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Now it's time to make some front paws (hands). We would like to thank
The Stanley Works of New Britain, Connecticut,
for the original glove pattern.
We took an old Stanley garden glove, carefully cut it apart along the seams
and used the pieces as the pattern for Sophie's front paws.
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The pieces drawn on pattern paper, ready to be cut apart
and used as templates for the paw pieces.
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The cut out pieces of the left paw, without the gauntlet piece. The finger pieces and gauntlet are fake fur, and the palm is made of suede. The fur pieces were trimmed with a hair clipper which gave them a slightly darker appearance than the arms, which were not trimmed.
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Steve found it easier to hand-sew the paw pieces together before nailing the same seams down on the Pfaff. This allowed the paws to be sewn on the machine without any pins getting in the way.
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The sewn together paw along with the lined gauntlet piece ready for attachment.
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The lining of the paw gauntlet. The lining helps to protect the delicate skin of the wearer's wrist from the rough back side of the fake fur.
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The finished paws, showing how far up the arms the gauntlets extend.
Steve looks happy with the result. (Boy, was he ever!!!).
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A closer look at the paws. With the suede palm, the gloves can pick up fairly small objects, down to about the size of a pencil.
To see more of our River Otter saga,
click on the Next button below.
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