Mooncalf (inspired by the Harry Potter Series)

Sometime ago I became the adopted mother of a Baby Mooncalf that had been separated from its herd after dancing under a full moon. I had fully intended to insure that this shy little creature was restored to its proper home amongst its own kind on the next full moon. Months later this still had not happened, until finally one night I was able to coax him out into the night. The last thing I expected was to adopt yet another mooncalf. But this is exactly what happened and I couldn't be more happy about it.

At the time of making my first baby mooncalf, over a year ago now, there were surprisingly no patterns available to make this sweet fantastic beast. Even more surprising is that in doing a more recent search, there are still no sewing patterns available to make a mooncalf. So I returned to my original pattern I designed myself. I do think that the first small version I made using this pattern turned out quite well actually.

Back then I designed the pattern by starting with a basic body shape I was happy with, adding to that an extended neck and slightly rounded larger head. The feet were a bit more tricky, in order to get a more webbed like look I used the Cornish Pixies feet as a guide. The shapes for the ears, tail and eyes were easy enough to draw and my pattern was complete. Only for my baby mooncalf I used buttions for the eyes which was a simple alternative for a plush that size.

This larger mooncalf was made in the exact same way and with the exact same materials as my first. The only exception to this is that for this larger mooncalf I instead sewed the eyes on using needle turned appliqué, the eyes were then also stuffed a little to give them a more round shape and a black safety eye was added to the centre of each for the pupil. This larger mooncalf was also given a mouth, something I did not do for the smaller version as it would have been too fiddly.

The baby mooncalf I made previously was only 4.5 inches tall, but this larger version is exactly double this size measuring 9 inches in height. This larger sized mooncalf made the job of turning out the feet so much easier then it was with the baby mooncalf, as seen by comparing the feet of each below. I also really like the wide eyed look of the larger mooncalf as it stares of into the distance in search of moonlight.

While I am very pleased with the pattern I created and the two mooncalf creatures made from this pattern, I am a little sad that there is not a bit more love in the world for this adorable yet shy creature. Newt Scamander's text Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them does not do these majestic creatures justice, however their appearance in his suitcase has seemed to create greater appreciation for these lovely, shy beasts.