The evolution of Totoro.

Since we watched the movie, My Neighbor Totoro, all we want is a big, furry, Totoro.
My husband saw a Totoro toy, and he never bought it. He has so much faith on me, he was certain I could make one.
I am a OK seamstress, but have no idea how to make patterns. But since the challenge was on, I decided to give it a try. In order to avoid waste of material, I started using leftover pieces of whatever fabrics I had.
My first prototype was cut and stapled. It looked very scary, but it kind of resembled what I had in mind.
I made a pattern out of that, I sewed thinking there was not much mystery about making a simple toy..but it came out super short, like if he had lost his legs (if he had them).
Ok, so I just had to adjust his stature, and made a new one. And...he just looked very slim. His hips were missing.
Then after adding the hips, I think his shape was fine.
I made some adjustments to add a muzzle, so his face wouldn't be so flat.
And finally I used the real fabric to make Totoro.
In the end, he didn't look so bad. I used a plastic nose from the craft store, and the other details in fabric.
And I even had some fabric, to make a little one. This one I had to embroider the eyes and the nose.
I also made a Totoro with suction hands, so he can stick to a car window.
Now everyone is happy, we all have Totoros to play, to bring in the car, and to bring to bed.
I will soon post the pattern for the smaller Totoro.