Hootie the Hottie

Inspired by my success with Bloop, I set about making a similar present for a Secret Santa gift, though it could be a gift for any time really!

Hootie the Hottie is the result. She's a Snugowl - an interesting creature who sleeps a lot, smells like lavender, keeps you warm on a cold winter's eve, and is generally good for a cuddle when you need one.

To make one like her, you need:

• Fleece in your colour of choice
• Felt to add details
• either a needle and thread or a sewing machine (or both!)
• some dried lavender
• a hot water bottle
• plush toy stuffing (or old clean tights or socks cut up)

Taking my inspiration from my Secret Sant-ee's bedroom décor, I cut out a back and a front in fleece. You need to cut out two of each piece so you can fill these later. They don't need to be exactly the same, but they do need to fit together in the end. In mine, the front has the ears, but the back doesn't.

Sew the two fronts together, turning them inside out afterwards so that the seams are on the inside and leaving a gap at the top so that you can fill it. This bit is fastest on the sewing machine but totally doable by hand also.

Fill the front with some plush stuffing, making sure it's not packed too tightly, it's going to need to be pretty pliable. Then sew up the top so that no stuffing gets out. 

Front

Do the same with the back pieces.

Back

You need to remember that your hot water bottle has to fit between the front and the back so double check at this point that it fits!

Then hand stitch the front and back together, leaving a gap at the top so that the hot water bottle can be taken in and out. You won't see the hand stitches if you're using fleece, so make sure it's sturdy rather than pretty. At this stage you can add some embellishments too though - I added wings by hand stitching some pink felt onto the front.

I also added a square patch to the back - this is filled with dry lavender which smells dreamy when the hot water bottle is hot inside Hootie. 

Then it's on to finishing touches! She'll need eyes (for snoozin') and a beak (for protecting against enemies), which can be hand stitched on in a few minutes, or you could use buttons if you like. Oh and a tail of course, for aerodynamic purposes.

Finally she'd need some feet, you know, just because birds do. Again these can be hand stitched with a little care.

And that's all there is to it! Hootie the Hottie could just as easily be another type of animal if you so wished, but she's a simple soul and a shape which is easy to sew!

The Best Thing I've Ever Made: Bloop

I had to make a special present for Someone Special. And it had to be AMAZING.

Inspired by Child's Own studio's work and Mo, who was made for a friend, I set to work on creating not just a handmade present, but something much more personal.

Based on this drawing by Someone, I set to work on bringing a creature to life, using fleece, felt, buttons, wool and some other bits and bobs...

I made a pattern. I thought that as I only had a front to go on, I could do what I like with his insides and back. He would be fully reversible, and inside-out-able, for reasons which you will discover below... 

He'd need feet.

And a brain, filled with thoughts on a bit of paper (they're not for you to see though). 

The brain comes from one of Someone's favourite books

And a circular double heart of Longing that sits in a pocket in his chest, filled with swan feathers* from swan lake, a shell from Co. Clare, and a lint of friendship ("a lint is a shell's best friend" - Marcel the Shell) - all items with a lot of personal importance.

*no swans were harmed in the making of these feathers 

He would need an old soul. The kind that grannies have.

And a Hot Water Bottom, for snuggling. Plus all those strong pink felt muscles inside for powers of minding.

As his insides took shape, so too did his outsides, with some outside help.

"make it work, designers"

He has the back of a razorback turtle/pig/dragon,

Some sparkle eyes and a distinguished french moustache,

Very stylish wooly hair,

A nose of lavender with tremendous smell detecting/defending ability,

An army patch (from his time in the war),

A terrifying mouth (great for tasting and protecting) and a trendy tie,

And a fluffy back, or a back pack rack, or a flying attack!

And so Bloop came to life... Ready to mind, defend, and snuggle.

A buddy

Here's a little guy I made last summer before I went to Japan. 

 He lives in a different city now...

But he's got an important job to do up there so that's ok too.

Lavender Blue

Some lavender bags I made for presents...

The patterns are from Sew, a Cath Kidston book, that I got for Valentine's Day.

dried lavender from my Mum's garden

My sewing skills aren't all that wonderful yet, but they do smell nice!

A Tea Dress

I'm not going to lie, this is purely a gloating post. I MADE a dress. Oh yes. Out of fabric and zips and needles and threads and other amazing stuff (such as wundaweb...). ME!

Now I just need an occasion to wear it at. Exciting times!

Free dress patterns here (plus other cool stuff): http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns?free=1&most_recent=1

The one I made is called a "Danielle" dress.

Operation Procrastination

"Ahhh, a tea set," you say. Yes, you'd be right there. A toy tea set that I received as a present and that I love, but which, alas, mostly lives on my shelf. So, I began to think of more useful uses for it...

Tea-cup pin cushions! 

With my trusty glue gun at the ready, a pair of old tights and a scrap of material, I set to work. I glued the cup and saucer together, cut up a pair of old tights, wrapped them in a piece of material and glue-gunned the ball of tights and material in place, taking care to tuck in any stickyoutty bits before glueing. You could sew the ball together first, but as I had the glue gun to hand it was the easiest thing to do.

Eggcup pin cushions would very cute too I think, and quite inexpensive. I used old tights for the filling but you could also use polyester. I went with the recycling option; socks would do just as well as tights though, plus you'd get the benefits of exterminating the "lone sock" phenomenon...

The teapot is next... A button-holding teapot? Hmmm.

Buried Treasure!

Arghhh me hearties, what's this that's been dredged up for the depths of my aunt's cave of wonders? Only a Singer Sewing Machine! Well! Ok, to be honest, she gave it to me ages ago and I said, wow I love it, and then put it away, never to be seen again until now... because, as I've already mentioned, I can only really stitch things back together, not really sew things.

However, inspired by my new sewing kit, I have salvaged it from the wreckage and am going to clean it up, get it fixed and make something from scratch! Madness. I must get some parts though so don't expect an immediate ball gown or anything! 

P.S. it's 106 years old and was made in Elizabeth in New Jersey! I love that the internet could find that out for me!