For my second make from this metre of fantastically touchy-feely fleece, I went with another pattern that I've made before – a small penguin. However, I will admit this one was not an easy make. I love the fleece, but I honestly think it's better suited to larger or less fiddly pattern pieces... or maybe just a lot more patience than I have!

I used my Prym pliers to clip a circle for the eyes like I did with the bears. However in turning the penguin the right way around, the hole stretched and the eye fell out! I resolved that with some hand stitching around the eye hole, before adding in a new eye. However, this wouldn't be something I would feel comfortable with giving to a child, just in case my repair didn't hold as securely as needed. I didn't want to attempt fusing interfacing on the back of the fleece, but that might have stopped it from stretching out quite so much.

I think I would change the order of the pattern a little, assembling and turning the penguin before clipping the holes & adding the eyes. That should put less stress on the eyeholes, and prevent the risk of the hole stretching for future penguins.

I chose the penguin pattern because I could make use of the reverse side of the fabric for the white sections. I will admit it felt strange sewing the pieces with what looked a right-side facing a wrong-side, but the finished penguin looks much better than if it was all a single colour.

After some confusion with the pattern instructions, I stitched the wings on back to front – they're curving the right way, but the white should be the underside of the wing rather than the top.
Again I think I would change the order of assembly, sewing the wings in place before sewing the bottom gusset pieces. That would make more bulk on the body as you sew the sides together, but would make it a lot easier to ensure the wings are the right way around and also firmly attached without having to keep turning the entire penguin right side out!

The tail section turned into a disaster, resulting in the need to unpick a triple straight stretch stitch in white thread on a white background... almost impossible. My clips didn't want to hold the fabric securely while I was sewing (although they worked fine for the bears), so I think that proves that a less slippy-slidey fabric would probably have been wiser for this pattern! Something like a polar fleece would still give the cuddly feel the penguin needs, but without the silky slippy feel of the cuddle fleece.
I restitched the tail section by hand, using a backstitch as it's the strongest hand stitch I know of, and I wanted to ensure the stuffing couldn't escape! I don't trust my hand stitching enough to feel confident that that part of the seam would hold up to hours of play, but after the fiasco with the eye, I'd already decided this penguin would be destined for an adult owner.

To add a quirky look to my little penguin, I decided to use the selvedge for the feet, as there's an interesting stripe pattern running the length of the fabric. Not only does that make for a unique look, it also means I'm using a bit of the fabric that would normally get thrown away.

Despite my frustrations with sewing the penguin, I think it's turned out well. However, I don't want to leave this penguin project as a 'failed' one, so stay tuned for my next make which is a larger penguin – still from that one metre of fleece!



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Pattern used: BeeZee Art's Penguin Plush https://beezeeart.com/collections/patterns/products/penguin-stuffed-animal-sewing-pattern-plush-sewing-pattern-diy-digital-download

The amount of stuffing linked at the bottom, gives enough for all five of my plushies.


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