Yesterday, Lily and I watched My Neighbor Totoro which she declared her new favorite movie. It’s a sweet, gentle Japanese anime film featuring a mystical forest creature — the totoro. After we watched the movie, Lily decided she needed a totoro of her own. As her first sewing project, we made a pattern and then stitched up and stuffed our version. Lily did most of the stitching and all of the stuffing. After we were done we realized our totoro needed eyes (would have been simpler to add that before sewing!) and a bow, since she’s a girl. Lily was delighted with the result, and I was so proud of her for sticking with the project even when it seemed difficult.

Lily's totoro