There are a lot of different types of marmots. The yellow bellied marmot, the hoary marmot, the long tailed marmot, the severely endangered Vancouver Island Marmot, and everybody’s favorite Johnny Marmot.
But little is known about this elusive rodent, the lesser red velvet marmot. What is known is that it was originally in Hastings-Sunrise, but can now rarely be seen in the trendy south main area.
The other day, I came across this tutorial for how to make a plush hedgehog. Well, I’m not obsessed with hedgehogs, so I put it aside in my head for a minute until I thought of other creatures I could make. Of course, first in my head was… a marmot! Especially since I knew a certain someone would totally love it.
So, I made my pattern, used some red velvet I picked up for $2 at Value Village, cut it out, sewed it up… and totally failed. Hmm. Ok, so sewing weird curves is actually quite hard. I ripped out the stitches. Tried again. Hmm. Nope, I’ve totally buggered this one. All right, so I grabbed my pattern, added a larger seam allowance to take my beginner sewing skills into account, and … success! I stuffed him with some polyfill I had lying around (what, you don’t have polyfill lying around?) sewed up the opening, and … omg, I love him. He has little tiny seed bead eyes, a fat tail, and paws that could perhaps be holding a tasty treat up to his non-existent mouth. He was going to have ears, but I decided he was cuter without. Also, ears are hard.
I also left a few teasers around for Jenn, via twitter, facebook, and email… so that she was sure to be extra-curious when I saw her tonight for the craft exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver (which was AWESOME, btw! Why have I not been here before?) And sure enough, she loved it. And I have more ideas for future plush creatures. Gotta use up that polyfill I’ve had lying around for, oh, ever.
I made my first ever plushie. I love him and I am ever so proud. Lesser Red Velvet Marmot! Very, very endangered. I mean, there were 75 Vancouver Island marmots left in 2001. There’s only ONE lesser red velvet marmot around!
BEST MARMOT EVER! Thank you so much, I love it and am trying to figure out a suitable name. Bobbi was even impressed. And Liam hasn’t tried to eat it yet.
Hooray! More than marmot enthusiasts, supportive boyfriends, and creators actually appreciate my work! Yaay!
Next on my list: The Rare Striped Giraffe.
The marmot is awesome and I have polyfill just lying around too.