Posted on

Lion Monster


This didn’t quite turned out as I imagined, but here it is anyway.  I asked my five-year-old to draw something for me to make into a stuffed animal for her birthday.  She quickly drew this “lion monster” and I used felted sweater, fabric scraps and felt to put it together.

Sewing with felted sweaters was difficult for me and I found it hard to avoid this lumpy look without overstuffing it.  I think it would be helpful to use iron-on stabilizer when working with sweaters.  I cropped this photo intentionally because my construction on the bottom is terrible!  It helps me to think of my awful hand sewing as folksy and quaint, rather than messy and uneven.  Whatever works.

Posted on

Kimono

It was International Day at the children’s school today so our girls represented Japan.  The five-year-old wore this kimono, made with a $5 piece of fabric from IKEA.  And the three-year-old was really excited to wear a Hello Kitty shirt!  For the kimono I used a bathrobe to figure out the pattern pieces and changed the shape of the sleeves.  It managed to work out that the bottom hem and sleeves were selvedges, so no extra sewing.  Then I used some raw silk for a sash.  I was surprised at how easily this came together, which was a good thing since both children have been sick (and grumpy) with strep throat this week.  Ugh.

Posted on

Handmade Toy of the Week

I’m already thinking about things to make for the holidays, so I thought I’d feature a handmade toy under $50 each week.  By buying a handmade toy you are supporting an independent crafter, likely getting a safer product than what’s on the shelf at big stores, and giving your child a one-of-a-kind gift.  And you can pretty much avoid batteries and television characters.  So I’ve created a page here with some resources for handmade toys and tutorial links for making your own.  I’ll be adding to this list regularly, so check back.

This week’s featured toy is the Baby Gnome Doll, made of recycled materials by Shannon Jefferson of projectgrabbag and available at Craftsbury Kids for $22.  She also has some other great plush toys at Craftsbury Kids and a lovely shop over at Etsy.

Posted on

Ladybug

This ladybug was a gift for a two-year-old whose name happens to rhyme with “lady”.  So this is her little bug.  The thing about making plush toys is that you don’t quite know what they’ll look like until you get them stuffed, which is why we have a few Land of the Misfit Toys experiments around here (this, for example).

Perhaps I should have given this little bug some legs.  Although I changed the shape a few times, I still feel that it came out a bit too bulky.  She can always use it as a football.  I used a recycled cashmere sweater from the thrift store for the belly and under the wings.  I grabbed some other sweaters and hope to make some stuff for the girls next week.  So, more recycled projects to come.  And as always, more experiments.