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Crocheted chibi white totoro

  • Jul. 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 AM
snufkin
Chibi (or white) totoro was the smallest of the three forest spirits in the Japanese animated film "My Neighbor Totoro."  I liked that he was nervous around Mei, the smaller girl in the film, and became invisible to throw her off his trail. She managed to follow anyway. Many cute beasts were created for this film, including sootballs, chu totoro (blue),  big totoro (gray), and cat bus.




Here it is amongst rosemary, about 6 in. high. This is a stuffie doll made using the pattern here by [info]heavens_hellcat.

7 Minor tweaks and tips -
  1. It is easier follow the pattern by starting first round with the magic adjustable loop and marking the first stitch of every row with a split ring marker.
  2. I used white felt for the white of the eyes. They are cut in 2 different shapes, circle and oval both roughly the size of a nickel. Instead of glueing or stitching them on permanently, I left them as is.  I found that if you rotate the circles around the eye pegs, you can give the totoro different expressions. S'fun!  
  3. Attaching eye circles Alternative #1: Use glue for fabric and felt, not paper glue. Alternative #2:  If you want your totoro to be washable, stitch around the circle with embroidery needle and embroidery cotton floss in black or white. Floss makes a finer line and can be more controlled around curves than regular worsted weight yarn.
  4. The eyes I used are 6mm, not 9mm diameter.
  5. Stuffed with polyfil and poly pellets at the bottom for weight. If you want your totoro washable, put pellets in a fine mesh baggie made out of white hosiery.
  6. Feet are embroidered on using padded stem stitch with peach colored yarn on underside. In the movie, you don't really see much of his feet, although he has 3-toed bird like feet.
  7. To make the tail tip upward, sew slightly more of the upper edge of base to the body than the lower edge.


  • Mood:headache

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Comments

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[info]heavens_hellcat wrote:
Jul. 31st, 2007 08:29 am (UTC)
He looks great (and very happy amongst the rosemary)! I like what you've done with the eyes, that's a fun idea, and the feet look good. I didn't use the magic ring on the ears to make them more pointed, but starting is always fiddly, so it's best to do whatever you're comfortable with. Thanks for showing him to me!
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[info]snuffykin wrote:
Jul. 31st, 2007 09:47 pm (UTC)
:o Oh, so that's why! Yes, it's ears aren't so very pointy. It is a gifty for a Studio Ghibli fan I know. :-) The studio approved plushies are nice and fluffy, but not as well made as your version. The ears on the plushie are felt and the eyes are paper!!!
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