Felt Sewing: Salesforce Hootie Ornament

Inspiration:  Wait, did you really think I'd stop with just 2 of the Salesforce characters?  Of course not, that would be silly. Don't worry, I'm not planning on doing all of them (definitely not Appygail the Bobcat - that would be way too many small pieces to sew) but there will probably be a few more.  So since I did Earnie (who is all about the Trailhead Badges), I needed to do Hootie (because Badges lead to knowledge and Certification - in the Salesforce world anyway).

How I Made It: Just like the others, I started with an image I found of Hootie.  Since this one was in color, I used a lightbox and created an outline of each color section that I then photocopied and cut up to create my template.

I cut my templates out in felt (in some ways I wish I can had more color selection but I made do with what I had). I wish I'd had a paler yellow for the chest and more of a medium brown instead of the goldenrod I used for the body (something between a tan and the dark brown).

Once all the pieces were cut, I started assembling as follows:

1. Applique stitch the Chest to the Body (one of two pieces, 2nd is designated as the Back) using 2 strands of DMC 744.
2. Using a fabric pen, draw the chest wings on the chest.
3. Using 3 strands of DMC 725, fly stitch the chest wings.
4. Applique stitch the Eyes to the Body using 2 strands of DMC Blanc (White).
5. Applique stitch the Brows to the Eyes/Body using 2 strands of DMC 3072.
6. Applique stitch the Pupils to the Eyes using 2 strands of DMC 310 (Black).
7. Applique stitch the Beak to the Body using 2 strands of DMC 444.
8. Applique stitch just the top edges of the Talons to the Body using 2 strands of DMC 444.
9. Applique stitch just the concave edges of the Wings to the Body using 2 strands of DMC 938.
10. Blanket stitch the Body to the Back using 2 strands of DMC 435.
• Start just below the Right Wing.
• Fold the Right Wing back over the Body so you don't stitch it.
• Before the right head tip, place in the Ear Feather between the Body and the Back so you secure it with the blanket stitch.
• Pause at the top of the head to add a hanger (I used a lobster claw charm lanyard).
• Just after the left head tip, place in the Ear Feather between the Body and the Back so you secure it with the blanket stitch.
• Fold the Left Wing back over the Body so you don't stitch it.
• Be sure to work the blanket stitch under the Talons so you don't stitch them.
• After the 2nd Talon, pause to stuff the ornament with Polyfill (not too full).
• Then finish stitching to where you started.
• Tie off the stitch and then trim it.

Alternatives: When looking for a good image of Hootie for this ornament, I found this really great image of Hootie as a Thanksgiving Turkey.  I knew I had to make that version too.  

I mostly worked from the above information.  But there are 4 additional template pieces to make Hootie into a Turkey Owl.  The colors probably don't really matter just that they're all different and are seasonal.  I chose a floss color that matched the largest of the Back Feathers (DMC 742 with the colors I chose).  I took all 4 pieces and sewed them together with a back stitch (2 strands) along the center (if I were folding in half) but only from the bottom to about 2/3 the height of the smallest Back Feather.  Then before Step 10 above, I stitched the Back to the sewn together Back Feathers.  Then I carefully completed Step 10 above.

Felt Sewing: Salesforce Earnie Ornament

 

Inspiration: Since creating the Astro ornament went so well, I decided to make another one.  I found this version of Earnie the Badger in the Salesforce Activity Books and thought it would be fun to do too.

How I Made Them: Just like with the Astro I started by making copies of the coloring image and then cutting it apart to the pieces to make templates.  Then I made the template below.

I cut the pieces out of felt using the colors I wrote on the templates.  The only difference is that for the nose and mask pieces I used a stiffer type of felt rather than the usual (cheap) kind.  Note: I cut two of the Body but below I refer to one as the Body and one as the Back.

Once all the pieces were cut out, here are the steps I took to assemble this ornament:

1. Applique Stitch the Belly to the Body using 2-strands of DMC 646.
2. Applique Stitch the Face to the Body using 2-strands of  DMC Blanc (White). Do not stitch the whiskers.
3. Applique Stitch the Heart to the Body (overlaps the Belly) with 2-strands of  DMC 603.
4. Applique Stitch the Feet (both Rt and Lt Foot) to the Body with 2-strands of  DMC 310 (Black).
5. Applique Stitch the Hands (both Rt and Lt Hand) to the Body with 2-strands of  DMC 310 (Black).  These have overlap with the Heart and Belly.
6. Applique Stitch the Nose to the Face with 2-strands of  DMC 310 (Black).
7. Applique Stitch the Mask (both parts) to the Face with 2-strands of  DMC 310 (Black). Do not stitch the ears.
8. Using 6-strand DMC Blanc (White) create a single wrap French Knot for each Eye on the Mask.
9. Using 2-strand DMC 3072, Blanket Stitch the Body to the Back.  I start just below the Rt Hand and I make sure I only go through the Lt Gray layers of Felt.  I pause between the two ears to catch in the strand of a Lobster Clip Charm Lanyard for a hanger.  I then continue and pause after starting the Lt Foot to start adding some PolyFill Stuffing.  I use very little stuffing and help push it in with a yarn needle.  I finish where I started the Blanket Stitch, tie it off, and trim the end.

Felt Sewing: Salesforce Astro Ornament

 

Inspiration: I've made a whole bunch of cute little felt creatures lately and I felt like doing one of the Saleforce Astro mascot.

How I Made It: I started for the coloring page below that I traces from an old image of Astro.  

I made 5 photocopies of it and then started cutting out the parts as I thought I'd cut them from felt.  I used these paper cutouts to make templates in card stock.

I cut out the templates and then used them to cut out the felt.  To help ensure I got the shapes right without having to draw on the felt, I used little tape loops to temporarily security the template to the felt. The table below specifies the colors I used for each piece.

Part(s)	Felt Color
Body (cut 2), Front Leg, Back Foot, 4 Tail Stripes	Medium Brown
Belly, Front Foot Pad	Goldenrod
Ears	Dark Brown
Face	Cream
Hair, Eyes (cut 2), Tail	Black
Rt Hand, Lt Hand	Light Gray

Once all the pieces were cut, below are the steps I took to assemble the ornament.  I referred to the original coloring page above for the placement of the parts.

1. Glue Tail Stripes to Tail (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue).
2. Glue Font Foot Pad to Front Leg.
3. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 435, sew the Belly to the Body (only 1 piece, 2nd is reserved to be the Back).
4. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 838, sew the Ears to the Body.
5. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC ECRU, sew the Face to the Body.
6. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 310 (Black), sew the Hair to the Face/Body.
7. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 310 (Black), sew the Eyes to the Face/Body.
8. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 801, sew the Front Leg to the Body, but do NOT stitch the Foot.
9. Using an applique stitch with 2 strands of DMC 3072, sew the Lt Hand to the Body with some overlap on the Front Leg.
10. Place the Back (2nd Body) aligned to the back of the sewn Body.  Using 2 strands of DMC 801, start sewing a Blanket Stitch to join the two large pieces just to the right of the right ear.
11. Pause at the top of the head to stitch in a hanger (I used a Lobster Claw Charm Lanyard) and then continue around the 2nd ear and rest of the head.
12. Continue the Blanket Stitch around the arm but pause just before finishing to position the Tail and Back Leg between the Body and Back.  Then continue stitching.
13. Stitch over the Body, Back, and Front Leg until you get to the foot, then fold over the foot to avoid stitching it.  Continue Blanket Stitching.
14. Pause about 1/2 way up the Belly to position the Rt Hand.  Then continue stitching.
15. Pause just after returning to the head to stuff the figure with PolyFill Stuffing.  Do Not Overstuff.
16. Finish the Blanket Stitch to where you started it, then tie it off and trim the extra.

Tips:

• Use tape loops or double-sided tape to secure the template to the felt when cutting.
• Keep all cut pieces in an envelope or small container so you don't loose any of them.
• Before stuffing, use a finger inside the ornament and make sure there are no gaps where you already secured the piece together.  If there are, fix them before you stuff the ornament.

Alternatives:

My daughter asked me to make her one in Purple (her favorite color).  So I made the following substitutions:

• For the Body, Front Leg, Back Leg, and Tail Stripes, I used Medium Purple Felt.
• For the Belly and Front Foot Pad, I used Light Purple Felt.
• For the Ears, I used a Dark Blue Felt.
• For stitching the Belly, I used DMC 209.
• For stitching the Ears, I used DMC 796.
• For stitching the Front Leg and doing the Blanket Stitch, I used DMC 208.