More adventures in felt

The success of the felt bear has inspired another project. This time I have made a little felt doll.

I have no idea where the idea for this doll came from - I just decided I wanted to make one! She has a felt body stuffed with polyester stuffing. She is 14cm (4.5in) tall.

  Her hair is 1-ply acrylic boucle (bought from a miniatures site a very long time ago).

Her dress is Tana Lawn Liberty fabric with a pink satin ribbon.

Not bad for a prototype! With a few tweaks I hope to get it right....

Ah well, time to stop experimenting and start making some things to sell! The inspiration is lovely but sometimes I wish it wouldn't all turn up at once! 

Adventures in felt

For some time, I have been thinking about making bears in different fabrics. This week, on Thursday to be precise, I suddenly decided that I would give it a go. And since I have a rather substantial felt hoard this seemed the ideal experimental fabric.

Here is the outcome of my experiment. 

He came out really well. Yes, I am surprised by that! It always takes me by surprise when things work out first time! 

I particularly like the visible seams (blanket stitch) as it reminds me of old, well-loved bears who are missing their fur!

This bear is not one of my smallest - he stands 10cm (4in) tall - but I didn't think the felt would let me make a teeny one! 

He is thread jointed and buttons secure the thread. His nose is hand embroidered and he has black glass boot-button-style eyes.

I think this little bear needs a scarf or possibly a bow. Then he will be ready for a name...

Meet the bears... Wedding Bears

I've been so busy with Folksy listings, procrastination and other things that I seem to have been neglecting to give the bears the attention they deserve!

So, it's more than time for another "Meet the bears" feature so here goes...

This time I'd like you to introduce you to The Wedding Bears.

They don't have names as they were made as a commemorative gift for my brother and his wife. It was meant to be a 1-year-anniversary gift but that didn't happen, for various reasons, so it became a Christmas present instead. 

The groom's ribbon tie is the colour of the cravats and waistcoats worn by the men at the wedding and the base is covered with material from one of the cravats!

 

The photo album is a Dateman Books album, personalised with pictures from the wedding day.

Oh, and I forgot to say that they are all miniatures. The bears are about 5cm tall and the album about 4cm. 

These are photos of the non-personalised album that first gave me the idea. The attention to detail is beautiful; there is even a piece of translucent interfacing paper between each photo page just like in a real album.

I was really pleased with the Dateman miniature album and with the overall composition of this piece. My brother and his wife were thrilled too and have a lovely personal souvenir of their big day.

Online selling

I promised to let you know what I'd been up to once motivation returned. So here goes....

I have started selling on Folksy! Yay!

I was going to post this when I had finished the slightly tortuous job of listing all the items I've made. 

But I have made a sale! Only a small one, but a sale is a sale. 

So, since the shop is out there already, I can't really hide it from you anymore, can I?

So far there are notebooks...

...hairclips...

 ...and bracelets.

I'll let you know when I've listed the other bits and pieces. And I suppose there should really be some bears on there somewhere....

I'd really appreciate it if you could visit the shop and let me know what you think!  

Here's the link to my new Folksy shop.

Apologies for absence

Well, it's been a month since my last post and to be honest I have very little to report! For that, I feel the need to apologise.

I could blame the cold that led to the rather trying cough that's been hanging around for a ridiculously long time.

I could blame being rather busier than normal in my 'day job'.

Sadly, that would not be entirely truthful. The cold did knock me back more than I would have liked and I have been busy. But I must admit to it being something else.

I have to put it down to procrastination.

There. I've said it. "I have been procrastinating".

I am quite prone to it actually. I can usually find something I'd rather do: wasting time on the Internet; sorting out my fabric collection; looking through craft books for 'inspiration'.

But I know that I must be avoiding something pretty spectacular when suddenly I 'want' to clean out the fridge, defrost the freezer or sort out the drawers under the bed in the spare room.

These dizzying heights of procrastination are reserved for special occasions: essay writing, application forms, tax returns. And it seems I must lengthen this list and add 'listing items for sale on Folksy'.

Which I know is totally ridiculous. Unfortunately, knowing that something is ridiculous and doing something about it are very different things.

This week, I seem to have turned a corner. Perhaps it is the new month, who knows. I just hope I am over the worst of it, as I have finally made a start. A small start admittedly but a start nonetheless.

Normal service is now expected to resume. I'll let you know how I get on...

Bunting

This week I have been making bunting; inspired by the Liberty Scrap Challenge (here), I decided I would have to give it a go. 

After all, I still have loads of the lovely scraps raided from Mum's collection. I've already made hair clips (here) and an elephant (somewhere on this page) but my love affair with Liberty is far from over. This project has been calling to me for a while!

So here are my first attempts at Liberty bunting...

 

... not bad (though I say so myself)! 

The bottom string of bunting is sewn onto 3mm ribbon with flags at 50% of the pattern size and the top string is threaded onto No. 20 crochet cotton with flags at 40% of the pattern size. That makes the flags in the bottom row approximately 3cm long and in the top row about 2.5cm long.

To be honest, I was really tempted to make them at 25% of the pattern (flags of 1.5cm long) but luckily common sense prevailed (for the time being at least)! 

These were fiddly enough. 

Especially since for some reason I decided to sew the flags on rather than using the iron-on interfacing from the pattern. 

Not entirely sure why. 

Although, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I didn't have any. 

And a trip into town to buy some seemed so much more time-consuming than sewing tiny flags on by hand. 

My logic never ceases to amaze me!

Anyway, after a small amount of mild cursing (having tied it in knots for the umpteenth time), I finally got it all finished, ironed, trimmed and looking lovely. Ready to be photographed.

Of course, the bears had to come and have a play at this point. Only to be expected really. It is 'bear-sized' bunting after all.

I have a feeling that it's going to be hard to separate the bears from the bunting in future!

Sunshine on St. David's Day

I thought about doing a February round-up (as I did in January) but I changed my mind. February has been, for me, a somewhat mixed month. I had a lovely week in Wales with my family and that deserves a post to itself at some point! I have been busy with various craft/selling related tasks but some are not ready to be unveiled, some are to be a surprise and some... well... lets say they haven't made it far enough to be worthy of note!

So on this gloriously sunny St David's Day, I have decided to look forward rather than back. This morning, feeling a little "out of spirits", I took advantage of a spare hour and went for a walk. I remembered to take my camera with me for once and have tried to capture some of the signs that spring is arriving.

The only daffodils flowering so far

Narcissus by a sunny wall

The river Frome

Unfortunately, my camera did not have the capacity to capture the grey wagtail on the river, the lapwings in the field nor the myriad small birds that flitted in and out of the hedgerows. Nor could it capture their song: the cacophony of the jackdaws as they chased each other between the rooftops; the cry of the wheeling buzzard; all the pips and whistles of unknown origin.

But there is difinitely something in the air. The high street, busy as always, seems to have more energy in the sunshine. 

People smile more. They sit on the benches to eat their lunch. 

The shop windows reflect the mood. There is an air of optimism everywhere.

 

My little bit of spring sits on the front windowsill and makes me smile as I sit typing.