Manatee!

It is really fun to receive custom orders or suggestions for a BeBe that I have never made before. Sometimes, of course, it can be a little daunting if I am not sure where to begin. Then how do I begin you might ask. Well usually I begin by looking up images on Google. In this case I looked up pictures of manatees and printed out a couple from each angle of the animal. Like this one and this one.

Then I draw a pattern which can include enlarging, changing and tweaking until I think it is right. The first attempt does not always turn out but it is easier to tell after sewing the first one what might need to be changed on the pattern to receive my desired result. In the case of this manatee I only had to resew one time and it wasn't because the pattern was flawed it was because I wasn't paying attention to the direction of the stretch in the fabric. I wasn't so sure if she turned out good but the customer loved her. What do you think?

I added buttons for eyes which I think was a nice touch.

The pattern actually looked a bit like a mermaid which gave me an inspiration to make one. It's funny how that can happen while working on something new or different, and I love when it does. Look for a mermaid coming soon!