Elephants Never Forget

When I was a new blogger,

I featured some Tillie and Tommy elephant softies 

I had made for baby gifts.

{PDF pattern by Retromama is available on Etsy.}

Ever since then, these little elephants

have been one of my favorite go-to baby gifts to make.

Lately, it seems I've had less time than ever for sewing,

and meanwhile many MANY of my friends

have been having new babies...and grandbabies...

entering their lives.

Since I'm waaaaaaay overdue on 

welcoming these new sweethearts into the world,

I decided to make a whole herd of Tillies and Tommys.

Want to meet them?

These new elephants look just like

the others I've made before, except...

they are MINI elephants!

{Don't you think everything looks cuter when it's smaller?}

As suggested by Retromama herself,

I simply reduced the pattern pieces to 75%

and made them up according to the instructions.

Here's how they looked before the polyfil

stuffing was added.

{A nice pressing does wonders for the finished softies.}

Let's talk fabrics...

I had such fun choosing pairs of fabrics

for this batch.

For the brown elephant,

I selected two Joel Dewberry classics,

from the Chestnut Hill line.

I just had to make a gray elephant,

shown at the top of the heap, 

and this Lecien floral print looked lovely

with pink ears from Tanya Whelan's Darla line.

Because I am such a great Tanya Whelan fan,

I selected another print to be paired with that pink Darla fabric.

Isn't this sweet, with the aqua Rosey print for the ears?

And now let's try it again, reversed.

Look...they love each other!

For the last two baby elephants in this batch,

I decided to use some lovely yellow and gray prints

from Willow by Riley Blake.

This time I did something a bit different...

I used one print for the front sections

and the other for the back sections...

and them reversed them for the other "twin."

It's subtle...can you see what I mean?

{Normally I use the same print for the entire body,

with only a contrasting print for the inner ears.}

They make an adorable set of twins, don't they?

It just so happens that my wonderful friend who is expecting twin girls

has decorated their nursery in...yellow and gray!

These little elephants are anxious to meet their new babies,

and for once I'm ahead of schedule!

But for those babies and grandbabies who are now more like toddlers,

I can fill their little arms with squeezy baby elephants...

with cute little tails to tug...

and the wonderful mommies and grandmas will know,

like an elephant, I didn't forget!

I'm off to make my next herd of baby elephants!