rosewrangler: Woozy Waggies: A Confusion of Limbs

“Now join front legs to body at G…”

Front legs, front legs, front legs. Where the hell are the front legs? Pick through remaining pieces. Check floor. Check under machine. Check under sofa (cat). Check original pattern. Note that piece “chin” is also piece “front legs.” Sigh.

This flat strip wraps around the dog’s face and chin, then continues down the neck and chest to form the front legs. The strip must turn two sharp corners, the chin and the neck.

Corners are easier to sew if the piece being turned is face up, so that the folds and excess fabric can be kept away from the needle. For added fun — the kind of fun only a Woozy Waggie can offer — one corner is face up and the other face down. I try to wing it and fail.

On the other side, I get smart and flip the fabric after sewing the first corner. I hate breaking up a seam, but I hate ripping out stitches even more.

Forming the two rear feet is a royal pain. The pieces are tiny, not much bigger than a large postage stamp, and the four sides are joined to four different body parts: the body, the rear legs, the underbelly, and finally, the crotch. On each foot, that’s four corners to turn, all in a very small space. There are seam allowances to deal with too, and I don’t know what to do with them. I still don’t know what to do with them.

Sewing the feet was a breeze compared to sewing the crotch. The even tinier, bias-cut crotch piece is supposed to “s-t-r-e-t-c-h” and form a V with the legs and belly. It stretches, all right. It also frays. And as to forming that V — sorry, no, not going to happen. In ripping out my shoddy first attempt, I discover that I’ve forgotten to reset the stitch length after staystitching with miniscule stitches. Resist temptation to throw something. Eventually, a wide U is formed and I call it good.