Wednesday, February 29, 2012

bjorn bjornson

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Honey bear.

Made from a mustard yellow sweater I never wore- it fit strangely, and it looks much better as a bear!



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His arms jointed and posable, and that stripy bow? Perfect. I have been saving that ribbon for something special forever.



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Cloudy bear.

Made from a scarf I found a H&M. 



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White bobbin lace bow- I've been saving this one too.



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His arms and legs are jointed, so he's fully posable.



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Blue bear.

Made from a blue sweater that also fit strangely. It seems that my poor sweater judgement leads to gorgeous stuffed bears. Lose/win?



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And another fantastic hoarded bit of trim for the bow. 

I'm totally loving that 2 things I have stashed away get to be together into one amazing project.



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He also has jointed arms and legs that are fully posable.



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Now for sale in the shop!

Monday, February 27, 2012

sleepover pals- new and improved

Before we jump into the photos- I wanted to explain a little bit about the making of Sleepover Pals.

The pattern calls for pre-quilted fabric. But the photo looks like an old quilt. So when I went out to find pre-quilted fabric, and saw how ugly it was- I set out for a better option. I went looking for vintage quilts to cut up. Did I find any? No. But one day while I was at T.J. Maxx- I found a stash of quilted pillow shams. They are the perfect size, and definitely the perfect substitute for cutting up vintage quilts.

The first problem lies with finding cute shams at a discounted price. The first set I made was easy, I found a cute sham, I took it to the fabric store, and immediately found fabric to match it. But the sets after that have been more challenging, as I haven't found an abundance of really cute shams anywhere. I can find plenty of cute ones for full price- $50, and that dosen't quite work. Also, I no longer live in a city with a million amazing fabric stores. I now shop on etsy to find fabric, so it's a lot harder to match stuff.

The second problem was the way the hair and the arms were made. They took forever, they had two sides of raw seams. One is fine, I can attach that side to the body. But the other side is very visible, and I don't like raw seams on the outside of any project. Maybe I'm just a moron and was making them wrong- but after making 3 sets any not getting any better results, I decided that I didn't like they way the pattern was written. So in the end I didn't feel that they were sturdy enough to stand up to little girls tucking them in repeatedly for years and years. Although being round is very cute- it's kinda hard to sew a round ball to another surface in a way that hides the stitches and is sturdy. The first few sets I ended up having to hot glue them on, which I feel is embarrassing and not at all professional. Sorry guys!

So after making that last set of Sleepover Pals for Laura, I gave up. I said that I would never make them again. It was too hard to find shams, the arms and buns are hell to sew. Then I had an idea. In the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep- on how to make the arms and buns better.

I went to T.J. Maxx and found a few more shams. I couldn't believe it- I can't tell you how many times I have been and found nothing. Actually, I can. 6 months. I pulled out a few that I had already gotten, but had not found any fabric to go with. I dug into my stash and found stuff that worked. Again- I couldn't believe it.

And my magical arm/bun trick worked! One seam, still round. And yes, I did glue them on- but with much better glue than hot glue. I want these dolls to last through everything. I want the little girls to save them for their own children. Realistic, probably not. But they need to last until they grow out of them at least, right?

So, there is my story. I will make Sleepover Pals for my shop. But it will depend on whether or not I can get shams. I went through a 6 month period of not finding anything! Also, they really can't be custom. I find what I find, then I base the fabric choices off the shams. They are also one of a kind, unless I find multiple shams, I can't make the same set twice. I have tried to put everything I have into making these ladies worth the effort of making them, and worth the cost to you, so that they last a long time.

Ready for the photos now?

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The little cinnamon girl is my fav in this set.


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This set is similar to the first set I made. I used the same fabrics for the clothes. I got lucky that they matched!



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Yeah- the cinnamon girl is my fav in this set as well!


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I had. THE. Hardest time finding fabric for this set. It seems easy, right?



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I was trying to find fabric that had the black in it too- with absolutely NO luck!




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I got some fat quarters of this fabric- called Sunkissed last winter for a project, but the client didn't like what I had picked, so in the bin it went! But each color matches perfectly- the pink, the orange, the green, the yellow. I was so happy when I matched this set. SO SO HAPPY!!





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Now for sale in the shop!







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Friday, February 24, 2012

sleepover pals for ruby

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Ruby's birthday is tomorrow, and isn't she going to be so surprised when she opens up her gift!




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It was Marci's (Ruby's mom) idea to have the fun colored hair. It worked out so perfectly! I have had this stash of bright bamboo felt that dosen't quite match anything, so it's been sitting for months. I went through my 90 color pile of wool felt looking for the perfect shades to match their clothes, and found nothing. I had almost given up, when I spied the orange peeking out of the corner of my felt scrap bin- and there they were. A perfect match.



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This set of Sleepover Pals is very special, and very unique. I found scraps of this Santorini fabric that has been out of print for years- and if I cut it out very carefully- I could get 3 totally different yet 3 totally coordinating dolls. Don't the flowers look like stained glass? I'm sad I didn't get more of this fabric when it was out.



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They are ready for Ruby to tuck them in, over and over again.

Happy Birthday Ruby!!