Gary the golfer

Fox turned one at the end of the year so I made him a doll.

Gary has a garish golfer jumper, plus-fours, Argyle socks, a Titleist cap and a pair of classic golf shoes; two tone brouges with the flappy bit and spikes.

Pattern by Abby Glassenberg 

My Mum made him a little set of golf clubs, not for playing with, just to amuse the adults! They are made from thin dowel, fimo clay and insulating tape for the handles. 

And yes, that is zombie fabric in the background. My daughter ordered it from Spoonflower along with a pink brain pattern. She reupholstered an ottoman with it. It looks really pretty until you get up close. She also quilted the brain pattern so it's really nice to touch. Hmmm, brains...

Another doll finished

I'm announcing this as if I've been really productive. The truth is that this is the doll I cut out months ago! But he's finished now.

I love sequins!

I have a guilty little secret. I love sequins. I used to do ballroom dancing, just social not competition level. But I would have loved to have worn a Latin style backless dress covered in sequins! Sadly those days have gone but I still get satisfaction from sewing sequins on things.

My sister brings these kits over from Miami when she comes to visit. Look, I haven't even finished the first one and I've already started on the next. Story of my life!

 

 

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Lion

I've been over to Sydney to see my daughter and left the lion with her. Yes, she's 27 and no, she doesn't have kids but she wanted this lion so I made it for her! He is very cute!

His mane is six different yarns, predominately a variegated wool so there is lots of colour. I love the look but it took ages, sewing and tying each piece. I'm very pleased with the outcome though. Becky said that lions have tufts on the end of their tails so I added a tuft to his tail.

So he needs a name. Any ideas?

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you got what you wanted from Santa. I got what I wanted. A sewing day! There is only Mum and me here this year so I suggested that we spent the day making up the toys we started months ago.

I took my sewing machine to Mum's house and started on the lion I cut out in July. This is from Abby Glassenberg's book "Stuffed Animals".


Mum finally cut out her doll and was very pleased with her pretty face. Also an Abby Glassenberg design.


I made a Palangi version. Here's what we achieved in a day.

Amigurumi gecko

The first week of the school holidays has been a wash-out for me. I bruised my leg falling out of the bath about four weeks ago and the bruise turned nasty. It turned out to be cellulitis and I've had to sit with my leg elevated for a whole week - plus a couple of doses of intravenous antibiotics. Not fun but at least I had a chance to try a new hobby. Here is my first amigurumi toy, a gecko.

And here is a shot before he got his sequins.

 I think I need to work on my tension and also I read somewhere that you can do invisible increase/decrease stitches so you don't get holes and bumps. This is 8-ply acrylic on a 4.5mm hook. Mark II will be an improvement!

Oscar the elephant

I was very excited to receive my copy of Abby Glassenberg's book 'Stuffed Animals'. Even though I'm on a tight deadline to get things finished for the show, I couldn't resist making an elephant. Meet Oscar.

He's made out of brown polar fleece with batik ears.

I love Abby's designs. He stands up very nicely due to clever design. And can you see his mouth? It's details like this that make all the difference.

His toenails and tail are grey felt, just because that was what I had and I was impatient to start. I had to go shopping (imagine that!) for his eyes so I tried out some different colours. Firstly, I tried the same colours as in the book, grey eyelid and orange/brown iris. Not right! So I tried the dark brown iris. Better. I also bought some green to match his ears but that didn't look right either. Then I tried a dark brown eyelid. Bingo!

This is a lovely book. So many photographs! You can almost follow the instructions by just looking at the photos. Almost, but not quite. I'm not good at slowing down and reading instructions but I was a bit confused about what to do with the mouth. I had to resort to reading and I have to say, the instructions were very clear. I should have read the instructions for inserting the ears too. I cut the slit too big. My mistake!

I love all the notes on pattern design and ideas for making the softie your own. There is so much information in the lessons and extra notes on adapting the patterns. I've got some great ideas for my next elephant.

My challenge quilt is almost done. It washed and blocked and beautifully flat - difficult considering all the bias edges when you paper foundation piece. I just have to add the binding. Also the clown is just about finished. It's been a productive school holidays. All good things come to an end though and it's back to school tomorrow.

Timmy Dog

I really want a dog so I made one!

This pattern was designed by Abby Glassenberg. It's incredibly clever! I learned a lot about sewing accuracy, clipping and stuffing (I would do it better next time) but even given my slapdash approach, it turned out great. The darts in the underbody and shape in the pieces made even my sewing look good.

This is where the opening in the underbelly was, between the arrows. I started sewing the ladder stitch at the right hand side without reading glasses, found my glasses when I got to the join in the brown fabric and finished it with much better stitching! I should have unpicked the first bit but I didn't realise I could get it so good until I had done about half of the rest.

I enlarged the pattern from A4 to A3, so doubled. This shot gives you an idea of the size. You can also see that I've stencilled 'dog' on his head. I have used fabric paint, Derwent Inktense blocks, Fabrico pens, rubbing with crayons on net, onion bags and other stuff my flowers were wrapped in as well as stencilling with crayons. Then I've added scraps of wool tweeds and organza. It's a lot of fun to make.

Timmy Dog is curious.

Windswept model shot!

I also bought a bird made by Abby. Here's what happened when they met...

Hello! I'm Timmy Dog. What's your name?

I'm Little Birdie. I was made by your designer, Abby Glassenberg.

Nice to meet you Little Birdie. Will you be my friend?

OK.

Timmy Dog and Little Birdie in their house (aka The Bookcase).