Today Is Squid Day

I spent a good portion of the afternoon cutting and machine sewing my squid for selling at the Bristol Renaissance Festival in July.  The ones below are already sold off, they're down in Missouri at a different festival, so I had to do up an entire new batch.  Mostly I was using polar fleece in different patterns, with a black fleece underbelly, and the legs done in the same fabric as the top.  They get 18mm safety lock eyes.  The HARDEST part is to turn and stuff 6 tentacle legs for each.  Yes, I know squid have 8 legs, however with the width at the bottom you can't squeeze 8 in there, but six do fit.  When you do 10 squid that's 60 tentacles you have to sit there and stuff.  I try to do it when I'm watching TV, it makes thing go faster.

 



It doesn't show up in the picture, but each one gets an 'eyebrow' shelf over the eyes, to give them character.  And I put different colored felt circles around each eye.  They do stand up nicely.  These are 13" long in the body plus another 9" for the tentacles.   These are popular with the Steampunk crowd.  I do small squid also, as cat toys, each of those are about 4" long.  Last year the small ones ended up being pinned to a lot of people's hats as decoration, and weren't given to cats at all.  I didn't mind.  In fact, I could probably turn them into Christmas ornaments as well.