Meet Henry the Horse.
This red and white Henry was the final prototype I made before sewing the actual toy featured in my book (see photo with dolls below). Many, many prototypes were sewn before him. But when I stuffed this particular toy, I knew I had the pattern I had been striving for.
Henry was inspired by an illustrated toy horse featured on a vintage birthday card I stumbled upon years ago. I don't actually have the card - just a tattered page with a picture of the front of the card. Like many of you, before the advent of Pinterest, I used to print and pin "inspiration" to my bulletin board. This horse was literally pinned years ago!
I really wanted the toy horse pattern in my book to be reminiscent of this sweet horse above. Simple and timeless. Perfect for boys and girls of all ages. And I am happy with the result.
I adore this horse in red and white fabrics. But when I looked at my collection of toys as they were all nearing completion, it seemed like I had a lot of red fabrics.
So for the book version of Henry, I used blue and white corduroy instead. In my opinion, he looks just as charming.
Truth be told, the blue and white combo was inspired by my sewing chair.
And now I can't help but think of this toy horse whenever I see my chair. It makes me smile.
Obviously, this horse looks great in any color - solids, ginghams, or spots!
I hope some of you make a Henry (or two).