Blonde Babe & Bear

I decided to go with a "one for them/one for us plan this year."  At least at the start, anyway!  I usually get bogged down in the "them" ornaments late in the year because I wind up putting some off.  I'm facing both another graduate AND another basketball player ornament this year and I can guarantee I'll procrastinate on those since I've done them both several times and they're both a little tedious.

My first "them" ornament is for my friend Rachel's son.  We've been watching him and his sisters on Thursday nights while their parents take a class at church.  Reid is never too sure as to whether he's happy to be here or not.  On week two, Scott sneezed and Reid cried for about 15 minutes.  He's got a great pout, too.  He looks pouty even when he's not trying.

Since I'm also trying to make some patterns I haven't made before, I decided on the Blonde Babe & Bear.  This one really went together pretty quickly.  Even the little bear was simple.  I tried the new method for the head and it worked like a charm.  I stitched around most of the body front to back, leaving an opening for stuffing.  Then I stuck the unstuffed body between the two head layers and stitched them together.  See how nice and defined the head is?  No more weird unwanted neck thing happening!

This would be a very easy ornament to convert to a girl.  If I were going to do that, I'd dig out my Herald Angel pattern and steal her hair:

And you'll see how I did exactly that on the ornament I made for the next post.  I hope you're all busy stitching and have your 2015 ornaments well underway!