sophy's knits, notes, etc.

i always like to recommend Joelle Hoverson's Last-Minute Knitted Gifts to new knitters even though it's the one book i don't actually have in my own knitting library; by the time i realized what a gem of a pattern book it really is, i felt i had already advanced past the experience level of the many projects in there. instead, i bought her Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts almost as soon as it came out; i knew one of these days i'd find a reason to start sewing.

my first sewing project was a little ambitious — a dress modified to look like a Star Trek uniform. and though i was more than satisfied with the results, i was determined to start a new project that i felt was more suited to a beginner; LMPQG was the perfect source and Peanut the Elephant was the perfect project:

friends joe and keely's baby boy, benjamin, and his new denim elephant.

Pattern Peanut the Elephant.
Source Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Fabric Recycled from old pairs of denim jeans and khaki pants.
Modifications Did not add eyes; otherwise not really any mods. the use of thick denim made this project a little bit more tricky. as for color scheme, i stuck with denim and contrasted with khaki under the ears and for the blanket over its back.

this was such a fun project! i especially enjoyed pinning the pieces together before feeding it through the sewing machine:

i think i quickly learned not to point the pins outwards...

as i continued, i loved seeing the fabric pieces joined together and start to resemble the finished project:

look! — there's half the elephant shape!

and soon, the only thing missing were the elephant's ears:

eep! it was late and i was getting cross-eyed from hand-sewing the blind stitch.
the ears had to wait for the next day.

here it is, finished at last!

i really like how the denim and khaki looks... you can see more pictures here.

overall, i think it took me about 5 hours to complete; most of that time was spent pinning the shapes together for sewing and then hand-sewing a blind stitch to hide the seams. i don't recommend sewing this with denim and probably won't do so again unless i scale the elephant up in size.

i really really want to make another one... in a pink and floral-patterned cotton.

Update May 20, 2009: when i gave ben this elephant (the first picture), he seemed to happy with the doll; but, i noticed he kept trying to pull the little blanket off the elephant's back. once that was accomplished, he kept kicking the elephant out of his stroller while industriously sucking on the khaki blanket! can a 7-month old be teething already?