aha! Look what I found when I was reorganizing my yarn stash. I knit this little helmet (as the pattern refers to it) from a vintage Patons magazine last Winter for Oscar. I wasn’t very pleased with it because it seemed so big and boxy and, well, helmet-y. But I wasn’t taking into account the fact that his head would grow! Now it fits perfectly and looks pretty darn cute. So I finished off the tassle and ties last night and voila, instant gratification.
Since I started making dolls and stuffed animals I’ve been wanting to make something more abstract. This is what I came up with. I was inspired by the Omiyage I made. Also by this tiny round clay doll from a book at Kitty’s Oriental Craft Shop on ebay. I was also very inspired by the army of cutie birds by Jill Bliss and the beautiful dolls Rosa Pomar creates out of such stunning fabrics and trims. I really envy her wool/cashmere blends and William Morris fabrics! The medium I chose to work in is cut up grungy kids clothes from the 70s.
I filled her with heavy lentils on the bottom and then clusterfill to puff her out. The lentils do the trick! She’s perfectly weighted for tossing around. Just ask Oscar.
I made this quilted bag last night and I’m really happy with it. And not just because it’s pink! I had the outer fabric and lining picked out, the flower made, the shape cut out and then at the last minute it occurred to me to quilt it. yeah! I’m all jazzed up to make a hundred more now. Next time I think I’ll splurge on one of those fancy magnetic snaps, put some batting in the straps as well and maybe make the shape deeper.
Here is a slightly fudged version of the flower in the Rowan babies book (thanks for the tip Claire!) I think the key to cute in a knit flower might be the fuzzy yarn.
a few more flowers I’m messing around with
I am a superstar. I was able to (for the first time in my short career as a mother) coax Oscar back to sleep after he woke up from a super short napper. hooray! So I used my extra free time to finish this Pretty Princess paperweight from the Omiyage book. This is my second one. I made the first for my 14 year old niece as a “good luck at high school” present. I’m sure she thinks I’m a wacko. This one is for my husband’s desk so all his co-workers can think so too.
I made another little pillow doll to hang out with the skinny bunny. I made him out of a soft blue lambswool sweater I found at the thrift store and a vintage healthtex tee. I think I’ve achieved the correct balance of height, width and stuffedness. He’s the perfect little pillow. I had some trouble making him look like a puppy and not just a bunny with bent ears. I hope the big nose did the trick!
I was walking by the Magic Tree bookshop on the way back from the local yarn shop when I spied this book, The Lonely Doll in the window and it seemed so familiar that I went in to check it out. The black and white photographs of a cutie doll and bears were intriguing and I’m sure we had it when we were kids so I bought it. I got it home and read it and good grief!!! The lonely doll has no friends and creepy “Mr. Bear” shows up at her door to be her friend and then spanks her and little bear for playing dress up. Grumbles little bear “isn’t it just like a girl to cry because she gets spanked!” Then she’s afraid they’re going to abandon her but she apologizes and they promise to stay forever. The conflicting user reviews on amazon are interesting. Some remember it so fondly and others are freaked out by it. I’m somewhere in the middle. I think it’s just representative of it’s time. copyright 1957 says it all.
A captivating gang of 24 huggable, lovable creatures to sew—from classics like Margot, a topsy-turvy doll, and the button-jointed teddy bear Bjorn Bjornson, to irresistible Evelyn, a wool felt inchworm decked out in mod glasses and a kerchief, and Koji, a fiercely cute spiked softie monster. There’s something for everyone here—from kids to grown-ups and from beginning sewers to advanced dollmakers. Published by STC Craft, August, 2010.
