It was a rainy day today. I was supposed to continue organizing and cleaning the house today but the cool breeze and heavy clouds made me want to curl up on the sofa and relax. And so I did. Part of relaxing, though, was starting a new project that I have been wanting to begin for the past couple of days now, the Scotty Plush.

I found this free pattern online from allsorts.typepad.com. (click here for the pattern). This dog pattern seemed easy enough to do and I was excited to give it a try. After surfing for more pictures of scotty stuffies, I found a flickr group with pictures of cute little doggies! My mind was made up, I needed one of these cuties!

I figured today would be a perfect day to start. I printed the pattern on an 8 x 10 sheet, cut it out and traced it onto a piece of cardboard. I find that when you copy patterns onto cardboard, it becomes much easier to trace the pattern onto the material you will be using. 

For this project, I tried it out with a violet piece of felt. Here it is after tracing the pattern onto the felt. I usually keep all the scrap pieces after cutting and put it all together in a plastic bin. One can always find good use for scrap pieces such as these.

I hand sewed the pieces using a blanket stitch.

 

I initially started sewing the two body pieces together and totally forgot about the head gusset piece. So, i had to pull out the stitches and start over. Here it is corrected:

It is best to start out with the head part so you can put the stuffing in before it is closed off. Its hard to stuff the ear parts when the legs are already sewn together.

Around noon time, I decided to go for a walk and buy something to cook for my lunch. It was still gloomy outside. So, when I saw this bush of yellow flowers gone wild on the way to the store, it brought a smile to my face. It was quite a contrast from the dreary weather.

 

After a nice walk and lunch, I finished up the dog plush by stuffing it and closing it up. I still have to put eyes on her and give her a collar. But, I don't have any nice buttons or ribbons on hand. That will give me a good excuse to visit the craft store tomorrow. Here she is:

I enjoyed making this little plush toy and I'm sure to make more. I think this would be great Christmas gifts for kids or for giveaways in birthday parties. I think it would also be a hit in bazaars. A kind of "Adopt a Pet" kind of thing. 

Many thanks Ms. Jenny Harris for your generosity in sharing your wonderful Softie Scotty Dog Pattern! I can't wait to make a whole dog litter!