This is my latest experiment ~ I wanted to try for a bigger octopus, but I goofed on the proportions. The scarf covers the extra piece of material I added in, the hat covers the holes where the eyes originally were, and the mittens gave a little more length to the tentacles. When in doubt - accessorize! Also I got to use the plastic egg eyes that I got from my secret santa (along with handy tutorial.)



It doesn't show well here but the pompom I made on the hat was from multi-colored yarn (yellow, green, blue) so the mittens actually pick up those colors. I did make all the accessories, in retrospect I probably should have made a pattern at least of the hat

I will have to get better at taking pictures - they just don't seem to capture it quite right.

Wow he looks like he is ready for Canadian winters. 

He certainly has character and I could see many great fun jokes with a octopus ready for winter, maybe a play even.

Thanks for sharing, it is great to see that you are sharing what you are using your Secret Santa materials with. 

Daryl H

Hes great. i love the fleece that you have used for his body. Here in England i have found it hard to find some interesting fleeces to use.

i love his look. nobody needs to know about the odd mistake here or there. Afterall that can just help create the character of your puppet.

keep up the good work

Spam

Wow Pletoo, he really looks awsome!!! And like Daryl said, he would be perfect for our Canadian winter.

Photos never really do justice to our creations, believe me. You really did a fantastic job. I just feel like cuddling him to keep warm. Did you decide on a name for him? Maybe he could work on the snow plow business dressed up like that LOL!

Great work, give yourself a pat on the back. You have learned alot from this experience and did a fantastic job while hidding really well your mistakes.

Puppet hug,
SHould

Thanks all I had debated putting swimming gear on him instead (goggles and an innertube would have covered up the same mistakes) but it is winter in Wisconsin and the furnace has gone out upstairs leaving no heat in my sewing / computer room and the thought of warm accessories was appealing

The eyes are a bit far a part but it works for him. It is certainly true about the eyes adding a layer of personality.

The fleece was just something I found at Walmart, it is a navy base with lighter shades swirled through. It is one of the few remnants that I have picked up knowing exactly what I would make with it. The variations in color are more pronounced in the pictures, but I still am very pleased with the effect.

My niece has dubbed him a "polarctopus."

Here is another picture showing the underside of his tentacles. It was another remnant that I picked up somewhere, but it was such a nice contrast. Using remnants certainly makes my creations one-of-a-kind but it does make it harder to even think about selling them (the green pirate octopus was made as a gift, but this one I HAVE to keep.)

Pletoo -

Wow!! Great character!! I really love the "artic" + "octopus" combo....very unique.
It's something you wouldn't expect, but it works!! Great idea!!! The mittens are a
perfect touch to his character design. You mentioned a few imperfections
you felt he had, but with a little ingenious accessorizing (the hat and scarf) I think
it really added to his overall look. Keep up the great work!!

Ran

Ok, now i am in love with Polarctopus!!! LOL He is just too adorable! That new picture is really a great one. He really seems soft and cuddly. A great addition to any puppet lover.

Great work once again Pletoo!!!

Huge puppet hug,
SHould

I LOVE him!  Especially like the mittens!  I wish I could borrow him for my preschool during 'O' week.  We learn about octopuses during that week and the octopus puppet that I have is not nearly as cute!  Great work!!

Heehee I thought Polarctopus was pretty witty for an eight year old

Yes, he is as cuddly as he looks. I had fun coming up with different colors to make 4 different pairs of mittens, having the multi-colored yarn helped. (I was so glad to have a use for that yarn I bought that would make sort of wild hair.)

I am sure preschoolers would enjoy him, I know my 4 year old niece adores him and tells me all sorts of stories about his adventures.

As far as patterns go, he is pretty simple, basically a head and jaw, with a sleeve that goes up and attaches to the inside of the mouth, it serves a dual purpose as a lining and a mask to hide your arm so it isn't visible through the tentacles. The tentacles are just rectangular strips of material, the top layer is wider than the bottom so that it wraps around a bit, I just make a curve around the bottom edge while sewing and trim off the excess (which is much easier than starting out with shaped pieces and trying to line them up properly.) They can be sewn directly to the lower edge of the jaw, but I like to sew them to another strip of material which then attaches to the jaw because it is easier to have the legs already attached to something while going around the circumference. I added a pipe cleaner (with cotton balls glued onto each end to keep them from poking out) along with the polyfil as I stuffed each leg, which adds just a little bit of an ability to bend them.

I was excited at how the hat came out (it was a rectangular piece, and I cut six arches into one long edge and then just sewed it together like darts.)

Thanks again for all the compliments.

Well, my rat that I mentioned elsewhere is taking form so I thought I would post him here (he is nowhere near my orignal plan but I am still pleased.) He has a back opening and I haven't decided yet whether I will make legs or if I will make a crate to put him in (like Oscar the Grouch's trashcan.) My niece has informed me that he needs clothes, oh and a tail too (but I haven't decided whether to use the grey for a furry tail or the pink for more of a normal rat tail.)