Meet Sparky, my first softie.

My little boy is really into robots right now.  There is a pbskids.org game from Word Girl that has you build a robot...he's hooked.  So, he asked me the other day to make him a robot toy.  I've wanted to try my hand at softie making, and so I decided to go for it.

We began by sketching out some ideas.  Little boy knew he wanted certain important features like a square body, gloves on the hands, and an antenna.  He also wanted a circle head, but we decided aesthetically, a square would be better.  He helped to color the sketch:

I wasn't sure where to begin, but I remembered Larissa at mmmcrafts had a free Molly Monkey pattern, and I decided to do some research.  Although robots and monkeys have little in the ways of similar anatomy, Larissa's clear instructions helped me to know how to put my robot together.  (I'm also planning to make a Molly Monkey for Baby when she turns two this summer.)

This was a lot of fun to do.  I just let my imagination run wild.  I played with grommets and ricrac, appliques, and embroidery, and my boy is thrilled.  The head and body are denim, the arms and legs regular cotton.  I also added his name, so there would be no arguing about who's toy it was. 

 The hardest part was turning those skinny arms and legs, and then stuffing them.  All three older children helped to stuff this guy, and then I hand sewed the openings closed with a baseball stitch.  Thank goodness for Larissa's instructions! They were invaluable for constructing a softie.

 Best of all, my little guy has a new friend. 

Sparky was marked as a favorite over at Blue Cricket AND featured on Tatertots and Jello! 

Linking up with Somewhat Simple,  Blue Cricket, Women Who Do It All, and Just a Girl,  KoJo Designs,  A Few of  My Favorite Things, Tatetots and Jello, The Idea Room, The Girl Creative, and Delicious Ambiguity and SSB Mondays.