Spotty The Steed

This was Sir Ebi-kun's most prized Christmas present and the only thing he really asked for. Of course, when he first asked for a hobby horse I went into a panic since I have never seen one in Japan. Then, as luck would have it, a few days later Melly from Melly and Me announced her new patterns, one of which was a hobby horse - hurrah!

I got hubby to drill the holes in the pole and sand down the rough edges, I could have done it myself but I am practicing my delegation skills :o). The pattern was easy to follow, every step is broken down and it came together quite easily. I was having to do it at night once the little Sir was in bed, of course, I ran out of stuffing during the process, so that meant a trip into town but apart from that it all went together with out a hiccup. You do need to use the right type of needles for the hand sewing, it took me three evenings to make, start to finish, if I hadn't run out of stuffing it would have been finished a bit quicker! I think and advanced beginner could handle it easily.

I did change a couple of things, I was going more for a thoroughbred rather than a cheeky pony so I used just one fabric instead of three types for his mane. I also knew that Sir Ebi-kun would want to take the bridle off and on, so I used the measurements in the pattern for the bridle pieces but then sewed them to a metal ring, which looks like the bit and also made the reins a bit more fancy so they looked more like a steeds bridle. I used the same fabric to go on his surcoat, which I made to match the shield he made a few months back.

His head is made from this lovely soft velvety fabric, he is so good to stroke, I head Sir- Ebi-kun talking to Spotty Christmas day and he told him that he loved him soooo much, awwww so cute! He takes his bridle off at night and puts him to bed with a blanket covering him.

I am kind of surprised we still have floor left downstairs since there has been a LOT of galloping and jousting going on. We also bought two poles so that I could make a second horse for when friends come to play but I haven't got round to that yet.

So, if you want to make your own hobby horse, I highly recommend Melly's pattern, it is called Giddy Up and is available in lots of places, check out the list of stores to the left on her blog.