Lucas' bear

A childhood friend of mine had a request...

To make a bear out of an infant 0-3 month sleeper.

Not one to back away from a challenge, I accepted.

Meet the bear.

It was a side zipper onesie with this on the stomach.

I had considered putting this on the belly of the bear, 

but the belly pattern has two darts, one on top and one on the bottom. 

I didn't want the top dart to go into the Tigger face. 

Turns out, it probably would have been okay.

Accompanying the outfit was a knitted hat and mittens. 

The hat of the bear is from the mitten. 

I wet it, stretched it out and put a pompom on top.

I unraveled the second mitten and knit the scarf.

The bear pattern comes from  Abby Glassenberg's book,

Stuffed-Animals-From-Concept-Construction

I LOVE this book. I love her patterns.

The lesson with this pattern is joints.

The best part?! The neck is jointed to the body!

No fiddling with sewing the head on.

I LOVE it.

But alas, my doll joints were too big for the arms and legs, 

so I had to use button joints. 

The eyes are safety eyes with a felt circle on the back. 

The little eye brow did a lot in giving him a little personality.

I am looking forward to making this bear again, but with an enlarged pattern.

It will be made from her late father's corduroy blazer.

That will be fun, with proper jointed arms and legs.

This is a wee one to be sure.

Hope all is well and cosy where you are.

We finally have a bit of winter here today.

Cold temps and all.

Bunnies!

Last year, I made this guy

Check him out here

And this past month, I made a girl.

(please excuse these photos. 

New cell phone camera, pressed for time and space and no chance for retake)

I did enjoy making her and her reversible dress.

So much so, I made another boy too! For a wee baby and his bigger sister.

 It was so lovely to sew for me! Something that wasn't mittens. 

I spent the day adding details, revelling in the hand stitching because I had the time to do it.

Do you like them? You can make your own.

Bunny pattern can be found in Abby Glassenberg's book

Stuffed Animals

Ciao,

Amanda

Here come da bunny...

I finally got this guy put together.

 I love his matching pants and ears. And his watch. He's a busy bunny

Do you remember me lamenting about my sweater hill?

Well, after several attempts that were interrupted by storage bins in the city, not here,

2 weeks of the winter plague and working....

 It's finally clear!!

Whew. I can breathe in here.

Those black bins under the table were the biggest ones I could find. 

I wished they were clear, but they got the job done.

When you live in a small town with nil shopping, 

you take what you can get when you run around in the city.

And the bonus of setting up this table is another work surface. 

My sewing table needs considerable attention that I'm not willing to do today.

Must get some firewood. Can you believe it's snowing here? Wet snow, but snow none the less.

This little guy doesn't seem to mind.

Ciao,

Amanda

Bunnies in a basket WIP

I spent 2 glorious days in my studio.. playing. Exploring, taking my time. Enjoying the process.

Wanna see what's ready for some hand sewing?

This little one is compliments of Abby at While She Naps, Sophia, the Bunny.

I need to work on the ear positioning. I think it shows more like a yoda or something. 

Ear and eye positioning is very important people!

I used a beaded sack in the bottom as she suggests. It has a nice clunk to it when you put it down, but the stuffing makes it oh so squeezable.

 Next up is Betz White's Cashmere Bunny. I've made this before here with fleece and experimenting with the tail. This soft cashmere version is great. I forgot to show you the ears. It's like the heart. And it will have a little felted wool bead as the tail.

 And lastly, in my bunny making, is this little lad from Abby's book, Stuffed Animals.

I was so excited to finally make him. He's been in my brain for far too long. I love that his ears match his pants. I wonder what kind of face he will have??

 That's what's been in my basket. Hoping to do a little finishing on at least one of them tonight.

Please let the children go to bed in a timely manner before I get too tired! :}

Have a good one

Amanda

Stella the Owl

I bought a new pattern from Abby at While She Naps.

I've bought quite a few patterns from Abby over the past year and I have to say, 

again, they are fabulous! Here are a couple:

Owl Lovey

Beastie Bag

This time, I bought Stella the Owl. It's going to be my go to baby gift. I didn't really have a designated one before, this is it.

A friend was overdue so I sewed one up in non-gendered colours. 

 The day after I finished, she had her baby girl! So I sewed this one up for her instead.

 I love the little bitty owl nesting in mama's wings. I love that the wings are not stuffed. I love that the inside of the wings are the same as the main fabric.

  I've said it all before, but it bears repeating! Abby's pattern writing is very clear and the pictures are a great aid in sewing it all up. I bought her new book Stuffed Animals. I look forward to spending some time learning as I go with her detailed patterns. Each pattern teaches a new design element. When I get to the end of that book, I'll know I can conquer anything in the sewing world of softies!

To go along with the baby gift, I'll be sending these itty bitty baby socks! Aren't they adorable?

They're from Stephanie at The Knitty Gritty Homestead. She had a giveaway some time ago and I won. Her mom made these teeny thangs. About size 0-3 months. I love them so much, I think I need to knit some for my own stash. See, inspiration is everywhere. And so is leftover sock yarn!

Ciao,

Amanda

Owl lovey

I've talked before about making things from the amazing Abby Glassenberg.

Here is the bear beastie bag, duck bag, caterpillar and butterfly and chick and egg reversible toys that I've made before. I even adapted the chick and egg pattern to make this angry bird.

This time, I tried the Lovey Dovey.

 In the softest of fabrics evah. 

Once again, Abby's patterns are very clear, precise and lots of pictures. It was the first time I used a gusset. It's not scary at all. 

I'm keeping my eye out for other soft fabrics to make a different animal next. There are four different animals in this pattern set. Great deal!

We're all a little under the weather here. Not enough to put you in bed to rest, but enough to not want to do anything, just relax, but the guilt factor gets you up to do something. I highly recommend Riccola throat thingys. Cured me a few times today and it's tasty too!

Have a good one,

Amanda

duck bag

This cute little dude or dudette is a pattern from  Abby of While She Naps

I've made many of her things before. Here's the  bear bag.

I used boiled wool for these. Better known as a wool coat. After making the bear bag with one, I went to the 2nd hand shop and saw this yellow coat and a hot pink one! The piggy will be made next.

Happy St. Patty's Day and may ye find a glass to raise to blessings!

Amanda

Abby's Beastie Bag

 There's nothing like a request for a birthday present to get the fingers sewing. (That and the sun streaming trough my studio windows)

I was in the mood to make something different and used this time to make the 

Bear Beastie Bag by Abby at While She Naps fame.

 I've sewn from Abby's patterns 2 or 3 times now and have a good sense of how she writes.

 Her patterns have a lot of pictures and details. It's always a good idea to read the step in full before you start or you might make a few mistakes. (ahem) As such, my lining didn't lay as flat as I would like. But it's still ok.

It was fun. Took about 1.5 hours. I'm sure the 2nd time around, it would be quicker. I'm going to do the dino next. Some nice green boiled wool. Oh, this one was made from a beige wool coat. 

In other news from here...

the tooth fairy made a visit. It was quite an intense evening. The tooth would loosen a bit more, then the realization that it could be pulled out. NOW. Who would do it? Daddy? But was she ready? Laughing, tears. Finally, one more tug from her and it fell out. No tears. Notes were written to the tooth fairy and put under the pillow. The tooth fairy did not disappoint on the first tooth. Now the one next to it is wiggly. Oh boy.

One of the treasures at the flea market in Lunenburg was this portable type writer. Many song lyrics, famous and Rafael made are being typed up. As well as a love song to this mama. Be still my heart. (But he can't remember the tune. There sure is a lot of "ooo, mama mama mama" in there.)

For Neve, it's a lesson in  "it can't be perfect". The newest popular tool and most misplaced around here is the tape corrector white out. Much improved from the bottle of intoxicating liquid white out. Now THAT was messy.

Well, nice to have lunch with you. My home made seafood chowder was delish, thank you very much. Off to make some more. I have some exciting opportunities happening behind the scenes. I just have to make sure I do them!

Cheers,

Amanda

New Bird?

Today, I looked outside and was startled by this big bird sitting on the bird feeder!

 Then he was found on the wood pile.

 Rafael was wanting something new. Restless, small town, I want something different, kinda new.

I had this idea since I made this chick and egg,

Pattern from Abby Glassenberg

A few minor adjustments and the Angry Bird was created.

 Instead of the egg...

I made the other side a PIG!

 It was really fun to make. But I did spend a fair bit of time hand sewing the eyes, beak and snout on. I'm sure I could do it faster next time. Should there ever be one.

 Thanks Abby for making great patterns.

In other bird news...

We were so happy when the drake came back to the pond with his mate.

 He sporadically visited our pond, swam, quacked up a storm and then left. A few days ago, he brought a friend. They stayed a few days and even got brave enough to eat from the bird feeder left overs. It was kind of cool to see the bully blue jays fly off because the ducks were coming.

And thus ends the bird sightings for today.

peace,

Amanda