Baby Elephant

Here is my finished elephant – I must admit, I’m pretty happy with how it came out. It’s always a little distressing to see the small, shriveled-up pieces come out of the dryer (and often with one or two missing – I’ve really got to stop putting them in loose), but when I begin sewing on the eyes, it’s amazing to see how quickly what looks like less than nothing can focus into something with personality. So it was with this little elephant. (And it is little, easily sitting on the palm of my hand.)

I think the trunk is pretty cute, but a little difficult to photograph. It’s basically a tube worked in the round, with the end tucked in a little and sewn into place.

The side view. I haven’t chosen a name yet. I haven’t chosen a gender yet, either.

And here is some elephant-inspiration. I picked up this elephant in Tokyo, and gave it to my husband (boyfriend at the time), who named it Trunky. Then about a year later, John re-introduced me to Trunky, and said that he couldn’t remember who gave it to him! Sheesh.

By the way, this guy is one of the adorable characters by Dick Bruna, who did Miffy. Like the other Bruna characters, he’s so perfectly compact.