Christmas Plushies Made

Hey.  How were your holidays?  Mine were a cocktail of quietly happy moments (fireside reading in my fave faux-fur beanbag, mad games of Clue with Beeper, and listening to lots of new vinyl...) and random incidents of crazy frustration (water dripping from above in the dining room and subsequent tear down of half of the ceiling to get at a pipe failure, usual extended-family dramatics, last minute pre-Christmas biz trip to Brazil for my day job...).

I did still manage to whip up a couple of handmade items (and bought  a butt load of handmade from Etsy...maybe will share some of that later because there was so much goodness to give and you may want to know about it)--like the Clothtopus, above.  I actually refer to him as the Magic Rainbow Coloctopus in homage to his color-wheel legs, but Fiona calls him a Clothtopus in her book, Hop Skip Jump: 20 Eco-Friendly Toys to Sew.  I blogged about the book some time ago--here--and today, I would have to name it my all-time favorite plushie-making book.  Really.  I pretty much want to make every toy in there and plan to keep finding children to who I can give these things so I have a reason.

Anyway, I made the octopus for our friend's daughter, Zoey.  She is a curious child and I thought she deserved a little something as interesting as she is.   I used Robert Kaufman's Quilter's Linen, which I love for the color-pop selection and the linen look without all the stringiness of actual linen (am planning to make a couple of sets of my counting beanbags from this same fabric soon--watch my shop for those).

I also have been wanting to make a black cat plushie for Beeper for a couple of years now.  You see, we have a black cat--Socrates--and Beeper is mad-adoring of him so, I thought I would make him a plush Socrates who could travel with him whenever we are away from home since he always misses Socrates like he is his actual blood-brother or something.  

It is a very rustic and simple design--it came from the book, Make Your Own Toys by Sue Havens.  The book focuses on using reclaimed materials to make colorful, mismatched-patchworky-plush--all of the designs are far more colorful than my black cat plush above--which complements the simplicity of the designs.  I really like this book--it actually reminds me quite a bit of my earliest plush designs--but she uses all manner of fabrics (sweaters, tees, shirts) and designs (plaids, stripes, prints) in combinations I never would have thought to.  The effect is very clever and fetching.  I would recommend this book if you are new to plushie-making or want to begin working with reclaimed materials--the designs are simple enough and the instructions are clear with good illustrations.  

 Here's to a new year of inspiring, creating, making, and finding new ways to incorporate a rainbow of color into your life...

Zakka Style (and a Lucky Day Give-Away)

Here it is.  Zakka Style.  The last of the books I contributed designs to this past year.  It is a collection of zakka-inspired projects from crafters around the world, curated by Rashida Coleman-Hale, published by Stash Books as part of their Design Collective series.   

The funny thing is, I never really fancied my crafting style to be very zakka-ish.  Sure, I veer the direction of cute--but that homey sweet look particular to the Japanese zakka aesthetic--not so much.  So, I was a little flummoxed (but pleased too) when Rashida contacted me about a year ago and asked for a submission.  My first idea was to make the spelling version of my counting bean bags--which I did--but they did not make the cut for unknown reasons and that project wound up here.  My next idea was to make the hand warmers you see above.  I was in the midst of a a very snowy winter and having something sweet I could tuck in my pockets to warm up my hands seemed a good idea--and I guess Rashida thought so too since here they are in the book, all happy and cozy there.  I designed them to have removable rice bags to warm in the microwave, so the exterior embroidered pouches could be washed if needed.  Now check out some of the other loveliness in the book...

...patchwork pencil case by Shannon Dreval...

...stem messenger bag by Larissa Holland [Hey Larissa! That bag is awesome!]...

...patchwork ribbon by Melody Miller...

...Zakka Block Quilt case by Leslie Good...

...orchard path tweed pouch by Amanda Jennings...

...sweet sugar cookie sack with playtime cookies by Amy Sinibaldi...

...little pocket pillowcase--with bear--by Meg Spaeth [Hi Meg!  How's it going?  Still love this design...]...

Lovely, right?  And there are many other beautiful projects in this book--24, to be exact--bookmarks, totes, memo boards, sewing kits (one of my favorites--it is on the cover), pot holders, nesting boxes...and even more than that.

Now, if you have hankering for your own copy of this book, I have a little quid pro quo for you, something I would like to get your thoughts on: if I were to put together a book of my designs, what sorts of designs would you like to see in the book--what would it need to have in it to make you want to buy it? Would you want it to have all toy and plushie designs, or would you want it to be a mash up of big people stuff, kiddo stuff, and whatever else...what about the crafting mediums--would you prefer it be all sewing, or again, a mix of sewing and other crafting techniques (sort of like the array of tutorials I offer today)?  Any other ideas or thoughts you have about what you would like to see in a book are appreciated and welcome.   So, leave your comment here by end of day Sunday, March 4, to be in the drawing for a hot off the press copy of Zakka Style.  Just be sure to come on back on Monday when I will announce the winner so you know if you won and can contact me with your mailing address, real name, that sort of stuff.  

And for those of you who are impatient (you know who you are) and just need your own dang copy right now--you can order Zakka Style right here.  Now, off you go...

A Gift for Miss Bean

I made our little friend, Miss Bean, this marker case for a gift recently.  She has just begun to develop an interest in drawing and coloring--her most memorable work to date being the drawing she made on her bed sheets with markers.  Okay, so maybe a gift of more markers was not the best idea but who am to quash early attempts at textile design?  

The marker roll I made for her was adapted from the design in Last-Minute Patchwork  + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson--the design in the book is made for colored pencils so I just doubled the size of the pencil slots so they could accommodate the width of a magic marker, and then made it to fit the number of markers my set contained.  I really like this pencil roll design--I have made it several times and I think it always turns out eye-gogglingly lovely.  It instantly elevates art supplies to being an extra special gift.  The coloring book, Squiggles by La Zoo, is one Beeper loved when he was Miss Bean's age and is perfect for the preschool set.  When I gave it to Miss Bean, she readily got to work practicing her squiggling technique at the front of the book, then moved onto squiggling some very colorful spaghetti on the plate image further in.   Squiggle on, little friend--just not on the bed sheets, please.

A Pair of [wrinkled] Doll Dresses

I made these two little dresses as Christmas gifts for my nieces--that is, for my nieces' dolls.   A dress and a set of button barrettes for each (1 barrette for them, 2 smaller ones for their dolls).   The doll's dress pattern is from Oliver + S Little Things to Sew by Liesel Gibson (love this book--but more about that later).  Liesel designed this little doll dress after one of her other dress patterns for a child--and sewing it made me realize I really could set about making some actual clothes for real life people.  Except for all that ironing involved with making clothing.  There is way more ironing, even when making a simplified doll's dress, than when you make a plushie.  And I hate ironing.  Mostly because I do not do it well--I always inadvertently iron in creases (see above photo for further evidence), or never seem to really get out all the other wrinkles I am there to get out in the first place.  Maybe I just need a better iron or to learn how to iron better or somewhere other than the basement in which to do my ironing--or maybe I just need to keep focusing my efforts on making toys?  

Two Penguins and a Hop Skip Jump Book

This is Arnold--and his friend, Arnold.  I made them both for Christmas gifts--one for Beeper (this ended up usurping my plans to make him that Chewbacca), and the other for a certain little girl I know who has a particular fondness for penguins.   I know.  They are pretty adorable.  That ridiculously long beak, the stocking cap--perfect.   They were mostly made from recycled materials--the black and white wool fabrics were from old suit jackets I thrifted, washed and cut up into useable pieces years ago, the hats are from cuffs of old sweaters I keep in a basket in my workshop for just this sort of thing.

Arnold the Penguin is a design from Fiona Dalton's new book of plushie designs, Hop Skip Jump: 20 Eco-Friendly Toys to Sew published by Penguin.  It is only being sold in Australia today, but I ordered mine and just had it shipped all the way here.  For me, it was completely worth every shipping cent, every red mark against my carbon footprint because I cannot stop looking at this book and thinking about which plushie I want to make and all the reasons I can find to make them. There are so many ways this book  is inspiring me...

I love how all the plushies feel modern and vintage at the same time.  

I love the photos of the plushies and the fabrics Fiona chose for each--as well as the overall styling of the book (inspiring photo styling can sell a book to me--that eye-candy-effect that makes me want to keep looking at it again and again...)

I love the fact that the book focuses on making the toys from recycled or eco-friendly fabrics.  

I love the little accessories so many of the animals have a (the fox with a handkerchief, the cat in a tie, the hippo with a party hat...)--simple additions that make me smile. 

 I love the array of designs, varying in complexity and time commitment.  It also contains designs geared for boys (a robot, a rocket), as well as girls (2 doll designs)--and even babies. 

And I just love the sewing-friendly design of the book (lays flat when open, nice large pocket contains the templates for handy keeping, lots of good illustrated instructions).

You can get a good look at the book here (including the complete list of projects), and order it here or here.  You can also visit Fiona's blog, aptly named Hop Skip Jump, if you have never been and see what sorts of goodness she is up to over there.  Fiona also has a lovely array of individual patterns available for purchase in her little shop, here.  

As always, so much to make, so little time--but this is a good book with which to start your year of hand-making.   

Kids Crafternoon Blog Party and a Lucky Day Give-Away

Here I am, stop number 6 on the Kids' Crafternoon Blog Party--think of it as being a bit like a pub crawl, only with blogs instead of pubs, and kids crafts instead of shots of whiskey.  Yes, Kathreen is at it again--putting together more fantastic books of kiddo-friendly crafts--this time centered on beads and felt.

For this portion of the party, I decided to let Beeper and his friend, Ivan, take over--meaning I had them take a look at the books and pick a project to make for their own personal crafternoon.  They quickly decided upon the Robot Softie by Bianca Brownlow--which was a relief to me since they are 7 & 8-years-old respectively and it appeared to be a simple first sewing project.

Like any good little robot designer, I had them each start off by making a sketch of their robot and any special features they may have--like a yoyo that doubles as a weapon (always handy when bored and faced with a spot of trouble) that Ivan's robot sports , or the cell phone that Beeper's robot keeps handy in his chest cavity (I would assume for quick calls to his mom as needed).

Next, we cut out the felt pieces then I put them to work on the sewing machine--this was their very first time driving the sewing machine and they were naturals.  That is Ivan's mom (Hi Chellie!) there overseeing Beeper's work like a good sweat shop supervisor.

Next, I gave them a chop stick and had them stuff all those narrow little robot limbs--and again, they were pros.  Okay, maybe they got a little impatient with it after the second leg, and I jumped in to make quicker work of it--but still, for having the attention-spans of a tse fly, they were softie-making rock stars.

Et voila!  Their finished robot creations.  The best part was how very proud they each were of their work--Ivan declared he would be sleeping with his tonight.  And then they each took their robots along with them as dates to the Children's Opera performance we went to later.  

But, I suppose you might like to know more the types of projects you might find in these books--so, let me share a few of my own favorites...

From the Beading book: Woodland Beaded Cards by Sharon Baldwin; Lego Jewels by Nicole Vaughan; Push Button Canvas also by Nicole Vaughan; and Freckles Photo Frame by Lisa Tilse.

Oh, and look, its one of my projects from the book--a little bejeweled skull and crossbones tote.  Swanky, eh?

And from the felting book: Stitched Jewels by Cassi Griffin; Zombie Critter Charms by Lisa Tilse; Upcycled Sherpa Hay by Lisa Siebert; and Designer Wallet by Claire Dollan.

Oh, here's my project in the felting book--some simple felt cards.

You can read about the first round of Kids Crafternoon books here, and if you want to continue on with the pub crawl--I mean, blog party--you can party on at any of these swell blogs:

Monica Solorio-Snow from The Happy Zombie 20-Nov

Cate Holst from Go Make Me 21-Nov

Shannon Cook from Luvinthemommyhood 22-Nov

Jennifer Casa from JCHandmade 23-Nov

Kate from Picklebums 24-Nov

Steph Morgan from Modern Parents Messy Kids 25-Nov

Kara Fleck from Simple Kids 26-Nov

Li’l Magoolie 27-Nov

Jackie Boucher from Oh Dee Doh 28-Nov

Bianca from Sadie and Lance 29-Nov

Tricia Hogbin from Little Eco Footprints 30-Nov

Lisa Siebert guest posting at Poppytalk 1-Dec

And, if you would like to get your hands on a copy of either of these books--well, I just so happen to have a copy of each to give-away to two of you.  So please go ahead and leave a comment here telling me which book appeals to you most and whatever else you might want to share.  But you should do that by the end of the day on November 20th and I will try to come back promptly on Monday. to announce the winners (but please keep in mind my track record here--so, no promises)

And just in case you were wondering, the Robot Stuffies spin exceedingly well on the floor--clearly they are gifted break dancers.

You can read more about the Kids' Crafternoon Felting and Beading books over at Whip Up, and buy your own copies of the books here.   And don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be in the running for the book give-away.

Lucky Day Give-Away: Microcrafts

This is a book called Microcrafts, compiled by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz and friends.  The book is a collection of lovely, teeny-weeny crafts of all sorts--nearly every project in here is smaller than a spool of thread, and we all know tiny directly translates to sweet and clever in the crafting lexicon.   The projects are designed by a pell-mell assortment of crafters--one of which includes me (giggling coyly behind my hand, blushing, swelling preposterously with pride, but also wishing you would all stop looking at me now...no, really, do stop now...).

I have two designs in the book, actually--my Bitty Bow Wow (listed generically as Dogs in the table of contents) and all of his itty bitty doggie accoutrement...

...and my Matchbox Monsters (called Monster Babies here) with their little diapers and matchbox bed with a scrap of a blankie to snuggle under.

Oh--but there is more.  Lots more, people.  This book has 25 teeny projects!  The craft mediums range from plushie sewing to book binding to jewlery-making to button crafts to quilling to gardening, for god's sake! Check out a few of my faves...

...the taxidremy-inspired Deer Heads by Katie Hatz...

...the Candy Charms by Mei Pak...

...the Spool Dolls by Hope Watthanaphand...

...the Planets (Pluto included!) mobile by Alicia Kachmar and Melaine Kachmar...

..and what may be the sweetest little fairy-tale-inspired greeting cards ever by Larissa Holland (you know, from Mmmcrafts).  The book includes clear step by step instructions for each project with full-size templates, as well as an appedix with further info on supplies and basic techniques.  And the photography of the projects is really lovely (which may not matter to you, but good photography with nice styling is half of what sells a book to me--it inspires me in a way the project alone would not). I am just uber-pleased to be part of this book.

The book is slated to be released October 4th--you can pre-order a copy right here.  But, if you cannot wait, and are feeling a little lucky, I happen to have a a couple of copies right here that I am giving away.  Yep.  All you have to do is leave a comment here by end of day, Friday, September 30th, telling me why itty-bitty crafts appeal to you, or which project you cannot wait to make, or what was the best teeny craft project you have ever made.  I will announce two winners--maybe on Saturday, but you all probably know me better than to count on that.  Let's just say I will announce the winners some time (in the not so distant future, perhaps).

And by the by, Micrcocrafts is published by Quirk Books--a clever little publisher who puts out some not-so-everyday-sorta-books.  Which I tell you because they also published Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs earlier this year.  I have read it and will be reading it to Beeper real soon because I know he would love it at least as much as I did--and you should read it too.   I believe it is billed as a young adult novel but you should not ever let that scare you away from reading a book because a good book is a good book, no matter which age group it may be aimed at (do you need me to remind you how utterly fantastic The Hunger Games trilogy was and how those were all "YA books").  You can read about the book here, and should, at the very least, check out the intriguing video trailer about the book here.  (and if you are still hungry for more--see the author's fascinating video journal about his exploration of abandoned homes in Europe in order to get video to use in the book trailer--right here...)

Sleepover Pals and Wee Wonderfuls Book

I finally did it--I managed to get something made.  These are the Sleepver Pals from Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love by Hillary Lang. 

  I made them for Miss Bean's 3rd birthday gift since it seems that putting a trio of little dolls to sleep in their conjoined sleeping bags would be something she might enjoy.  And look:

They roll up all nice andy tidy for easy transport and storage--unlike most kiddie sleepovers I have born witness to.  The second I saw this design in the book, I wanted to make it--it's that slumber party in a package that gets me.  I also have a fondness for simple little dolls like these--especially with their balls of hair and those pouffy little sleeves.  

I did make a couple of changes to Hillary's already awesome design--I replicated the felt hair on front and back so I could give them awake faces on one side and sleeping faces on the other side--just because I figured Miss Bean would like that.  I also did not line my pre-quilted fabric since the quilted fabric I chose already had such a pretty fabric on the flip side it seemed a pity to cover it up.  This did present some subsequent challenges which I managed to deal with by binding the edges of the individual sleeping bags with yellow binding tape.  

And there are still about a dozen other doll designs I want to make from this book, like...

...Koji, some sort of dino creature made from corduroy...

...this little elephant as handbag...

...this doll in a kimono with buns in her hair that look like panda faces...

...and Betsy, a cloth paperdoll on a pillow with a little pocket in the back to store her wardrobe of outfits.

I really, really love this book--one of my favorites, actually.  There really are no bum designs in here--they are all lovingly realized and I would enjoy making any of them.  The book itself is really nice too--hard cover with a lovely yellow binding, good illustrated instructions, full size templates in the back.  I read on Amy's blog a while back that one of her girls is so enamored with the book that she actually sleeps with it--which did not strike me as crazy at all because the book is so good it is the sort of thing that makes you want to curl up next to it and fall asleep with it--so it can be close by to inspire your own dreams of doll and plushie-making. 

Like, that maybe one day you could publish your own book, so beautifully-realized, filled with 2 dozen or so of your own designs....you know what I mean?