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 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.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 11

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 11

I am continuing with making the Ears.

Hemmed Inner Ear

Having got my Rough White Inner Ear I place it on the Outer Ear. I can now see how much I need to Trim before Hemming so it will fit Inside the Outer Ear Pipe Cleaners.

I then double check the Rabbit Ear Shape before Pinning and Sewing to the Outer Ear. I then repeated this process with the other Ear.

Sewing Rabbit Ears

Next I have to Sew the two halves of the Rabbit Ears together. Normally I would turn them Inside-Out before Blanket Stitching. However since I need to Stuff the Ears I am doing this face on.

I Blanket Stitch all the way down one Side of the Rabbit Ear. I then Sew the other Side but I leave about an Inch Gap So that I can Stuff it.

Stuffing Rabbit Ear

Regarding the Stuffing of the Ears I have made a change. Instead of using Offcuts I am using proper Stuffing. This is because I want the Stuffing to be Softer so I can manipulate the Pipe Cleaners if necessary.

Stuffed Ear

After I have filled down to the Gap I only add a little more. This is so once Sewn it will be flimsier than the rest of the Ear. This is to make Sewing and Attaching the Ear easier.

If you look at the above photograph you can see the finished Ear has a slight Curvature.  I repeat the process with the other Ear except in that case the Curvature is in the Opposite direction.

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.