Meet Rigel!

This is Rigel, Namir’s cousin, a puma.  I was actually planning to put him together first, to practice a new pattern with familiar fabric, but right from the start that presented problems.  So Namir was practice, and Rigel came next once I knew what I was doing.  He’s made of flannel (solid aqua) and quilting cotton (blue dot print and white cloud print).  I gave him big dark eyes and moved his ears up a little after seeing how Namir came out.  He looks like a warm weather cat, like an equator Puma, and Namir looks like an Amur leopard ready for winter, especially when you see them together!

I did finally figure out what was bugging me about Namir’s face.  It’s lopsided because I had to go over the ear seam on the left side three times to get the fold caught in the seam.  Next leopard I make I’ll be making sure the center fold in the ear is sticking out from the fabric sandwich so I don’t have that problem again.

I didn’t have the same seam trouble making Rigel as I had with Namir, but the woven fabric doesn’t give, so there are little folds here and there where the fleece would stretch to match.  Not a big deal really, just different.

I kind of like getting such different looks just by using a different kind of fabric.   I’d guess a cat made of a plain knit fabric would give a look similar to Rigel but be a bit more forgiving.  I wonder if it would work with recycled tshirts?