Lessons I Learned from building BIG the Ostrich
Courtney's new book The Lies About Truth launches on November 3, 2015.
This story, her "sophomore" book, was a traumatic author experience for Courtney, involving blood, sweat and many tears. A pivotal plot line in the story involves a blue stuffed toy ostrich (ugly!). The main character names him BIG. So naturally, Court and I thought she should have a visual to accompany her on school visits after the book comes out!
The search began.
Court was excited when Carla found this picture online. Here was Big. She said it was her perfect vision from the book. But it was a dog toy, only a few inches tall. Made in China.
So the search continued. Courtney ordered a stuffed ostrich from a toy company. It came in its own crate. It was adorable. But it wasn't blue. And it wasn't big.
It wasn't BIG.
Finally, came the inevitable conclusion - this was last year - that I would have to make one. It shouldn't be too hard. I mean, look at that ugly blue thing above. Simple, right?!
Riiiight.
I really did look EVERYWHERE for patterns. The only patterns I found were for crochet. I can't crochet well enough to alter patterns for the size we wanted.
I looked at pictures of real ostriches.
You have to admit they are so ugly, they're cute. Just like Big. But that didn't help me much with a pattern.
I came to the conclusion that I'd just have to gut it out and do it myself (Little Red Hen-ish). For close to a year, I thought about it, looked for inspiration online and thought about it some more. I went to countless fabric shops and found several pieces of "fuzzy animal" material that would work. But they weren't in blue. Or not the right color of blue. I couldn't seem to get serious about the pattern until I found the material. Looking online, I eventually checked Jo-Ann's Fabrics and found what I needed. In July, on a trip through Nashville, we drove to Cool Springs where one is located, and I bought the material. YAY!
"Channel Your Brave" Time
I used newspaper to draw - after some starts and stops - a pattern of sorts. I cut it out of scrap material and even basted it together. I sort of sang (in my head) "I think she's got it; By George, I think she's got it."
That was so premature and way too overly optimistic. Such is the stuff of dreamers.
To say the least.
After I basted together the scrap material, I was still afraid to cut out the "fuzzy animal" material. I took the day off.
The next day I cut out the fuzzy stuff. Sort of. My scissors didn't want to cut a straight line through the stuff. (I had conveniently forgotten how much trouble the cutter at the fabric store had had when cutting it off the bolt). That day - that WHOLE day - I worked on the head. And made the tail, the topknot and the legs. And I thought Wow, this is going really well. I only have the body to make tomorrow, and it will be finished!
Hahaha. Premature celebration.
The body. Oh, man. Here's where my inability to visualize 3-D pieces kicked my tail. I will spare you my pain, but let's just say that I cut, re-cut, re-sewed, adjusted, altered, re-sewed, changed my idea of how it would look ... mucho times. All day. At three o'clock I got out of my pjs and ate lunch.
That fuzzy fabric changed several things. It would not DO what I needed it to do. Thank the Good Lord for felt. And Velcro.
At 6:30, I put on the finishing touches and texted Court this picture:
And this one:
He is BIG.
Court's reaction made all the effort worth while! Let me say that again: HER reaction made me forget (almost) the sewing drama. She loved him.
Big is finished!
*crawls off to the couch with wine*
Top Ten LESSONS LEARNED
- Just because one can draw doesn’t mean
one developed the skill set (ever) to look at a one dimensional picture and
envision how to make a 3-D replica. In fabric. In this century.
- Find a pattern. DO NOT EVEN THINK about
making a stuffed animal where none exists.
- Blue stuffed toy ostriches are
– apparently - NOT in high demand.
- “Fuzzy Animal” material in
UK blue (as per the author’s vision in The Lies About Truth) is darn near
impossible to find.
- Do not try to cut out
“fuzzy animal” material. EVER. It is EVIL. (and it frays like
Satan - that's Satan, not satin).
- Do not try to sew up
“fuzzy animal” material. (see above)
- The truths about revision
for an author are also true for the sewer when making a stuffed ostrich
without a pattern … envision, re-vision, rework, edit, re-vision, rework.
Repeat. And Repeat.
- No matter how a homemade
pattern APPEARS to work on the practice fabric, it will not actually look the same after it is stuffed. (See #6.)
- I repeat: SEE #2.
- In the aftermath of
extreme sewing trauma (I now suffer from PTSD - that is post tramatic sewing disorder - there is a ridiculous sense of accomplishment (i.e.
this list), but that in no way means one should even think about repeating
the process with any subsequent book characters that Courtney C. Stevens
dreams up!
If you want to read more about Big (you do!) then pre-order Courtney's book at Parnassus Books in Nashville, or pre-order from Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Or buy it when it comes out on November 3rd this year!
Reviews:
"As she did in her
beloved debut, Faking Normal, Courtney Stevens does a
spectacular job of chronicling a smart seventeen-year-old girl's discovery of
her own inner resources to overcome the aftermath of a tragic car accident
involving her five best friends. First she must forgive her friends, then
she must forgive herself. No one writes better about resilience and
‘channeling your brave’ than Stevens does." --Cammie McGovern, author of Say What You Will
In Courtney Stevens’ The Lies About Truth,
Courtney writes beautiful and flawed characters that contain raw emotions. The
Lies About Truth touched my soul.-- Katie McGarry, bestselling author of
Pushing the Limits (.)
“This realistic YA novel explores the weight of
the past, the value of the truth, and the meaning and process of forgiveness,
which teen readers will identify with. A great addition to any YA collection”
(School Library Journal)
At the levels of sentence, character,
story, and soul, Courtney C. Stevens’s sophomore effort, The Lies About Truth, is staggeringly good. Sadie Kingston is
struggling to heal after a tragic accident claimed her boyfriend’s life and
left her irreparably scarred. With help from some unexpected places, she’s
finally beginning to put the pieces of her life—and her heart—back together.
This one is quietly wonderful.
–Stephanie Appell, Parnassus Books"Stevens keeps the focus on Sadie's turbulent emotions in this heartfelt examination of the consequences of disfigurement." (Kirkus Reviews)
