Going into the Happy Stacker project, I had my doubts that I would finish even the first ring. Why, you ask? First off, there’s hand stitching involved and anyone who frequently reads this blog knows that I don’t care for hand stitching. Secondly, the construction is much different that what I expected – I envisioned that it would be sewn together in a much ‘simpler’ fashion, instead, there’s sewing inner and outer gussets, turning pieces inside out and sewing part of the piece, etc. And let’s not even get into all that circular sewing! I’m happy to report that I put my preconceived notions aside and made one ring:

I started of by sewing the first ring, I figured it would be the hardest to construct (I have more difficulty sewing on a smaller scale). I hand stitched the inner gusset, but not trusting the strength of my stitches, I went back over it with the machine – Easton is already a bit rough on his toys so I’d hate for him to find a way to rip open a ring and pull out all the stuffing. I also found that the instructions weren’t that difficult to follow either – even though they were different than anything I’ve constructed before. Actually, it’s quite cleaver how they are sewn up! With one ring down, I have 4 left to go – maybe this will be done before the beginning of next week after all.