Red Tail Gray

And someone else with a red tail!

We Call Them Swirlies

 When we talk to the kitties around here we call the squirrels, swirlies.

 Since William has decided to join me today that's what we'll go with!

 I never craft alone.

Squirrel and Pug Find Homes

Black Squirrel will now have a home in Oregon. I will miss him, he was a great project. If you're interested in how Black Squirrel was made go to Labels and hit stuffed animals or go to:

http://karenmakesstuff.blogspot.com/search/label/stuffed%20animals

Scroll through to see all the steps.

And this is Problematic Pug, he has a home too!

No smudging! I handled him quite a bit while working on him so I don't think his next owner will have a problem. I guess I got enough of the excess dye out.

He's so cute I'm sure I'll be making more.

I love working with these knit patterns. Hiding knots is so easy and the sewn joints are great and they work!

Goodbye my friends today you leave for new homes.

Squirrels

Well no, this isn't a recent picture. This is my sister Amy, cute as a button isn't she! That's probably why I didn't care for her much back then. Don't worry, I like her very much now. Don't be concerned about her here, my dad taught us how to feed the squirrels. We were to stay very still and make no sudden movements. You can tell by her face she's not worried at all.

Happy surprise, she can't be more than 4 there.

I mention the squirrels because it's taken me this long to snap a couple new pictures of Black Squirrel and get him up on my Etsy site.

Remembering Peep Peep

I don't recommend that you become the baby bird rescuer in your neighborhood but every once in while it works out. Trust me, I put a lot of work into this little one. I had to feed him Alpo off my finger! This was years ago, I was still in high school.

Everyday I watch the robins in my neighborhood and think of him. I'll always have a soft spot for robins. Look how young my leg looks! That day he was learning how to find worms.

This is Peep Peep taking a bath on a paper plate.

This is the little peepster we found a couple years back, on the ground, in our heavily populated feral cat community. We put him up in a box and his mom found him.

These are the baby squirrels my son found when my neighbor had the tree trimmers out. You don't want to know how far they fell! We called a squirrel rescue and they told us how to get them through the night. Next morning we put them up in the same tree for their mother to find. She was a bit dim so I put pecans all around them. That did the trick. I've lost many baby birds trying to save them, it's not foolproof. You always want to let their parents care for them if they're around. Every once in a while we can help out!

We Need Structure

Once I made squirrel's tail I wondered what to do with it. I could stuff it and sew it on at the top and bottom. I could leave it flat and sew it on. But I thought it might be fun to have a tail you could have up or down. So I started thinking wire.

I didn't want it too hard like electrical wire. I did have some floral wire and for strength I used 2 pieces. I needed the place where the wires connected out of the way and secured.

I put that joint at the bottom and wrapped it in electrical tape.

The taped end gets sewed to his bottom.

I used embroidery thread and secured it with several stitches.

Once the wire was in place I sewed his tail on as though it were an ear.

There are many ways to handle a project like this, even someone at the craft store was giving me ideas. How cool is that! He's a prototype, it only gets better after him.

Squirrel Tails

What do you do with a tail pattern and a hunk of fur?

After much thought I traced my pattern in the middle of the fur.

And on either side.

Leaving them connected in the center.

Like so.

When you cut long fur remember to only cut the backing material so you don't cut the fur on the top. Here I also trimmed the sides, leaving me half the width of the tail, plus seam allowance on both sides.

After folding it in half, front sides facing, I ran it through the sewing machine.

The 4 angled edges also get sewed. I made sure to push the fur in before sewing.

Mr. Squirrel's tail is pinned on right now. I'm messing around with the idea of a piece of wire inside. So many variables!

Anyway his ears turned out better than I thought.

Shame On Me

I took this picture to shame myself. What a disgrace how could anyone work under these conditions!

Time to clean up.

Much better.

By the way, this is my sons old Ikea bed made into my wonderful craft counter and extra bed when necessary. Best thing ever!

I had to get long fur for squirrel and he's certainly coming together. He had a bit of a balance problem which I rectified with plastic beads for weight. I've been experimenting with ears. Next time you see him he should have ears and a tail at least.

Black Squirrel

Well I'm beginning to get somewhere.

I made these last night.

I still need squirrel ears.

I wasn't sure if the feet would turn out.

Need to look for long fur for his tail.

Some of these pieces are turned and some are not. I just wanted to show you the shape. There's still a lot of work to do and if I come to a stopping point I'll sew up brown bear.

gseggie@black-squirrels.com

I think that's where this photo is from it's been used all over. He was one of my models.

Bunnies vs Rabbits

I really want to make my own patterns but the thing that gets me is the head. I can pretty much visualize everything else. So I continue to heavily modify. I found a rabbit pattern that I can play with.

When I asked you folks about what other animals were black, squirrels were brought up. Do you have black squirrels in your neighborhood?

Above I've been messing around with that rabbit pattern. I'm pleased so far with the results. When making or modifying a pattern for a particular animal I strongly suggest that you find a couple pictures of that animal. There are certain nuances that animals possess that can really make your stuffed animal more like that animal. You can certainly get across bunny with a couple of long ears on his head, but you add shorter arms and hoppy legs and you get a rabbit.

My rabbit pattern will make an excellent squirrel so a tail will need to be made and probably some longer black fur purchased for it.

Now that I finally have everyone off to work or school I'm gonna sit at my sewing machine and sew my brown bear and black squirrel. Hopefully the changes I've made will work!

It's always hard tracing on the dark materials.

Here I have my work all cut out for me.