Here is the result of all my scheming and assembly line work: the brand new, re-imagined Plush Narwhals 2.0!

The little guys are made from the softest gray fleece in the world. I don’t know what it is about heather gray, but it even looks softer than all the other fleece colors. I love working with it, and I love how the little guys are coming out.

But my favorite part of the new narwhals, by far, is the striped tusk. Could it be any cuter? I’m in doubt.

Redesigning the narwhals has been a fun process for me. They’ve been the same for so long, and I was never quite thrilled with them, because I didn’t feel they conveyed my personality. As a maker of things, I like my things to reflect who I am… and the tan & cream just wasn’t doing it for me. I think they’re cute, yes, but I knew that they could be better. And that was the hardest hurdle to get over – why change your best-selling product? Why risk ruining a good thing? But I finally took the challenge, and now I feel I’ve perfected the stuffed narwhal, and it makes me very happy.

I know I built up a lot of suspense, and I apologize for not having this be a completely earth-shattering new creation :) But I think they’re pretty cute! And I’m excited to make lots of them now.

narwhals 2.0! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I love cutting out piles of pieces, stacking them ever higher, envisioning the army of plush these flat shapes will become.

I love plowing through the fabric, breaking down its giant, foldable self into useful elements.

I love the confidence it takes to start a project of this magnitude.
I love thinking about the work ahead of me, realizing how many more hours it will take to turn these into their 3D selves.

It’s just so fun to start out on something brand new.

And I can’t wait to share them with you.

working the assembly line is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I’m typically a do-er, a producer. I sew and photograph and blog. But in these last couple weeks, I’ve been listening, reading, and observing instead; I’ve been quieting myself down a bit so I can hear what’s going on in the outside world. All of it has been a nice respite from the pre-Christmas narwhal frenzy… even though I’m still making plenty.

But I don’t want to sit in my quiet little world forever. And now that Christmas gift-time is over, I can share some pictures of the custom narwhals that were requested over the holidays.

A double-size narwhal! These were requested by multiple separate people, which I found interesting… maybe they should become a permanent Fluffyland fixture? They were definitely fun to make… it felt awesome to be making such large plush.

A blue narwhal! I’ve considered adding an option to choose narwhals in other colors, but for now it’s by request only. It would make inventory considerably more difficult with a rainbow palette… so we’ll see how that looks in the future.

And a stuffed narwhal with a little purple heart! I much prefer applique to embroidery. I didn’t have time to do any name embroideries this Christmas, plus they’re really not something I like to do. But every once in awhile, a narwhal just needs a little extra something and I understand that.

That certainly wasn’t all the special Christmas sewing I did… there were also the more exciting, out-of-the-box, completely narwhal-unrelated projects that I took on. I’ll post pictures of those tomorrow!

p.s.
I’m currently wearing this woot shirt. It was a Christmas gift from my brother, and it matches this post quite well. ;)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

why, hello there! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Final projects, final exams, coming back home to Virginia, Christmas shopping…

and a whole lot of these.

This is only a portion of those that have been sent out! I sewed and sewed until I had to take a major break and study-study-study… then I got home and kept sewing narwhals for four straight days. I finished up the rest of my Christmas project sewing, so now I’m on a self-imposed sewing break. Time to clean up, relax, and enjoy Christmastime.

And even though aimee is taking a break from list-it tuesday, I’ve got a list for you! Here is a list of all the states I sent narwhals to this Christmas.

And since there were some duplicates, I colored a little map to more accurately view the distribution:

New York wins the contest for most narwhals this Christmas, with 6! It’s pretty neat for me to see how narwhals have made it to so many states.

Lots of blogs are taking breaks right about now, but I think I already took my break! I’ve got lots of posts I’ve been meaning to post and pictures I’ve been meaning to share, so this is a great chance for me to catch up.

I hope all your Christmas preparations are becoming less hectic and you have a chance to sit down and enjoy the beauty of the season! A cup of coffee or hot chocolate by the twinkly tree helps me a lot… what keeps you from getting too stressed during the holiday bustle?

on the other side is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

my creative space: a narwhal factory, in black & white.

And how are the little guys coming out?

Quite well, I’d say.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

self-portrait of a seamstress is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

A narwhal would be awesome, they thought, but could it be made smaller?

How much smaller? I asked.

They decided they wanted it highly portable and pocket-sized… the rest was up to my discretion.

So pocket-sized it was.

It was really hard to let this little guy go out in the mail. He was really fun, although challenging, to make, and he was just so cute.

He even made friends with ninja bear!

And of course I had fun taking pictures of him everywhere.

But, alas, he is meant to travel the world. I can’t keep him away from his dreams!

So thank you, Beth and Tommy, for giving me such a fun project! I’m so glad you like your tiny narwhal friend. Have fun on your adventures!

tiny, tiny narwhal is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

My craft show Saturday went well, for my first one. It was a slow day for all of us, but I got to make friends with some Cleveland crafters and learn tips from people who have done far more customer interaction than I have. It was wonderful to get real-life opinions from people… online, there are plenty of people who stop through the site without buying anything. Do they like, dislike, hate my products? But in real life, nobody can walk by a whale without commenting on its cuteness. Which always helps the ego get a little boost.

I also had lots of fun brainstorming. First of all, I would love to do more craft shows. It’s hard to find shows in Virginia that aren’t super-folky, but I’ll be on the lookout this summer. And I want to build a nifty display setup; you guys don’t get any pictures because the room was dimly lit and, while I had a decent setup for my means (ie Dorm Room and dishracks), it wasn’t picture perfect. Next time, promise. And I realized that I don’t have anything that boys, especially boys in the “can still get dragged to crafts shows age”, can buy. First order of business once school’s out: boy ipod cases. That’ll be fun.

I did sell something. Two somethings, actually. And since there weren’t too many people coming through, I was happy. And I made friends, so you should check out their stuff:

Judy of Modern Pixie
Stephanie of Stephie Lou
Jessica of Jewelry by J
Jen of Jeneration Design
and Nelleeta, but she doesn’t have a website…

Today I was thinking about going for a walk through Little Italy and exploring the little art galleries… but the skies are alternating between bright blue and drippy gray. A good day for staying in and sewing, which is just what I’ll do – once I get my room to be less of a mess.

greetings from narwhal-land! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

On Monday, I sent off a total of six narwhals for one group of people… that’s a record! It was a bit stressful to do so many at once while keeping up with work and such, but knowing that there are six more people in the world who have something I made in their house? That’s an awesome feeling. It’s so worth it.

It’s that feeling, the feeling of being appreciated, that makes crafting worthwhile. I can’t encourage it enough – buy handmade. When you buy handmade, you are paying people to do what they love. And people who do what they love are happy, and happy people tend to spread happy. So spread the happy, my friends.

Okay, enough of my sappiness. In other news, I’m heading to a craft show! It’s not a huge ordeal, just a little show with an indie boutique (salty not sweet) that opened a few miles away. It’s my first show ever, so I’m glad that it’s small, especially since I’m working out of my dorm room at the moment…

It’s tomorrow, 12-8pm, so if you happen to be in the Cleveland area you should stop by and say hello!

narwhals and news is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog