I’m always looking for new project ideas. Recently, I decided to develop a set of dinosaur stuffed animals. I thought it would be fun to write a series of posts about the process of creating a pattern from start to finish.
First, I had to pick which dinosaurs I wanted and how many to put in the set. Five seemed to be a good number, so I researched well-known dinosaurs and chose five that would be fairly simple to create.
After deciding on my dinosaur types, I set to work drawing out my patterns. My goal was to create simple, but recognizable, dinosaurs that wouldn’t end up being a pain to assemble. With the first draft of the patterns finished, it was now time to test them.
The first run of a new pattern is always rocky. The most common mistake I fall into is to make the belly pieces too small. In this case, you can see I over-compensated. Nessie’s belly is way too large. I also tend to have trouble making my animals stand up, so I was pleased to find that I succeeded in that respect. Except for the T. rex. He was just a mess all over.
What turned out to be the biggest problem was proportions. Most of the dinosaurs ended up having large bodies with small heads and feet. And I neglected to make a chin for the Triceratops. Oops. Oh yes, and his horns were too small to turn right-side-out after sewing them together. Double oops.
Overall, I would say the most successful dinosaur was the plesiosaur (Nessie), but they all need plenty of work before they’re ready for my store. Next time, I’m going to try enlarging all the patterns just a bit, as well as fixing the proportions. I’ll keep you updated!