There's a bear in there!!

A couple of Doll Club meetings ago, I was given a box with a half-made bear inside. It was hand stitched, but there was no way I was going to continue this way! I'm a machine user, and only hand stitch out of necessity. I machine stitched over the existing hand sewing, for structural stability - just in case....

His head wasn't yet attached, and since he had no instructions with him, I just had to guess on things such as where to put the eyes and ears, as well as arms and leg positions. Mum had some safety eyes and noses, and I am happy with my final choices. His ears are a bit wonky, but let's call that character, OK?? Not sure if he was supposed to be jointed at the neck, but it fitted onto the body, so I stitched them together. It worked quite well, I think...

I didn't realise quite how big he was until I started stuffing! He's around 60cm tall, and is made from some kind of short acrylic fur that mimmicks sheepskin. A fluffy bear, he is not... ☺️ There must have been a reason for this fabric choice, but goodness knows what it was! It's only redeeming feature is its ability to hide all my hand stitching....

Anyway, here he is! 

He is going back to his original owner. I hope she loves how he turned out! 

BUGS!!!

I like bugs! Well, the design and beauty of bugs, not ACTUAL bugs.... 😊

While looking for silhouettes for my bag, I found some really nice bug designs. I decided to try reverse appliqué on these, as they have quite a few intricate elements and pointy bits. 

I think a cushion will be the final result on this one. I found some black for the body and used a gold satin for the bug, all with raw edge appliqué.

So far, so good!😉

This grasshopper is teal lining fabric....

And lastly a spider from velvet with red sequins. I really like this, as it gives it some texture. 

After trimming up the fronts, I decided to add a web to Mr Spider. I had some silver thread, and after a couple of guidelines, off I went! Turned out quite well, I think!

Once they have a cushion inside, they really pop!

Must decide which items I'm putting in the show. I'm fast running out of time, so time to stop playing and get to it!! 

Dutch wall quilt done!!

I finally finished the binding on the Dutch themed wall hanging.... Yay!!

This will be going into the Canning Show with last years quilt, in the same category! Oh well, I suppose it doubles my chances... 😉

Callista, a free pattern...

This is a free pattern I printed years ago. I had already made the body and started the clothes, but didn't like the way it looked, so it got shelved. I found her again, and decided to finish her up. She can still be found here - dollmakersjourney.com/callista/  This is how she is supposed to look....

And this is my version:

Firstly, I took off the skirt I had made and removed her legs. While they were off, I added the shoes and ribbon laces. These were glued on, since this is not a play doll I didn't see the need to stitch it. :)

Then I painted eyes and mouth, and while I had the paint out, I also added some panties (since you can see right up her skirt). I found the funky yarn I had planned to use for her hair, changed the fabric and the design of the clothes and continued on. Finally, she gets some wings and a hanging loop, and she is done! I did change the design of the wings, using a commercial one rather than make it from the pattern. I just thought it was too big and stiff, and the others were smaller - plus I already had them on hand!

Another finish, and I'm feeling good!! ;)

Oh deer, another bag... or two?

Deer silhouettes seem to be everywhere at the moment, on cushions mostly, but I had a bag in mind. 

I searched google for some free clip art, found some variations of a deer heads that I liked, blew it up to A4 size. I used this as a template on some visoflix, ironed it onto some fabric, cut it out, ironed in place, ran some stitching around it and finished the bag. Job done ;)

Trying the same idea with another silhouette that I saved. There are numerous designs that could be used - keys, other animals, shoes, etc - but I chose a pair of scissors....

Same fabric, different dimensions. Thus one is much larger, with two pockets, one with the scissor motif, the other just plain.

More fabric used up! Yay for me!! :)