Plush Writeup - Cookie Startail

Cookie Startail the raccoon is such a cute character, I couldn't resist picking her for one of my commissions! Her owner is a real sweetheart too, it was a pleasure making her! Check out the writeup by clicking "Read More" below!
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​cookie's owner requested the short leg, round tummy variation of my pattern with removable stars. i just love her color palette.
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i made some minor edits to my round belly pattern, resulting in more "weight" towards the bottom. i did this by adjusting the darts along the sides to be deeper and less shallow.

the number of zigzags in her tail made it impractical to sew the pieces together, so i opted for applique. she has a really cute little heart on this side of her tail as well!

her applique paw pads. all my paw pads are puffy, as i put quilt batting underneath the fabric before doing the applique.

all the applique pieces finished.

i machine sew nearly everything i can. for her foot claws, this means adding tiny darts into every toe so i can machine sew the claws into the dart. this also makes for a really nicely shaped foot!

to make claws, i fuse two layers of minky together and topstitch the upper shape of the nail onto the hand. then i trim the nails into shape.

even though i use the same standard head pattern, i still make a test to make sure i get all the embroidery and applique placement right.

cookie has a hole in her ear. this was the test run, which needed to have a bit larger hole for it to show better on the side view.

final embroidery and applique for her face. her pupils are white. to add some color, i did pink and purple shines, one of which i made a star!

sometimes i hate how picky i am, because it causes me so much rework. despite making a test head i wasn't happy with her mouth. the angle on the middle was too severe. so i had to redo it. luckily this only involved removing the bottom half of the head gusset (the piece that runs down the middle of the head) and didn't require a whole head rework. it looks much better, though!

obligatory FLOP
since i machine sew most of my plushies, i can always get fun photos like this.

cookie startail/cookie scissortail
cookie's stars are attached via magnets, so of course you have to have some fun with that.

unfortunately i didn't take any WIPs of her scarf.

i lucked out and found PERFECT fabric at joann's. it's some kind of flannel and the colors were just perfect.

the pink, yellow, and green stripes are sewn in instead of applique or top stitched. the star was heat n' bonded on top and stitched on. it's fully lined.

and with that, she's done!

her owner is a total sweetheart, and a pleasure to work with. cookie is going to live in canada!