Happy Last Day of October!

BATS, Part 2 & MICROBATS

BATS, Continued:
Last time, I showed you how I made my first bat.  With my later bats, the main difference is that I now add simple little feet:

Before I stitch the body to the base panel, I tack a simple split-triangle piece into the bottom corner of the belly panel to create a little pair of feet.  This foot panel can be edged with stitching or not (the fleece will not fray).  This panel then gets sandwiched into the bottom front of the body when I stitch the last, base panel to the body:

My first two completed bats:

 

The eyes make up a lot of the personality of each bat:

THE MICROBAT:

For the "Microbat," I wanted to go even simpler and even smaller.  This plushie is made with 3 identical body panels, a face panel, and a pair of wings:

Here, I have all of the fleece panels I need, plus a small brow crest:

 My narrow care label panel also functions as a tail or mounting loop:

First, I stitch the skeletal ridges to the wings.  As stated in previous tutorials, I always use two layers of fleece to create a stiffer wing:

To create the body, I start by stitching two of the body panels together on one side with a zig-zag stitch.

 I then invert the double-wide panel , so that the stitches are facing up (towards the outside of the finished body), and sandwich the crest, wings, and folded label between it and the third panel.  I always stitch this seam two or three times, to make sure everything is secure.

I then stitch the final two long edges of the body panels together, with the stitches facing out.  All three body panels form a domed triangle shape, and I usually stitch the panels together so that the third, bottom panel which forms the belly has both its seam stitches on the outside, for extra flair and a flatter base.

Now that the body is all sewn together, I tack the head panel to the belly panel, right where my fingers can be seen pinching them together.  As with the belly seams, I tack the head to the body on the "right" side of the plushie, with the seam facing out.

All panels have now been attached. The microbat looks like this:

View from the side.  All that remains to finish the body is to add stuffing and tack the head to the neck:

Before I stuff and close the bat, I sew the eye(s) to the face, and secure the thread on the inner side of the panel.

I always try to stitch at an inward angle, to get more of the black felt securely quilted to the fleece panel.

Then I check all seams, and then stuff the body cavity, like so:

Finally, I spiral-stitch the face to the body, creating a secure seam and a decorative edge that matches the base seams:

Secure and hide the last knot (see the hidden knot tutorial), and voila!  A Microbat!

View of the underside of the wings and belly panel:

View of the wings from above:

Front view.  The points on the head panel become ears:

And that's how you make a Microbat!



BATS! The Basics...

Fun Fact: I based my bat pattern off of my red dragon pattern!  The general shape of the dragon head comprises the body for the bat.

 

COMPONENTS

The basic components for a bat, not counting miscellaneous spines, eyes, feet, etc.:

 

ASSEMBLY

The ear panels are assembled into cones and stitched to the forehead panel in the same way as in the red dragon's assembly (please see the red dragon tutorial for detailed instructions for both ear and wing construction).  Next, the two side panels, forehead, and belly panels are all stitched together, starting from the tip of the nose, to create a pouch.

 

Here, you can see the prototype pattern beside the prototype bat body (decorative spines have been sandwiched into the rear seam):

 

I then add a base panel and two wings.  These are exactly the same as the wings I use in my dragon pattern--two quilted layers of wing with a skeletal accent stitched into the inner side.

When all components are roughly assembled, the bat prototype looks like this:

For this prototype, I've sewn the wings together into one continuous piece (I've since decided that this is an unnecessary and complicating step, and no longer bother to do it, so feel free to skip doing this).

With the wings assembled, I now have three pieces: The body, the base, and the wings:

I lay the inside-out bat against the base panel, sandwiching the wings between the back seam (the one with the spines) and the top of the base panel, and stitch them together 3/4ths of the way around.  Then I sew the eyes onto the bat face.  With this prototype, I have also sewn two stuffed cones to the face, to create a beak.

 

Finally, I simply stuff the bat and stitch the final edge closed (You may review how to close your plushie using whip stitch and blind stitch here).

 

And there you have it!

That's how I made my first bat!

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Next time, I'll show you how to make the "Microbat," which is much simpler, and I'll show you some more pictures of my completed bats.

See you then!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

What will I be doing this coming weekend?

I will be hiking and hanging out with friends.  What better?  And it should be cooler than the 95-99 degree heat that we've been experiencing this weekend...  "80 degrees" sounds like a refreshing change of pace...

In addition to being social, I'll also (no surprise) be crafting!

Labor Day is a holiday that celebrates workers' achievements, and their contributions to the nation's well-being.  While some might say arts and crafts are a bit of a different kind of "labor" than the holiday was originally referencing, art and textiles continue to add a great deal to one's quality of life.  Additionally, "holiday" to me means time for friends, family, and those hobbies and pursuits that are valued but don't tend to get enough attention during the regular grind.  So...crafting!

What have I been up to lately, crafts-wise?  Bats!

Whenever I have a few minutes, but don't feel like starting a large project, I will sew some felt eyes, or cut some scales out of scraps I have waiting.

That way, when I do have more time or focus, I'll have everything I need to make a plushie ready and waiting:

This past month, I've been cutting out panels in anticipation of my new batch of bats.  The Fall season is fast approaching, and I would like to stock up on finished bats before October. 

So I've been stitching spines,

 

and eyes



and wings!



I've decided to branch out into other Autumnal and Evening colors, so I think I'm going to have fun!

I'll keep you apprised of my progress...

 

I've also started work on a "Bat Construction" tutorial, so look for that a little closer to October.

 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.  And to all you U.S.-based folk, have a lovely holiday!