Spring Cleaning

Ok, I definitely need to do some Spring cleaning around the house. Don't know if I'll actually get around to it or not, but at least I acknowledge the fact that it needs to be done. ... It's still the thought that counts, right?

Well, at least I'm going to try and get my craft room cleaned-up. I need space to make more stuff!

To try and accomplish my task, I'm having a Spring Cleaning Sale at my etsy shop, www.fun4me.etsy.com. During Spring 2010, I'm offering free shipping to the US!

I currently have over 20 dolls/plush that need a loving home!

As a bonus for also checking out my blog, I'll give you back 15% of the cost of your purchase. Just type in BLOG15 in the "Message to Seller" box when you checkout. I'll refund you (thru PayPal)15% of the purchase price.

Stop by, browse, shop, tell a friend, tweet, whatever!

www.fun4me.etsy.com

Baby's Pet Pals

While pregnant with my little girl, I decided that I wanted to make her something that she could play with and drool on that was just a special little something from Mom for her. What I came up with were these little critters.

I really enjoy coming up with new patterns and I knew I wanted this one to have a variety of looks all in one, so I drew up a basic body and head shape that seemed to work for a bear, a bunny, a cat and a dog. I changed the ears on each, and voila, I had 4 different patterns in one! I even gave them embroidered tails on their bums.

When my son was little, I learned my lesson about having to constantly bend down to retrieve toys, so I liked the idea of being able to use ring links to attach them to whatever apparatus my baby might happen to be occupying at the time. I was going to make arms and legs out of looped ribbon, but found that the bottom on these dolls is just too narrow for the legs to look right. I opted to have arms only and I'm really pleased with the way they turned out.

They range from 5" to 6" tall and are just right for her little hands to hold onto. The pink bunny is my favorite, so of course that's the one I kept to give to my sweet little girl.

I listed the others on my etsy shop and have had good feedback on them from other mothers who bought them. I also wrote-up the pattern, Baby's Pet Pals, and have it available (http://www.fun4me.etsy.com/) so you can make them for your little lovie!

These were super easy to make and I did get a little carried away, but now I know what I'm giving as a gift at the next baby shower I go to!

Mr. Fuzz

Ahh, Mr. Fuzz. What do you say about a guy that looks like this?

Well, I guess I could tell you that this is nothing like what he was supposed to look like. He was meant to have a wide mouth and two big teeth sticking up and I was going to embroider his face instead of using the safety eyes and nose. Of course I didn't quite think all that through when I made his face out of "furry" fabric.

I've come up with the solution to make the top half of his face out of the same cotton fabric I used for the inside of his ears and the bottoms of his feet. I figure this way I'll be able to attach/embroider everything that I wanted to but still have somewhat of a furry monster plush. Yes, I've come up with the solution, but I've also since come up with several other designs I want to make so the next version of Mr. Fuzz has been put on hold. I still plan to get back to him, some day...

Even though Mr. Fuzz didn't turn out quite as I expected, he still makes an awfully cute plush and could even double as a pillow at nap time!

Moopsie?

So while still feeling good about having made my first doll pattern, I set to work with my imagination and made a new design for a plush animal. While in the drawing stages, it was going to be a bear, then I changed my mind and decided that it looked much more like a hamster. Well, by the time I was done with it, I decided that it didn't look anything like an animal known to man (not known to me at least).

I even went beyond my comfort range, and apparently skill range, and made several curved seams. I thought that would give it a unique look and feel. And let me tell you, not everything that looks good on paper turns out the same once you've sewn it. He turned out pretty good, but man, was he something of a pain to pin and sew.

I never did write up the pattern to make a Moopsie. Maybe I thought it was too intimidating to do all the tweaking necessary to make it really do-able. Nah, it was definitely having to do the pinning and sewing that was the turn off. I think he's cute as all get-out tho - maybe I should pull out that old pattern and see what I can do ...