A horse, of course

My hobby horse is a success! I am so thrilled with the end result, and it was actually pretty straightforward.  I used this tutorial, and the instructions are detailed and well written, which made the whole process super straightforward.  However, I do have some issues with the way the tutorial is written.  I like to cut out everything, then sew all the bits, and then put it all together.  That is not the way this tutorial is written.  If you are like me, it would pay to read through the whole thing and get an idea of what you need to cut out before you do anything.  Otherwise you may find yourself up and down to your stash several times during the process like I did.

I did make a few modifications to the pattern.  Rather than pressing the inner ears and topstitching, I just zigzagged around them instead.  We've canvassed my lazy sewing before, I've never met a short cut I didn't like.

Also, the eye pieces on the pattern show the pupil at the bottom of the eye.  But if you look at the tutorial photos, the pupil is actually a little way up.  This is the better idea.  I did my pupil on the bottom of the eye, and when it came time to sew it onto the horse's face, the stitching showed on the pupil.  This is the only thing that I'm not particularly happy with.

As another general tip, where LiEr suggests that you can join the neck dart and the ear dart together after the head is sewn up, make sure that your needle will actually make it through that many layers of fabric.  Otherwise you may get halfway through, get your needle stuck so far in that you practically can't see it and have to pretty much take your sewing machine apart and then try to jimmy the needle back out with a pair of scissors (although needle nosed pliers actually do a better job), I'm just saying.

My final modification to the pattern is in the joining of the head to the wooden dowel.  I showed DH how it was supposed to work, and he suggested that I use a pipe clamp rather than just hot glue it to the wood.  I'll just hot glue the ribbon on over the top of the pipe clamp. (photos to come, I had all sorts of problems taking photos of the horse while the girls weren't around)

Its so awesome, I can't wait for J to find it on her birthday.