'Abby' the bear-fox-beaver plush... I figured it was a good name. The client texted me, half way through production, asking how their 'abberation' was coming along. I think she had meant to send some other word...

I know the pictures aren't the best. I didn't exactly have time to take them before I had to go send it off to the client.

There is quite a story behind this. I basically had 72 hours to whip this together and send it off to the client because they were in a bit of a rush to use it for a school filming project. They had asked specifically for a bear's body, beaver's tail, fox's colors and big ears, and a soft plush like body roughly a foot long. They originally had someone lined up to make the plush, but that person never got back to them after several months. I ended up with the job because a friend of mine happened to be in the first film production meeting at the time.

I was so worried about what the client was expecting. She kept asking me on the last day how things were coming along, in an almost giddy mood. In the end, despite the mad-mad rush and sore fingers, the client said they loved it, and that it turned out exactly how they were expecting. Even my room mate said, "its very cute!"

I had a number of challenges working on it. In order to cut down on the time needed, I made a template from one of my plush bears, with a plastic bag and tape. (Don't worry, nothing happened to the bear. The bag was so the tape didn't stick to the bear's fur.) The fleece I used had a two way stretch. I was worried that when I stuffed it, some parts would stretch oddly as a result. Except for the tail and ears, all the fabric is double layered in such a way that the non stretch direction would cancel out the stretchy ones. I think I could have done better on the nose. Considering how little time I had, wasn't much room to go hunting down a store that sold plastic noses.

Overall, I thought the commission turned out ok, considering that I didn't have much time to make any fixes or tweaks. And that it had been almost twenty years since I made my last actual plush. I've kept the pattern from this project. It was a little sad having to send the plush off so soon after finishing it. I get the feeling I might use the patter for another guy of sorts. (maybe not so hybrid'y...)

Name: Abby
Born: February 20th 2012, 1440pm
Species: hybrid (fox-bear-beaver)
Length: a little over a foot long