Update - Luna Moths

Ok, I tried making two.  The green micro fleece top and felt bottom ended up too flimsy for the wings - I went with two layers of felt instead on the next try.  The furry body worked fine but the 6mm eyes were too small to see and got lost in the fuzziness of the body so I had to switch to an 8mm size.  The antenna idea worked out great!  And it actually made the whole thing very distinctive to look at.  However the small markings in tan on the top wings and the circles on the bottom wings that I did with the first two were........irritating.  I left them off the modified version.

 

So I simplified. 

Forget the micro fleece, I used two layers of felt for the wings, sewn around the edges and trimmed. The top wings were one piece and I made them a tad smaller which looked more balanced, the bottom wings were all one piece as well - and when each pair was done I machine sewed them together right where the body would cover it on top.   Just one line of stitching down and reverse to back the line out again. This leaves the wings separate on each side of where the body gets attached, and yes I did go with the slightly bent down shape in the second picture (from the previous post).

 

The antenna was made of 3" of silk cord.  It looked too simple by itself as is, so I used a needle to pick open the threads at the ends to 'fray out' the whole top inch.  Rat tail cording is built around a piece of string, and that got trimmed out as I went which leaves the silk fray area looking nice and bushy.  I then folded the cord in half and machine sewed the bent end to the top seam when I did the line to attach the wings together.  This avoids me having to hand stitch it on.

 

The body was simply a rectangle 3" by 2", I hand sewed a running stitch around the edges, slightly pulled the stitches tight, stuffed it with fiberfill (and catnip for the cat toys) then pulled it completely closed. This gives an elongated ball shape.  I then tacked it down to the top of the wings, shaped it a tad with my fingers as I went, making sure that the top by the head covered where the antenna attached, and added the eyes as the last step.

 

Honestly the LONGEST part of any of this was the fraying of the antenna.  I sat for three hours at the local Stitch & Bitch meeting and frayed and cut - got around 35 sets done in that time.  The rest of the cutting/sewing/attaching took a fraction of that!  

 

They make nice bright colorful cat toys. They also make nice pins for decorating costumes or putting onto window drapes or for hanging.  I was surprised how something so simple can look so nice!  It turned out great.