Snow Folk

As you know, Christmas is right around the corner!  Some of you might not want to hear that right now, but for those of you who like to give hand-made Christmas gifts to your family and friends, now is the perfect time to start working on them!  I wanted to create a special gift for my mom and dad this year, so I came up with these little Snow Folk ornaments.  I can't wait to see them hanging on their tree, along with the other ornaments I've made for them over the years!

 With their smiling faces and cheery accents, these little ornaments are sure to brighten up any holiday get-together!

Snow Man and his wreath, decorated with seed beads and sequins.

Snow Lady with her Christmas tree, also decorated with seed beads and sequins.

I'm happy to announce that I am now offering the pattern to make this adorable couple in my shop!

Have a lovely week:)
~Shelly xo

Cloth Kitten Pattern Winners!

Hi everyone!  Thank you all so much for entering the draw for the new Cloth Kitty pattern!  And many thanks for all your lovely comments, I'm so glad you like them!
The lucky winners are:
Chantal Gregory
Jeannie Gan
Sweetpea (Christine)
Pamela Robbins
Wolfmom2ac (Dawn)
Brenda Churchwell
I've sent each winner an email with the pattern attached, hope you all have fun making them!

The patterns are now ready and available in my shop!
xo

Cloth Kitten Pattern Giveaway!!

Oh my goodness, it's been so cold and wet here these last few days, but it's perfect weather for sewing!  For my latest project, I decided to do something a little different - a cloth kitten with a painted face.  I traced the facial features onto the face with a Pigma Micron 005 felt pen (it's waterproof) and then, once the kitten was all sewn up and assembled, I used regular acrylic paint to colour in the features.  Once dry, I gave the painted areas a coat of Textile Medium to make them permanent and washable.  They could also be painted with fabric paint.
Of course, I couldn't just stop at one, I ended up making four of them!  From left to right are:  Clover, Chloe, Cleo and Clara.  Aren't they dear?  I just love their sweet little faces!

Each little kitten looked very cute in the buff, but I know how much little ones love to dress and undress their dollies, so I made each a very simple dress from pretty, light weight cotton and added a matching bow which is mounted on a button pin to make it removable.  I then decided that they each needed a little bag in case they wanted to tuck something special inside:)

Cleo in her birthday suit:)

Various stages of making the kittens.

All the kittens have been adopted and are on their way to their new homes, but for those of you who would like to make your very own kitten, you'll be happy to know that the pattern for them is almost ready.  I just have to put the finishing touches on it so that hubbs can put it into pdf format and it'll be ready for my shop.

Now for the fun part...  If you'd like to win a free pattern, please leave your name and email address below and I'll pick five lucky winners on Sunday, October 21! 

Best of luck to you all!!
~Shelly xo

Free Pencil/Glasses Case Pattern!

Here's a little special something for you to make!

 These pretty cases are perfect for keeping your glasses safe, or holding pens and pencils.  They're easy to make and you can download the pattern pieces here.

What you'll need to make one case:

9 x 6 inch felt in main colour                                         9 x 6 inch felt for lining
Scraps of felt for bunny/dog                                          Embroidery thread
Pinch of stuffing for bunny tail                                      Seed beads for dog collar
Button                                                                             Water soluble pen
Exacto blade

:  Cut our your pattern pieces and lay each piece onto your chosen felts.  Carefully cut out.  Tip:  A sharp pair of long-nosed embroidery scissors are perfect for cutting around the tiny curves on the bunny and dog.

Doggie case 

:  Position dog body onto main colour of bag front.  Applique all around outer edge.  Using your water soluble pen, mark a little eye and a tiny snout.

:  Embroider eye and snout on with black thread, adding a tiny white stitch to his eye to create an illusion of light reflecting off the eye.

:  Place ear onto head and applique on and then position collar on and applique on.  If you like, sew three seed beads onto the collar.

:  Pin both pieces of bag front as well as both pieces of bag back together.  Baste pieces together.  This will keep the front and back pieces from sliding out of place when you sew the two sides together.

:  Blanket stitch top edge of bag front.  Pin front of bag to back of bag.

 :  Blanket stitch all the way around outer edge.  Remove basting stitches.

:  Sew a button onto the front, fold over flap and mark button hole placement.  Being very careful, cut slit with your exacto blade.  To keep the hole from warping, blanket stitch around opening of button hole.  And you're done!

Bunny Case

:  Firstly, you'll need to determine the placement of your bunny in order to know where to place his back ear.  Position bunny onto main colour of bag front.  Tuck the back ear behind the head so that the head just slightly overlaps the bottom of the ear.  You can also use the front ear to help with the placement.  Once you're happy with the placement, carefully remove the body/front ear and applique back ear in place.

:  Applique tail onto body and add a teeny pinch of stuffing before closing.  Applique inner ear onto front ear.

:  Position bunny body in place and applique in place.  Follow the directions above to make the eye and add two little whiskers.

:  Place front ear in place and applique in place.  Sew the bow on at the neck using a few tiny stitches in the centre to keep it in place.

:  As in the first step, determine where you'd like to place the carrot and tuck the carrot greens behind the carrot.  Applique bottom edge of greens onto front of bag.

:  Place carrot onto greens, slightly overlapping bottom edge of greens with the top edge of the carrot.  Applique on.  If you like, use a darker orange thread to embroider some straight stitches on to give the carrot some texture.

:  Follow the rest of the steps above to finish your bunny case:)

Enjoy!
~Shelly xo