Banner Sponsors

Erin Seals Feb 16, 2015

Hi everyone!

I have finally gotten my pattern and materials and photography to a quality I felt I could post!

Merlin is stuffed fully with poly pellets, except in the head.  His fur is synthetic.  He has glass eyes, painted by hand, and silicone nose and paws.  His eyes open and (mostly) close.  Sorry these pictures are so huge! I don't know how all of the things work yet!

Crown Critters Feb 16, 2015

Merlin is beautiful. I am so happy that you could show him to us. 

Natasha Feb 17, 2015

Such a beautiful cat! The pictures are good size!    

edmondnutmeg Feb 17, 2015

Merlin is wonderful! fantastic work those paws are amazing and such a great cat shape
michelle

koonienett Feb 17, 2015

great work, he looks so realistic
how did he work his paws?

EJ Feb 17, 2015

Awww, what lovely cat she is!  Reminds me of the three black cats I've owned.....one dearly departed.....love the paws!

Erin Seals Feb 17, 2015

Thank you everyone! It is such an honor to get such high praise from such talented people!

When I started working I had just lost my best friend, Merlin and I wanted to be careful about staying on the realistic side of the line between teddy and real. The paws were very important to me. So I started testing materials. I tried to take a mold of a living cat's foot...you can imagine how that worked! So I made toes and "palm" out of bakeable clay and pressed them into melted wax for a mold.  The only material that worked well was silicone caulk, but it MUST be silicone 1, silicone II will NEVER dry.  I bought clear caulk and used acrylic paint to dye them. The silicone sets using a chemical reaction with water, so the acrylic cuts down the set time enormously. I will try to put a post with pictures and steps in one of the library topics!

koonienett Feb 17, 2015

I will try to put a post with pictures and steps in one of the library topics!

That's very kind of you Erin.

Francesca Feb 23, 2015

Beautiful cat!