Dino Rolling...

I buckled down and finished Steggie, the pull dino I started in this post.  I had sewn 99% of his body, and just needed to add a bit more fluff and then sew closed his tail.  Then I sewed on buttons for eyes.  He was pretty cute!  At this point the rolling stand needed to be constructed.  The directions asked for a 5x7 piece of wood, which is the default size for an unfinished wooden plaque you can get at any craft store.  I happen to have a wood worker in the family, but this piece was inexpensive and already constructed, so I only asked for his help drilling the holes in the sides for the wheel axels.

Then the wheels, axels, and plaque needed to be painted.  Since the fabric of Steggie's skin was red with brown details I decided to paint the surfaces a chocolate brown.  My son even helped with the painting.  I used a gloss finish acrylic paint so it would be a bit shiny without requiring a clear top coat.

After everything was dry I put in the wheels and axels and then added an eye screw to the front of the plaque.  To this I tied a piece of ribbon.  The end by the plaque I hand sewed so it wouldn't slip, and then the other end I added a bead with a knot on either side so the bead would stay put.  The ribbon was dark blue with a red thread border and the bead was brown to match the stand.

Lastly I took the other sides to the velcro and glued them in line with where the feet would go.  I mentioned in my original post that the velcro pieces were probably too big, and the feet were a bit of a pain to sew.  So, the velcro pieces weren't lined up the same and matching them on the stand does look a little off, but oh well, that's how handmade goes sometimes.  My advice would be to use smaller pieces next time, perhaps more square in shape.  Well, so the glue didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped on the glossy painted surface, so my handyman tapped in tiny nails to hold the velcro down, which was definitely more functional.

Steggie is on his way to his new home in Germany.  The recipient's mom is a blog follower so this ruins a bit of her surprise, but I wanted her to know what to expect since he will be showing up in a box in two pieces.  Hopefully her little walker will enjoy pulling him around.  I can say our son got to play with Steggie for a couple days and he pulled really nice, even at toddler speed.  He could make the jump from hardwood floor to a rug without any issue.  Now I'm torn about whether I need to make another one...