Denim Whale

I had been wanting to make this denim whale softie ever since I saw it on pinterest.

Source: valaanvillapaita.blogspot.com via krakencrafts on Pinterest

There is a tutorial for it on the original creator's blog.  But, the tutorial is in Finnish and there isn't a pattern, just process photos.  Also it looked pretty complicated and well above my sewing skill level. So understandably, I forgot about making it and just looked longingly at the photo on my pin board every once in a while.

My cousin is having a baby girl and is due later this month.  This will be the first of the new generation in my family (we aren't exactly prolific breeders) and since she has most everything she will need for the baby from hand me downs from friends, I wanted to make her something.

Lately, I seem to only pull out the screen printing supplies when there is a baby shower or one year old's birthday I need to come up with a present for.  So I made a couple of onesies with an octopus and and blowfish screen printed on them.  I also wanted to make cat softie with a similar pattern that I have made dog and fox softies for other babies.  When I looked through my fabric stash I was out of the fabric that I wanted to use.  I have vowed to use up a good chunk of my fabric stash before buying any new fabrics.  I did find the legs from one of my old pairs of jeans that I had saved for some reason.  So it seemed like the right time to try to tackle the denim whale.

It wasn't simple, and definitely didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it to, but I'm pretty happy with it.  And now that I have a newspaper pattern for the pieces, I think if I tried to make another one it would be a lot easier and might come out even better. 

It is a very ocean themed and kind too blue for a girl group of presents, but I think she'll like them. And I am very proud of myself for tackling the whale.