Every time anyone asked Bella what she wanted Father Christmas to bring her this year, she would say "a bracelet and a knecklace" (yes she got both), but every time her bestfriend was asked she would say "a crocodile with a closed mouth and a dinosaur with a pink tail".
Well I wasn't sure that I could come up with a dinosaur in time, but last week, when I couldn't sleep at all and ended up being awake the entire night, I decided that a crocodile would be fun to have a go at.
I started off by looking for an existing pattern, but just couldn't find anything that I liked. The pattern in Toys To Sew came the closest but it was 2 dimensional, too big and the legs weren't right because they just hang underneath the croc.
So I decided to just make it up as I went along. It's obviously a pretty straight forward shape, and even with the gusset, you're still only looking at three pieces for the body, so I was feeling confident.
I started by drawing the main body piece freehand straight on to some thick craft paper and then I just eyeballed the size needed for the gusset.
My new found understanding (overstatement ) of dress patterns has already had an impact on my general sewing and in particular how I cut the pattern pieces, so things came together really quickly and much more accurately than normal.
You can't really see them in the pictures but the legs are my favourite part of the crocodile. Through no talent of my own, I've somehow managed to get them to look all gnarled and pointy, like real croc feet and they sit in just the way that I wanted them too.
As I mentioned, the request was specifically for a closed mouth crocodile, so I kept the stitching simple for the mouth, with just a hint of a smile. I really didn't want it to be threatening in any way and think that the fact that he looks quite cartoony is a good thing.
I'm also pleased that I kept him simple with my choice of fabric. Because it was 5 in the morning when I started putting him together, I really didn't want to be faffing about with patchwork and instead opted for one of my favourite Amy Butler prints - which I think works perfectly for a crocodile.
And I'm really pleased to say that the croc's recipient was very pleased with him and wouldn't let anyone else even look at him on Christmas day. Which in my toddler led world is pretty high praise indeed.
