ideally what I would like it will have to do. Laying the Paw flat I start at the Leg End and secure the Thread. I will work from this point all the way around to the other side adding the material.

Fluffy Paw Edging

 

I couldn’t find any Furry material to go around the Paws. Therefore I have reluctantly had to use Fluffy Feathers. Henceforth I am now not making a Rabbit. It is an Easter Bunny!

Nice Fluffy Paws

I have finished making the Fluffy Paws. I have some Feathered material left so I am going to continue the theme with the Ears.

Crushed Fluff

I am starting at the Sides and making my way around the Ear with the material. One thing I did not mention when doing the Paws was the Stitch I was using to Sew the Fluffy material to the Paw.

I am using a simple Looping Stitch. I am not sure if there is a technical name for this. I am putting the needle through 1 Side and then repeating on the same Side. I have not used Blanket Stitch as this would Crush the Feathers even more.

Ear We Go

Once the Feathery material was added all the way around I began to De-Crush it. Using a needle I gently teased out the Crushed Feathers.

You can see the difference between the last two photographs. So Ear we go. Four Fluffy Paws and a Pair of Fluffy Ears for our Easter Bunny.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 15

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 15

I am continuing with making the Paws.

Paw Slip Original

After turning the Slip the correct way around. I place it on to the Leg.

Paw Slip Curved

Using a Blanket Stitch I Curve the Top Edges of the Paw Slip.

Slip on Paw

The above photograph shows the Curved Paw Slip on the Leg. As you can see there is still a bit of loose material. The Curved Edges look very pinched from this angle.

Small Stuffing

Since there is not much room for filling between the Slip and the Leg I have had to cut the Stuffing into very small pieces. Otherwise when filling there will be unsightly bulges.

Blanket Stitch Paw

I have Stuffed the Paw Slip and need to do more manipulation of the End. Since I do not want the Slip to move around whilst I am working on it I have to secure it.

Important

I Sew the Slip to the Leg using a Blanket Stitch. However prior to this I had to make sure that the Slip was in the right position on the leg. This was done by placing the Leg how it would be attached to the body. That would show the correct angle of the Paw. DO Not use the Seam of the Leg as a guide as I found it can twist quite badly whilst being stuffed.

Double Curve

 

Once the Slip is secured I could go back to the Curved End. Using the same Technique I Sewed the Curve again. I pulled the material tight and some of the Stitching was far nearer to the Centre of the Slip.

This was actually easier than I thought it would be. Now the Paw was Stuffed I had more to get hold of and the needle went through quite easily.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 13

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 13

I have now Unpicked the Stitches that had gone through both sides.

Prevent Sewing Through

In order to prevent a repetition of my mistake I have part Folded the Face. I can now continue Stitching the Whiskers in Backstitch.

End Whiskers

Once I had got as far as the Outer Edge of the Face I stopped Stitching. I then pulled through the rest of the Thread. I left an inch or so hanging then Trimmed the rest.

Whiskers Complete

Now I knew what I was doing I repeated the process. I Sewed several on each side at various angles.

Inside Out

I then turned the Rabbit’s Face Inside Out. This is so I could start Stitching the Sides together.

Halfway Stitched

I have now Blanket Stitched Halfway along the Sides to where the Curve is in the above photograph. I need to think how I am going to progress.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 12

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 12

We have had the Ears so now we need the Whiskers.

Thread too Thick

The first thing I had to do to make the Whiskers was to find some appropriate Thread. I wanted to make the Whiskers stiff so I found this Thick Thread.

Unfortunately when I tried it I found that it was far too Thick. If I had used this it would have completely decimated the Rabbit’s Nose. Not only that but I decided that I did not like the Colour of the Thread against the Face.

Different Thread

My next idea was to use some Cotton Thread from my Embroidery Silk collection. I found some White that would show up against the Canvas background.

So it wouldn’t be too Thick I split the Thread into two strands. I laid these against the Face to check how it would look prior to Sewing.

Small White Backstitch

Once satisfied that it was the Thickness that I wanted I began to Sew. I decided that the best Stitch for this would be a Backstitch. That would mean there would be no gaps in the Whiskers.

Sewn Through

I thought that it was going too well. I was struggling to pull through at one point and thought that I had got the Thread knotted.

When I came to look I found that despite my efforts that I had somehow managed to Sew through both the Front and Back of the Rabbit’s Face. I therefore had to stop and Unpick before I could continue.