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Description
Wow... I'm totally blown away by all the kind words of people looking at my derpy little pony. I was starting to get really discouraged about making a pony pattern and now I feel way more enthusiastic! (pinkie voice/ I feel a bit like I snorted coffee actually, not that I've ever done that in real life. /pinkie voice) I'm determined that I will finish it so that it's nice enough to sell and get it out there into people's hands.

I've been asked the same things a few times in comments, so I thought maybe I should give some details on the history of the pattern and my plans.

History

For the last month I've spent most of my free time drafting and testing a plush pony pattern. I was initially inspired to try because I love BabyLondonStar's beautiful Fluttershy plush (me and every one else, right? ). I'd never sewn a plush before, but I have many years of experience sewing clothing, mostly costumes for live action roleplaying games.

I leaned quite a bit on generalzoi 's Pony Creator as well as on screenshots from the show to give me a more concrete idea of how the archetypal pony is shaped in 2D. My pattern shares a similar general seam breakdown to BabyLondonStar's, but my pony's legs and hocks have a different shape and I believe my pony is quite a bit bigger based on some of her in-progress pics. My girl weighs in at about 9.5 inches tall (without her ears and hair). This size was scientifically chosen to let me fit my pieces onto standard sheets of paper.

I owe a lot to some of the amazing free plush patterns that are provided online especially the maker of dollmaker.nunodoll.com/cat/ter… , who has many several types of animals freely available. I'd highly recommend checking out the plush community outside of deviantart for inspiration if you want to pattern plush.

Plans

I want to release the basic pattern for a female pony first. I wish I could include the pieces you need to make everypony (wings, horns, many manes and tails, etc), but I'd go crazy with perfectionism and you'd never get a pattern. >_<

The basic pattern will cost somewhere in the area of $10 to 15 including shipping in the US (I'd be willing to ship other places; you'd pay cost of shipping) and will include the body, female head, and several manes/tails.

I can't commit to exactly which / how many manes and tails will be in the basic pattern yet. It will probably be two or three sets that correspond to background pony designs. I want to do patterns for the mane six, but it's going to take me lot of time to develop all of them. I don't want to hold up the whole pattern, so I figure I'll sell them as an additional set when they're finished.

I have a pattern for pegasus wings, and I'll hopefully have an easier to sew version done by the time the rest of the pattern is ready. I'm not sure if I'll have a unicorn horn done by then or not (I hope so). If I have these done by the time the basic pattern goes out, I may include them and raise the price closer to the $15 end, if not I'll finish them later and sell them as an add on set for less than $5.

I'm also working on a male pony head that will fit the same body. He is very fuggly right now, so you'll have to forgive him for not showing his face. In another version or two I hope he'll be presentable and if people are interested I can think about offering him separately as well. The shape I'm working towards should work well for Doctor Whooves or Big Mac. (I'm going to make them anyway! )

Disclaimer

The pattern I've developed is probably best for someone who has at least intermediate sewing experience. She's curvy and has lots of pieces with many small seams. If you're new to sewing, get help from someone with experience and make BabyLondonStar's free pattern ( babylondonstar.deviantart.com/… ) a few times until you're confidant in your ability to sew small curved seams, clip curves, and turn and stuff toys evenly. I'll do my best to make the instructions complete and helpful, but they'll be written for someone who's comfortable with sewing. If you haven't sewn plushies before, that's ok. I hadn't either until recently.

The basic pattern can be sewn almost entirely on a machine. There are a few things, like attaching the head and attaching some kinds of manes and tails, that I've needed to do by hand. You could sew the entire pony by hand if you wanted, I don't think that would cause any problems other than being slower.

I've only tested this pattern with woven fabrics. Since I come from a historical costuming background, I have a lot more experience with natural fibers and woven fabrics (I'm pretty horrible at sewing stretchy things and knits). I've made test ponies out of quilting weight cotton, cotton twill, and flannel. I like the flannel; it's very soft and cozy. I think it compares well with minky and fleece in snuggliness.

I should mention, I'm not going to put requirements on what you can do with ponies that you sew using my pattern: sell them, give them to friends, light them on fire, whatever makes you happy! All I ask is that you mention my pattern was used if you're going to sell them or display them (online or at conventions).

Disclaimer 2

I've been a deviantart member for a while now, but I've only recently started trying to post art and take part in the community more actively. I'm not so awesome at understanding deviantart's formatting system. I apologize in advance if my journal posts and descriptions are ugly and my link usage is elementary. ;_;

Drat, what did I just sign up for?

Uh, I seem to have put myself in for a lot of work. I love the ponies I've made... my husband laughs at how I carry around the early prototypes and snuggle them. But they always seem like they need work to me. I know that in theory you can tweak forever, so I will do my best not to go crazy here.

Right now I have a basic body pattern, a female head pattern, and a handful of manes and tails (some that don't work, due to misjudgments). I also have a rough draft for a male head pattern, which needs love. The body may need another round of tweaking to get the tummy and leg alignment perfect. I'd also like to draft a separate head gore for doing "mohawk" style mane attachment (you need space for the extra seam to sew the mane in).

Each version of the body pattern I make requires a new test pony, which takes me about a week. The head pattern is a bit faster if I have a blank body to try it on. Once I'm happy with the pattern I need to add 1/4" seam allowance to it, scan it into the computer, and make a nice vector version of it for printing. Then I've got to write instructions (and maybe draw illustrations for them if I'm not dead at that point).

I have a full time job to work around and I'll be away on a business trip for a week this month. I'll do my best to give you updates and pictures of my progress. Please be patient with me!

:D (Big Grin) — Description
Wow... I'm totally blown away by all the kind words of people looking at my derpy little pony. I was starting to get really discouraged about making a pony pattern and now I feel way more enthusiastic! (pinkie voice/ I feel a bit like I snorted coffee actually, not that I've ever done that in real life. /pinkie voice) I'm determined that I will finish it so that it's nice enough to sell and get it out there into people's hands.

I've been asked the same things a few times in comments, so I thought maybe I should give some details on the history of the pattern and my plans.

History

For the last month I've spent most of my free time drafting and testing a plush pony pattern. I was initially inspired to try because I love BabyLondonStar's beautiful Fluttershy plush (me and every one else, right? ). I'd never sewn a plush before, but I have many years of experience sewing clothing, mostly costumes for live action roleplaying games.

I leaned quite a bit on generalzoi 's Pony Creator as well as on screenshots from the show to give me a more concrete idea of how the archetypal pony is shaped in 2D. My pattern shares a similar general seam breakdown to BabyLondonStar's, but my pony's legs and hocks have a different shape and I believe my pony is quite a bit bigger based on some of her in-progress pics. My girl weighs in at about 9.5 inches tall (without her ears and hair). This size was scientifically chosen to let me fit my pieces onto standard sheets of paper.

I owe a lot to some of the amazing free plush patterns that are provided online especially the maker of dollmaker.nunodoll.com/cat/ter… , who has many several types of animals freely available. I'd highly recommend checking out the plush community outside of deviantart for inspiration if you want to pattern plush.

Plans

I want to release the basic pattern for a female pony first. I wish I could include the pieces you need to make everypony (wings, horns, many manes and tails, etc), but I'd go crazy with perfectionism and you'd never get a pattern. >_<

The basic pattern will cost somewhere in the area of $10 to 15 including shipping in the US (I'd be willing to ship other places; you'd pay cost of shipping) and will include the body, female head, and several manes/tails.

I can't commit to exactly which / how many manes and tails will be in the basic pattern yet. It will probably be two or three sets that correspond to background pony designs. I want to do patterns for the mane six, but it's going to take me lot of time to develop all of them. I don't want to hold up the whole pattern, so I figure I'll sell them as an additional set when they're finished.

I have a pattern for pegasus wings, and I'll hopefully have an easier to sew version done by the time the rest of the pattern is ready. I'm not sure if I'll have a unicorn horn done by then or not (I hope so). If I have these done by the time the basic pattern goes out, I may include them and raise the price closer to the $15 end, if not I'll finish them later and sell them as an add on set for less than $5.

I'm also working on a male pony head that will fit the same body. He is very fuggly right now, so you'll have to forgive him for not showing his face. In another version or two I hope he'll be presentable and if people are interested I can think about offering him separately as well. The shape I'm working towards should work well for Doctor Whooves or Big Mac. (I'm going to make them anyway! )

Disclaimer

The pattern I've developed is probably best for someone who has at least intermediate sewing experience. She's curvy and has lots of pieces with many small seams. If you're new to sewing, get help from someone with experience and make BabyLondonStar's free pattern ( babylondonstar.deviantart.com/… ) a few times until you're confidant in your ability to sew small curved seams, clip curves, and turn and stuff toys evenly. I'll do my best to make the instructions complete and helpful, but they'll be written for someone who's comfortable with sewing. If you haven't sewn plushies before, that's ok. I hadn't either until recently.

The basic pattern can be sewn almost entirely on a machine. There are a few things, like attaching the head and attaching some kinds of manes and tails, that I've needed to do by hand. You could sew the entire pony by hand if you wanted, I don't think that would cause any problems other than being slower.

I've only tested this pattern with woven fabrics. Since I come from a historical costuming background, I have a lot more experience with natural fibers and woven fabrics (I'm pretty horrible at sewing stretchy things and knits). I've made test ponies out of quilting weight cotton, cotton twill, and flannel. I like the flannel; it's very soft and cozy. I think it compares well with minky and fleece in snuggliness.

I should mention, I'm not going to put requirements on what you can do with ponies that you sew using my pattern: sell them, give them to friends, light them on fire, whatever makes you happy! All I ask is that you mention my pattern was used if you're going to sell them or display them (online or at conventions).

Disclaimer 2

I've been a deviantart member for a while now, but I've only recently started trying to post art and take part in the community more actively. I'm not so awesome at understanding deviantart's formatting system. I apologize in advance if my journal posts and descriptions are ugly and my link usage is elementary. ;_;

Drat, what did I just sign up for?

Uh, I seem to have put myself in for a lot of work. I love the ponies I've made... my husband laughs at how I carry around the early prototypes and snuggle them. But they always seem like they need work to me. I know that in theory you can tweak forever, so I will do my best not to go crazy here.

Right now I have a basic body pattern, a female head pattern, and a handful of manes and tails (some that don't work, due to misjudgments). I also have a rough draft for a male head pattern, which needs love. The body may need another round of tweaking to get the tummy and leg alignment perfect. I'd also like to draft a separate head gore for doing "mohawk" style mane attachment (you need space for the extra seam to sew the mane in).

Each version of the body pattern I make requires a new test pony, which takes me about a week. The head pattern is a bit faster if I have a blank body to try it on. Once I'm happy with the pattern I need to add 1/4" seam allowance to it, scan it into the computer, and make a nice vector version of it for printing. Then I've got to write instructions (and maybe draw illustrations for them if I'm not dead at that point).

I have a full time job to work around and I'll be away on a business trip for a week this month. I'll do my best to give you updates and pictures of my progress. Please be patient with me!