Planning a visit to a girlfriend this week I wanted to put something together that I hoped her children would enjoy. We had visited the Zoo in Amsterdam this summer and Sophia was really absorbed by the aquarium, especially the tiny little fish that darted across one particular tank, with fluttery fins and BIG LIPS. We had to practically carry her away from it before the zoo closed. She also liked the butterflies, but I think they would be a bit tricky to replicate in stitches !
So, last week I hauled out my odd collection of silky scarves that I never wear, cardboard in hand to fashion a fish body template, and started on a design.
- TIPS:To keep the fish body symetrical I drew half the fish and cut out the shape then folded it in half and then drew around the first image.
-To make the fishy more than just a flat fish I cut a lozenge shaped gusset again using the symetrical trick (* that mostly worked!).
- Use a fine needle and small stitches to stitch the body together having pinned it together first, leaving a small gap at the bottom to turn the little fish inside out.
- Turn the fish right side out and stuff with fiber fill - I like it soft and squishy. Use a fine needle to shape lips and eyes to reflect the character of the fish you like and embroider the eyes if you like with beads. Hand stitch shut the stuffing hole.
- Fins ! I made the fins from the corners of the scarf, cutting triangle shapes and avoided the need to make a roll over hem in the silky material - I found really small pieces got dragged under the foot plate and I am hopeless with stabiliser!
You can then fix a loop on the fishes head to hang him or her from a mobile or ribbon.
Well - releaved to say Sophia loved the fish and took it to bed with her. I am told the first words she said when she woke up the next day was "FISH!"
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