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rabbit pattern!

Hello! Just wanted to let those of you who are interested know that I have just uploaded my rabbit pattern to my shop here. Like the doll pattern it's a 10 page PDF that I will email you within 24 hours, so you can print it out at home and get sewing faster. Included is the full pattern & directions to make your own boy or girl rabbits (like these), plus clothes for him or her: a skirt, short overalls and a vest. I really hope you like it. The instructions are quite detailed, so I'd say that it is about a 3 out of 10 on a scale of difficulty. Any questions, please ask. Thanks so much again!

category: rabbits

After changing my mind bazillions of times about which one to tackle next, I have finally settled on getting my bunny pattern ready to sell. It should be good to go in about a week - I hope you will like it! It's been so good to see what has been made so far from the doll pattern, and I've got to admit I'm a little bit addicted to writing these up now. There will be more, I'm afraid, oh yes!

These two rabbits, Jack and Zelda, were made in a wave of bunny enthusiasm, and will go in the shop once I stockpile a few more friends to join them.

Also, if you don't read this in a reader, you might notice that I'm in the process of cleaning things up around here. It's been a while since the blog got a bit of love, so there's a new layout and banner. I'm going to add a couple of new things to the sidebars and have started to use categories. I like using categories on other blogs, and have been intending to do it here for ages. As for sorting through 5 (!!) years of blog posts to add the categories - that can be filed under insane.

thankyou!

Thanks so much for the amazing response to my doll pattern. I've been overwhelmed by how lovely you have all been about it. I can't wait to work on the next one now (probably the kangaroo, but maybe the monkey). I've had a few questions that, if you don't mind, I might answer here just in case there are more of you wondering the same thing.

A few people asked about the difficulty level of the pattern. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is easy, I'd give this pattern a 2. The directions are very thorough, and I don't think there's anything terribly tricky in there.

About sourcing wool felt and flannel. In Australia, beautiful wool felt is available online at Winterwood. I buy my wool flannel locally, but have heard that Spotlight generally stocks pure wool Doctor's Flannel (white, but it can be dyed). They also often have some pretty nice wool blend flannels that work well for dolls too. I'm not sure about sourcing wools outside Australia, but Hillary's very informative post here is sure to help.

For toymaking, I'd recommend not using fabric with stretch or that is too heavy (thick, blanket or coating weight wool will may lead to cursing if you try to turn inside out doll pieces made from it) - flannel weight has definitely yielded the best results for me. If you can't find wool flannel, then linen would work well, too.

This doll up top is one Audrey and I made together one day during the last school holidays. She has a very fetching loud, pink dress that I wanted to photograph her in (guess who selected that fabric?), but I couldn't find it in the abyss that is my children's room earlier, so she has come as she is.

Thanks again, especially if you've made it this far today. I'll be back tomorrow.

poppy doll pattern

Thanks to everyone who has emailed recently about the doll pattern I've been working on. Finally, it's ready. Twelve pages of patterns and directions to make a doll like these, plus two different smocks/dresses and a pair of trousers. I decided to go down the PDF route, and it is available right here. Once you've completed the checkout process, I will email you the digital file within 24 hours. So you can print it out at home and get sewing sooner. Quick, and easy. That's the plan, anyway.

Oh, and one more thing. I have fussed around like an old chook trying to get this just right, but 15 years as a graphic designer has taught me that no matter how much fuss, now and again something sneaks through the proof reading. So please let me know if you find a mistake or if something doesn't seem quite right.

Ok, that's it for the shop talk for now. Promise. And thanks again.

big bunnies, no troubles

I've been cutting out bunnies over here. I think we've finally seen the end of that awful, hot summer. We've had some beautiful autumn weather (although it is supposed to be 34 on Friday, I'm ignoring that) and suddenly it feels like Easter. So, bunnies. Some for the shop soon, hopefully.

This little fellow, though, is an Easter gift for my little fellow. I hope he won't mind that I sewed the elephant fabric on the legs upside down (you know, when he's old enough to notice). I've been trying to scan and redraw all my patterns in Freehand, all professional-like, lately. The best part about having some of them on computer now is that I can scale them easily. So, bigger bunnies. I'm enjoying the upsized toys, and as an added bonus there's been no swearing when turning small bits of fabric inside out, and my family probably appreciate that.

Also, I'm late in saying thankyou for the lovely mention in issue 6 of the always beautiful LMNOP. Also, Jessica over at Balancing Everything is testing my doll pattern for me, and lookie what she came up with! Very exciting.

homespun harold

 

Lookie what's at the newsagent's today - the December issue of Australian Homespun with one of my creatures on the cover (squint! he's the giraffe there on the left!) There's an article inside, including a pattern to make Harold, as well as this nice spread of him.

 

I put this pattern together months ago, and Harold arrived back on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago. An old friend.

 

So, to celebrate his publication and, more importantly, as a small way to say thankyou to you for taking the time to stop by here, I'd like to give Harold away to a new home. Just leave a comment on this post before 9pm, Friday December 5 Adelaide time. Leave a favorite link, a hello - whatever, and I'll use the ubiquitous random number generator to choose a winner. Fun! And thankyou again. I'm so very grateful for all the like-minded, kind and incredible people this blog has led me to these past (almost) five years. Please, comment away!