Hand Sewn Imperfection

Peter was unsure how to respond to this request. He rarely had anyone show interest in his techniques for plush creation, and he didn't exactly advertise this skill when working for Velveteen. But Darlet's keen eye in spotting the side project he had been working on between outfits gave away this secret hobby of his. "So, you want to make an Imp?" 

Darlet nodded his head excitedly. "I have a lil dude named Jekyll. He is big on curling up around stuff. I figure if I could make him a big plush of his hyper active pal Hyde, he could get to squeeze the life out of that instead of the real deal." He looked around Peter's workshop for a patch of fabric that matched the right colours, eventually settling on a faded orange cloth. "If you can do these little ones, you can teach me how to make a big one right?"

Peter bit at his cheek. "Uh sure. I guess I could do that. But I gotta make it quick. I still gotta work on your costume too." He didn't want to go too off track. Darlet came here originally for an outfit for a concert he was opening for. He wanted something intricate with spikes and leather, which would take some time to prepare. But now piling on a plush crafting lesson to the list might take all day. "Hmm. So exactly what kind of Imp is Hyde? I can outline the stitching you'd need to do, and show you how to shape the body."

Darlet showed Peter a picture of his Imps, and after a few quick notches along the creases of the fabric, he handed the cloth to Darlet. "Okay. So I just gotta sew along this part here? That doesn't seem too hard." He took the time pulling the needle through carefully. After the first few stitches, he felt confident enough to speed up his hand motions. Still careful to not prick himself with the fine point needle. He had patched enough holes in clothing when he did something that would cause them. But ever anything that followed a fine seam.

While Darlet worked, Peter made sure to grab some last minute plush materials. Namely stuffing for filling the plush at the end, buttons for the big eyes of the toy, and a couple extra pieces of loose cloth for the ears and tail. "Once you're done getting the general shape down, hollar okay? I'm gonna get started on your outfit." Finally able to escape his lesson, he returned to his workshop. Fine tuning the design on paper before starting the actual process of pressing the leather and studding the spikes. 

A few hours passed in relative silence. Peter was in overdrive, carefully shaping and measuring each piece of leather to size before putting all of the pieces together. He had almost forgotten about having company all together until he heard a chuckle from behind him. He almost ignored it until he realized who was in the room and stopped to check on the progress of the plush. But to his amazement. It was done. Notably quite sloppily, after his guidance the rest of the build was done without any extra help. But Darlet had sufficiently shaped out all of the parts and stuffed the doll unguided. "How do you like it Petey? I think it looks just like him. All lumpy and misshapen. It will fit in well with my collection of misfits pretty well." Darlet spoke with a sense of pride. 

"Well, I can say it is definitely lumpy and misshapen. For your first try, and for such a big plush. You did really good! A bit more practice, and you could be pretty talented at this yourself." Peter was overjoyed at the enthusiasm Darlet had shown for his craft. He almost wondered why he didn't do plushes more, although in the back of his mind he knew Velveteen would consider it a waste of his talents. The fact it made someone happy gave him a warm feeling in his chest. "Oh, your jacket is almost done. Do you want to come see what I have so far?"

Darlet hugged the orange Remil plush to his chest, causing it to sag slightly in his arms. "Damn right I do. I'm gonna look so fucking cool tomorrow!"