I'm Not Stopping Until I Have a Stuffed Ocean, Apparently

Okay, so I saw this amazing post on Pinterest
This giant squid idea was on my board labelled "the child in me wants this".  Now it is on my bed.

The last few weeks, I have been doing a lot of squid dissection with the kids at my job.  On a whim, I decided to stop at the fabric store and pick up the materials to make a giant squid of my own!





It was love at first sight.

Let me preface this entire post by saying that I don't sew.  Not that I don't ever sew, but I don't make a habit of sewing, and usually after one project I'm good for a few years.  That was not the case this time around.
Case in point - the second fabric I was using is this crazy silky stretchy stuff from the specialty fabric section, because I was unaware of the entire section of regular fabric in the back corner of JoAnn fabrics.
Also, I did this all by hand because I'm crazy and too lazy to figure out the sewing machine, but if you know how to use a sewing machine and have one (or have one and are NOT too lazy to figure out how to use it) you can use that.

As soon as I had a giant squid, I needed a baby squid.

I used the same basic pattern from the giant squid, but I made it about a quarter of the size, in the remnants from the first squid.  The only other change I made was using the sucker pattern for one side of the fins.

Then I went a little "giant stuffed marine life crazy".

While working at the zoo, I was lucky enough to work in the area with stingrays.  I loved those little cownose rays.  It was extremely fun to feed them, to feel them, and to teach people about them.  I bought a little stuffed ray before I left.  It became the pattern for my new project.



For this project, I used 3 yards of 72" felt in two different colors.  I wanted to go for an authentic eagle ray color, but none of the dark blues was pretty enough for my thinking!  Still, I wanted to keep the oceanic feel, so I went for a darker shade of purple, and a lighter shade of off-white for the ventral side.  This coloration pattern is called countershading.  From above, the ray blends in with the dark depths of the ocean, and from below, the lighter underside blends against the sunlit waters.


I started by folding each fabric in half, to cut the wings.  Starting about 52 inches up from the side where the two felt edges met (opposite the folded edge), I started to free form the wings.    They gently slope down almost back to the side where the edges meet, about 58 inches out.  It should leave a strip at least 15 inches wide on the other side.  Then it gently cuts into the almost right triangle until it gets back to the corner.

I used one of these triangles to cut the second type of fabric.  Putting one of each color together, I sewed the two together around the two curved edges, staying about a half  inch from the edge.  Then I turned the wing inside out.  Originally I stuffed these wings just slightly, but since I don't sew, I didn't think to sew the stuffing in in any way.  Not even sure if it's even possible, but either way, I've since removed the stuffing, and it still looks pretty good!

For the second wing, I laid out my fabric to make sure that the lighter fabric and darker fabric were on the correct side to make a mirror image of the first wing.

Then I cut the body from the excess fabric.  At its narrowest point, it will be about 15 inches wide, gradually increasing over 55 inches until it is about 30 inches wide, and then narrowing to a gentle point over the next 15 inches.






I rolled the two wings up to put them into the middle of the two pieces which would be sewn together to make the body.  I lined up the unsewn edges of the wings with the matching color fabric of the body, making sure to have the leading edge of the wing toward the widest part of the body.  I sewed along the edges until the very bottom (narrowest) part of the body, which I left open.

Then, I pulled the wings out through that narrow part, bringing the rest of the body with it.  I stuffed the empty body cavity with about 4 lbs of stuffing.

Now, in all honesty, I went to bed... left the manta ray on my aunt and uncle's bed (I was dogsitting at their place) and left for work early the next morning, thinking I'd get back before they did.  This was not the case, and they returned home to this wonderful sight.


I packed it all into my car, got it to my home, and finished up the final piece - the tail!

For this, I found a long, narrow strip of triangular fabric approximately seven feet long, an inch or two wider than the circumference of the final body opening.  It wasn't perfect, curving a bit near the pointed end, but I made do, sewing along the two longer edges to about six inches from the top.  Finally, I turned it inside out, stuffed all the way up (like the person in the giant squid tutorial says, thinking of it like pulling on tights/hose)

For the last piece, it becomes ridiculously obvious that I'm a newbie at this whole thing.  I lined up the outside side of the unsewn part of the tail with the outside part of the unsewn part of the body (the tail was laying across the ray's back), and sewed along the inside part, all the way around.  Once I was fully around the entire circumference, I pulled the tail into proper place started sewing back along the six inches of the tail that I hadn't sewed originally.

Finally, I added an eye (6" diameter, 4" diameter pupil) and eventually I might add an embroidered mouth and gills along the bottom portion.

And yet... I wasn't quite done.

Sea Slug (Aplysia) - Idea courtesy of Amy
If I make another one of these, it will have to be purple.
Or squirt actual purple ink.

Sea Cucumber (because there's pretty much nothing easier)

Sea Star (with buttons!)

Nudibranch made from scraps  - idea courtesy of Andy
Also I will probably be making more of these :)

Baby stingray (I'll add eyes eventually)

A miniature ocean!

Anyways, my next step is to cut a hole in the bottom of the manta ray, attach a pouch, seal it with velcro, and make a few more babies to go inside said pouch.  I would have just made a few mermaid's purses, but apparently these types of rays all give live birth.  I think I might still make a few mermaid's purses, with some baby dogsharks inside for authenticity.

First though, I need to give some of these things some eyes!