Calvin and Hobbes

A while back Michael took an interest in my old Calvin and Hobbes comic books. It made me so happy that he liked them! I'm not really a comic-book kind of girl, but ever since I was 10 years old something about these guys, their humor and sincerity, the story of a child whose best friend is an imaginary animal, has always felt so personal to me. Michael even reminds me of Calvin (some days more than others), so it seemed like the perfect Halloween costume - personal, easy, and inexpensive. All we needed was a red and black striped t-shirt and a Hobbes. 

The t-shirt was simple ($3.88 at Walmart!), the tiger was not. I originally planned to buy one (I assumed the market would be loaded with great Hobbes options - who wouldn't want a life-size stuffed Hobbes?) but found that there weren't any that lived up to the Hobbes of my imagination, and the few that I did find on etsy were expensive. So I was thrilled when I found this (free!) tutorial and pattern. I can't say enough good things about it. I'm about as novice as a sewer can get and I was able to easily understand the pattern and all of the steps. The only information I would add to the tutorial is a list of materials. I bought too much material and batting - 1 yard of orange fleece, 1/2 yard of white, and 1/2 yard of black, and one bag of batting is plenty.  It was a lot of work (I put in around 10 hours and I still have some hand-sewing to do on the stripes) but so worth it. Michael carried Hobbes proudly on Saturday, and a few days later he's still hugging his "Hobb". 

I figure if he ever loses interest, I'll be happy to keep Hobbes for myself ;)