This is the mascot of the free softie pattern from Etsy's How Tuesday. Now come on...let's be honest, this is one pert little donkey, a bit preppy (pink, polka dots, and gray? yeah = preppy), a svelte athlete perhaps, but definitely perky. Is that the smile of a smug over confident jock or just the good natured grin of a down to earth happy guy...well, you decide for yourself.
Personally I took one look at this guy and knew that wasn't happening. Uh unh, no way, not in the MRL household. My donkey was going to need a little something special to make it different from the other donkeys.
So...I aimed for shabby chic and came up with Damien.
Need I mention that following the instructions exactly isn't quite my thing?
I made a few key changes to make Damien a bit rough around the edges, literally. For the scruffy look I used osnaburg and left some exposed seams to create the fraying edges, for the eyes I layered them to achieve that shabby chic homemade look, and one of my favorite parts is the mane which I used the selvadge from the osnaburg to create. I shifted his eye placement and positioned his ears down reminiscent of a Disney Donkey we all know so well. These design choices combined with the osnaburg, Denyse Schmidt's Posie in Gray and Charcoal Kona fabric choices made one soulful brooding little donkey.
In case you were wondering, yes I leaned more towards the Grunge/Goth category in High School. Hey it was the 90s!
<<<PATTERN REVIEW>>>
I'd say that overall the pattern was pretty easy and very forgiving. Once you cut out the template pieces you could really have creative license, it allowed me to play around and do my own thing. The hardest part, in my opinion, was getting those skinny little leg pieces done correctly! Otherwise it was smooth sailing.
SOFTIE PATTERN GIVEAWAY!!!
Reuben the Donkey softie pattern by Ric Rac
Generously Donated to Donktober 2012 by Jodie Carleton. Win this beautiful pattern right here!!!
Three Chances to Enter Giveaway
- The Blatantly Easy Entry: Softie, Plush, or Stuffed Animal - what do you call yours?
- The TUI [Total Useless Information] Entry: Tell me a Donkilicious Fact!
- The Entry Purely Meant for Ego Inflation Purposes Only: Follow me, Follow Erin, or Follow us Both and leave me a comment letting me know!
Giveaway will end Wednesday October 10, 2012
"Bye...have a Donktastic Day...if that's your thing anyway..."
-- Damien Donkey
- rebecca lynne
55 comments:
Hehe love it! Damien is a very soulful looking donkey! The selvage mane is fantastic! Love!
Awww, Damien is the cutest shabby chic donkey I've seen...
To me he's a cuddly toy so none of the above ;-p
Adorb! Damien is going to be well loved in your household, I just know it. :o) Look it's REUBEN!!! I will make Reuben one day.. I kind of want to make him in girl colors.. Reubenita... I just love Damien! xo
I follow you and Erin!
I would call him a softie!
Did you know that a donkey can hear the call of another donkey up to 60 miles away????
Oh I think I say cuddly toy too!
There is a donkey sanctuary in Manchester! I've not even been but I did go to one in Devon!
I follow you both :) and I love your grungy donkey ;) so cute!
Donkeys do not have natural ‘waterproof’ coats like horses and so must have access to shelter, so make sure you look after Damien when it rains!
Hello, Damien! I'd call you a cuddly toy...
The spinning mule (invented in 1779) got its name because it's a hybrid of a spinning jenny and a water frame, just like a mule is a hybrid of a female horse and a male donkey...
Yes, it's tenuous but it's all I could think of! (Thanks to my secondary school history teacher for the fact - some things seem to just stay in your memory bank forever!)
And I follow both of you!
Cute little donkey. I am a follower.marlaruthnelson@gmail.com
I happily follow you! And now I follow cute lil Damien! LOL
Hmm, it used to be "stuffed animals" around here, but now we call them softies!
Answer to #1. Bear 45 yrs old Pinky in the hutch!
I follow you both and get great laughs! Love donkey, he is so cute. We have always called them babies!
I'm going to have to be different and say cuddly toy! How cute is Damien!!
A mule won't sink in quicksand but a donkey will...
I follow you and Erin
He is a stuffed animal in my house
I've been to the sanctuary in Devon that Lucy's been too - because I live n Devon, and my friends donkey used to come in the kitchen during breakfast when we were having sleepovers at her farm!!
We call these stuffed animals at my house.
It is a stuffed animal of course.
Donkeys vary in size and can range from 31 inches to 63 inches at the withers and weigh anywhere from 180 to 1060 lbs.
First I follow you AND Erin. I give myself props for this :-)
Second I am in the habbit of calling every soft toy a teddy. I know they might be rabbits or tigers or donkey's but to me they're teddies.
definately a stuffed animal :)
i follow you! :)
apparently, if you have a mom & baby donkey confined by an electric fence, mom will push baby into it within the first couple days of life to teach it not to touch the fence. It has something to do with baby's nervous system not being fully functional yet at that age. or so they told us years ago in college :)
A stuffed animal!
Donkeys groom each other just like monkeys!
I follow by GFC!
Damien is an adorable stuffed animal!
The donkey does not have natural ‘waterproof’ coats like horses and so need access to shelter. I only have horses and did not know this!
I am a follower!
I call them softies... probably because that seems to be the "in" term at the moment :D
He's adorable!
I definitely call them Softies. Teddies brings to mind bears so I use softies for all other toys that I make.
I am following you. I love your damien donkey - very cute!
While you might think that there are only a couple of different breeds of donkey, here is the list from Wikipedia - I stopped counting!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_donkey_breeds
Well, I usually call them stuffed animals, but that just doesn't seem right anymore! Perhaps a softie- that's cute.
My fact-I actually rode a donky when I was a kid. Not a donkey fact, but a fact about donkeys.
Cute pattern! I think it's funny you said you leaned toward Goth--my six year old daughter does too, and that is totally not anything she sees at home, but it's just her style. Too funny! I won a fat quarter bundle with some Tula Pink Nightshade in it and I have to say those ladies kind of creep me out, but she was all over it begging me to make her a quilt. And for Halloween, she's going as a "Goth fairy." She even has black boots.
That is just darling. Love the shabby look!
I usually call them stuffed animals.
A donkey fact???? Hmm. How about that they represent the democratic party? Does that count?
I just became you 200th follower!
I've always called them stuffed animals, but I love the term "stuffies" and plan to use it with my own children.
A donkelicious fact: the animals used for "donkey" rides into the grand canyon, are actually mules.
I am LOVING Donktober and am a follower of you and Erin. Thanks for the giveaway!
He's gorgeous! I love your shabby chic version!!!
I call them soft toys or softies...
Arabella
I always called them stuffed animals, but my grandkids call them "stuffies" so I'm learning to be softer and a little less "stuffed up". :)
Jacks and Jennys can be such asses. :)
I follow.... I love the donkey.... so cute in all its versions.
I always used to call them stuffed toys but softie seems to the more common usage in blogland.
Thanks for the great giveaway. I adore all of RicRac's softies.
(supermomnocape at yahoo dot com)
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