Made a thing

 One of the things I had been wanting to do was make a stuffed toy for myself out of Minky. I looked around a bit in my books - the first contender was a seal pattern, then I saw a reprint of a vintage "floppy dog" pattern (which could double as a pajama case. I wonder if anyone still uses pajama cases?). But then I saw the T-rex pattern at WarmStitching on Etsy, and I knew I had to buy the pattern and use it.

But first, I had to get Minky. Or a Minky-like fabric, I actually wound up with the JoAnn Fabrics' branded version - I forget what they call it but it was nicer than the "bubble Minky" they had (which has raised dots about a half-inch across). 

Not a lot of color choices but since we don't know what color T-Rexes actually were, it doesn't matter.

Mine is going to match my Blåhaj shark from Ikea. 

The darker color is the body, the lighter for the belly. And I decided to do the footpads out of the contrasting color (which ultimately influenced his name) even though the pattern didn't show that.

I also got matching thread (something I sometimes forget), and pellets to fill his tail (the pattern warned that the design, with the big head, is top-heavy, and the pellets help him sit up). That's the pattern there - a few of the pieces have to be pieced together because they have to fit on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (I only had washi tape close to hand, so I used that. 

I also dug out a pair of Suncatcher eyes. They were a bit bigger (at 15 mm) than what the pattern recommended, but I thought maybe it would be okay with the stretchier, fluffier fabric. 

I will warn you: this type of fabric sheds like whoa. I took it and shook it outside (that was what the check out person recommended, after I apologized for getting sheds all over the little table where you set merchandise (distancing!) for them to ring up your purchases.) But it still left sheds everywhere. And this fabric is funny: cut it in one direction, it's easy. Cut it in another and you think your shears have gone dull on you. I don't think I'd want to sew with it very often though it does definitely work up nicely.

Some in-progress photos:

The eyes are Suncatcher eyes - the "metallic dragon" type. I figured T-Rexes would have lizard like eyes. And I wanted to use them.

I cut an empty water bottle to make a funnel to fill it with the stuffing pellets (you can see a few of them on my cutting mat there - they are little white flattened spheres). They go everywhere if you're not careful. (And you have to be sure your seams have no gaps or the toy periodically "poops" the stuffing beads out.)

The t-rex took a LOT of stuffing, and to help keep the neck a little more upright (floppy necks are a problem on stuffed toys), I tightly rolled a scrap of quilt batting and used it to stuff the neck. 

He came out bigger and more solid than I thought based on the paper pattern:

And a comparison with me for size:

Unless I come up with a cleverer name, I am going to name him Teddy - as in, T. Rex is for Teddy Rex - because he is made out of slightly furry fabric and also he has the contrasting foot-soles - which is like what many teddy bears have.