Bear Tutorials Coming in March

Okay, I am a really bad blogger girl.  I can't believe it has been over a year since I last put something down on this page!  I have been busy.  I am blogging today because I am trying something new.  I have made a kamillion tiny things over the years, so many it's impossible to count.  Dolls, doll dresses, ornaments, tiny animals, clothes for the tiny animals, etc.  I am feeling at this stage of the game that I want to bring other people into my world - to get them inspired to create something fun via sewing.  I have been sewing since I was 11.  That's a very long time indeed!  Starting 3/1/2016, I am going to be putting in my etsy store tutorials for things I make.  I am going to start with the tiny critters, bears first.  I will have patterns and tutorials for them and their clothing, hopefully growing quite a catalog.  I hope to expand into animals other than bears, and maybe some doll things as well.  I want people to have fun, to enjoy sewing, to make something cool, and for it to be challenging enough, but not so difficult they get frustrated right off the bat and throw their hands up.  So that means, I will be doing things with a lot of detail.  Photos!  Lots of photos. I hope to offer things you might need to complete your projects as well.  So, stay tuned.  Join me if you want, and let's see what you can do!  

What To Do About Elephants

A client asked me recently if I made elephants. I have been busy making little animal dolls as part of my own line of tiny stuffed dolls since November. Rats are my true love, stuffed animal-wise. I really am that odd :) But, actually I have come up with quite a menagerie. I have also made a pair of foxes, a cat, some bears and mice.

Can I make elephants? I wasn't really sure. I started one over the week of Christmas, but didn't like how the trunk came out. Obviously, on an elephant, the trunk is pretty important.

I did a switcheroo with the trunk I had made, and well, that was really all that was necessary. I liked what I had made. That's always a good thing. This little girl is called Teena. She is the same size, body-wise, as the other tinies, so will wear the same clothes.

Since those bodies are not super fat, I gave her kind of a circus dress and bloomers to fill out her look a bit. She has a blue and white striped neck ruff to fill her out even further.

She is made from a lovely cream distressed German mohair. Her limbs and inner ears are a cream and Christmas red polka dot print. Very holiday-esque, but also keeping with the circus type thing that I think of when I think of stuffed elephants.

Okay, so now I make elephants, too :) I really like her. The rats are not overwhelmed by her, because other than her trunk and inner ears, she is just their size. By the way, the bigger elephant and some of the pillows in the photos are from Paula of SweetRedCottage. She makes charming stuffies in a larger size, perfect for cuddling.