Welcoming three new Baby Bunnies

Recently, a regular friend of the Coldham Cuddlies - GandalfThePink - contacted me to ask if I could make some Pink and or Purple Baby Bunnies for one of their regular baby-sitting  clients.  As I hadn't made any in that format before, I had to research availability of fabrics for the commission, and discovered that while they could be made in Fleece fabrics, plush fur is not available in those colours (from my regular sources - nor, indeed, from the internet either).

After an exchange of convos via Etsy, and working out how to process the order - given that the specified products were not yet available in our shop at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com - we decided to created four non-existent White Baby Bunnies  to that shop listing, and proceed through the Etsy purchasing process as though there were!.  Once funds were in place, I got going on the production (which took about 10 days all told - there were 4 required for the whole order):

Four little rabbits - pink, purple/white, pink/white and all white fleece 

As making the baby rabbits follows the same process as any other toy - viz. attaching body pieces together (for the Baby Rabbits - whether fleece or plush - that means sides including the head, crown for the head and chest piece first, then sewing up the ears and bob tails, stuffing them as they are then all in one piece and attaching the ears and tail).  In a way, their formation is not unlike that for the Koalas (Etsy Listing #55190188),  who are just that little bit larger and easier to handle.

Three out of the Four waiting to be turned right side out

After completing the White Fleece Baby Bunny, all four were turned to their individual right sides and then stuffed - one does have to make sure you stuff the feet and paws first and being smaller cavities, they do take a bit of fiddling to get them stiff.  If one doesn't do it, I've found in the past, that they then don't look as though they belong to the bodies!

The Pink Baby Bunnies, one with white chest, from the side

I recently ordered a packet of glass eyes from Bear Basics, one of my local suppliers, and used them for the first time.  Normally, I create eyes for the Baby Babbits if made with plush fur by making a big knot in the same black double knitting wool I use for noses and other facial features, and then creating a round eye shape and sewing it into the fabric at the right place on both sides.  Then I tie the two pieces of wool tightly on the inside of the body.  They then get stuffed with the polyester fibre I prefer to use for all my toys, and lose the resulting knot in the stuffing.

I have become used to using the plastic eyes for the existing Cuddlies of all sizes since starting up www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com, and they require a different technique to be fixed.  The plastic eyes, which I rarely use for the smaller toys,  have a secure metal disc that one places on the post on which the eyes are attached and nothing can move them - unless brute force is used.  In the case of the glass ones, I had to pierce the fabric at the appropriate place, then tied them together with firm thread on the inside of each bunny, leaving a length to be woven through the stuffing.  That way, little fingers will have a mighty struggle to get anywhere near pulling them out, as the thread gets lost amongst the stuffing. Think I will continue to use these glass eyes for this particular bunch of Baby Rabbits - it differentiates them from the plush variety I think

The White and Purple Baby Bunnies complete

At this juncture I would normally add ribbons round the neck if the Bunnies were to become the first toys to be presented to new born babies or those up to 6 months' old!  However, the intended recipient of this bunch of bunnies is 6 years' old and MBP and CBP, my Saudi Arabian based clients,  were of the opinion that they were not required for their birthday girl friend.

I received the news today that their journey has been safely accomplished - so felt free to blog about them today - because they were intended to be a surprise for the customers as well!  Here they are all together and Cy Bear and I are looking forward to seeing a photograph of everyone once the first meeting has taken place.  Birthday is sometime towards the end of November - so watch this space!

(By the way, the purple Baby Rabbit really is a lavender colour when not on camera!  Try as I might, I could not get the photograph to show up anyway but blue!  There's probably some technical explanation for it - and these photographs were all taken in daylight - so lighting is not the cause!)

Before their departure for Saudi Arabia

Because I wanted to make sure they reached their destination in good time for the birthday, Cy Bear did not get the chance for an official goodbye photograph on this occasion.  Once I've replaced them, however, I'll make sure one is taken - if only to pacify Cy Bear, who does like to have his chance in the limelight!

Time to re-read this post and then publish it.  Wish the time did not fly by so fast!  Bye for the time being.  All the best to everyone. Isobel