While She Naps

A Collaboration: Forest Creature

Last week I posted about a collaborative project I am working on with Kristy of Fog and Swell. We sent eachother some fabrics that we will both use to make forest creatures and ocean creatures. Here is my pile at the beginning of last week.

Kristy started with ocean and made a stunningly beautiful crab with the red and pink hand-dyed linens we are using.

Photo of Kristy's crab by Kristy of Fog and Swell.

Photo of Kristy's crab by Kristy of Fog and Swell.

Today I finished the deer that I made from the wool and flour sack forest fabrics. 

I will send him across the continent to Kristy and her crab will come to me. Then I'll make an ocean creature from the red and pink linen and she'll make a forest creature from the wool and flour sack. I'm really excited to see the two forest and two ocean creatures together. Creatures created with the same fabrics by different hands, the two of us thousands of miles away from eachother, but tied together by a shared passion for creating soft toys. 

I really encourage you to reach out and propose a collaboration with someone you admire. The interaction and the challenge is fuel to the fire. 

A Collaboration

Grey whales by Kristy of Fog and Swell.

To me, one way to continue to push your creative boundaries is to reach out to other artists and collaborate.  For a long time I have admired Kristy's work on her beautiful blog, Fog and Swell. Kristy interprets her seaside surroundings by creating softies that are beautifully detailed with thread, visible stitches, and vibrant hand-dyed linen fabrics. Her sea urchins and whales are just amazing and whenever I see a new piece she's made I just look and look and keep on looking. 

Roosevelt Elk by Kristy of Fog and Swell.

A few months ago I emailed Kristy to ask if she'd like to embark on a collaborative project with me. I didn't yet know what it would be, but I knew that I wanted to work with her and create softies together. I was so pleased when she seemed excited about the idea, too, and we went back and forth figuring out exactly what we wanted it to become.

This is what Kristy sent me! These sweet starfish hang in my studio now.

We decided to pick two themes: ocean and forest. She would select some fabrics for us to use for the ocean and I would select some for the forest. I dyed brown wool with black dye to create a striated effect and sent her a piece of it, along with a piece of old white flour sack with gray type. She sent me beautiful linen in three shades of red. 

And here are our fabrics together, waiting to be transformed.

We will now both get to work. We will both use the forest fabrics to make a forest animal and the ocean fabrics to make an ocean animal. And we'll post about it periodically to update one another, and you, on our progress. My hope is that collaborating with an artist that I truly admire will push me to create something new, something I love, something that employs fabrics I might not normally choose. 

When our pieces are completed they will be for sale: two ocean creatures (one by me and one by Kristy), and two forest pieces (one by me and one by Kristy), tied together because they use the same fabrics and are being made at the same moment, but different in that Kristy lives far away from Boston (she is on the west coast of British Columbia) and we work in different styles.

I don't know how this project will take shape, but I know that it will be interesting and I know that I can't wait to see it all together. 

If you are smitten with a particular artist, maybe someone you've admired for years, why not reach out and collaborate with them? At the very least it will help to stretch your skills, form a new friendship, and build excitement for your craft together.

Kristy, thank you for working with me. Happy sewing!

Comfort Crafting

I had a crazy week last week so I made a bird. It's like crafting comfort food.

I've put her in my shop.

I'm hoping for a quieter, more focused week this week. I've got writing and sewing deadlines before the kids are home on vacation.  Wishing you a productive week, too!

cut-work lace bird

Last night the Wellesley Women Artisans group got together for craft night.  We learned how to decoupage glass plates from Laurie and generally had a really nice time chatting together.  I love craft night!

My friend, Elizabeth, came armed with a huge box full of vintage sewing patterns for me!  And tucked inside was a plastic bag full of vintage linens, including two pieces of ivory cut-work lace. 

This morning one piece became the wings for this bird.

Something I love about making birds is that almost anything can be used for wings. I've never tried gathered lace before, but I love how much body this piece had. The stiffness allowed the wings to easily extend, making the bird look like she is about to hop.  

I've put this one in the shop now. Crafty friends are the best!

welcoming fall

October is here. I spent the morning making a velveteen pumpkin for my shop. I'm getting excited for fall baking and fall hikes, apple picking and scarecrow making.

winner of the X-ACTO giveaway

Thank you for entering the X-ACTO knife giveaway!  The winners are...

Beanie and Susan

I have already sent you both emails requesting your mailing addresses. Once I hear back I will put these lovely "craft knives" in the mail to you.

Have a great day!

P.S. I have a really cool interview in the works so stay tuned.  It has something to do with this post!

bird ornaments

Now in the shop.

Hemostats Explained

Hemostats are my very favorite softie making tool. Also known as surgical forceps, hemostats are a wonderful tool for easily turning softies right side out and for stuffing them firmly. I use my hemostats so much that I've developed a callus on the forefinger of my right hand!

In this short video I demonstrate how I use my hemostats and I show you my hemostat collection, explaining the pros and cons of each pair.  As I mention in the video, hemostats are available for free at hospitals (they come in suture kits and are often thrown away so ask a doctor to save a pair for you!) or you can purchase them online through doll and teddy bear-making websites like this one. And for an in-depth explanation of how to turn a softie right side out, here is my post on turning softies from my Elements of Soft Toy Design series.  

 

 

Little Bird in Flight: A Free Sewing Pattern!

I made a little felt bird in flight and I thought you might like to make one, too. Pretty as ornaments for the holidays, or hanging from a branch for a mobile. Simple to make with a few scraps of felt and some embroidery floss.

Here are some birds made up in different colors.

To make a white bird, you'll need:

a scrap of wool-blend felt, about 6 inches x 12 inches

a tiny scrap of brown wool-blend felt for the beak, about 2 inches x 2 inches

embroidery floss in black, about 18 inches

fiberfill stuffing, about 1 ounce

coordinating all-purpose thread

monofilament or metallic thread to make a loop for hanging

 

Okay, let's get started!

Download the pattern template, print and cut out. From felt, cut two body pieces, adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance and cut two wings and one tail (no seam allowances needed).

Mark and cut a small slit in each body piece.

Make two small folds each wing pieces, like a tuck, and press to hold.

Insert a wing into a body through the slit. Pin. Stitch across to close the slit. Repeat.

Fold the wings up inside the body. Pin the body pieces together. Set your machine to a small stitch length (setting 2 on my machine which is 13 stitches per inch) and stitch around the body, starting and stopping under the tail.

Trim the seam allowance to 1/8 inch. Clip the curves. Turn the bird right side out and stuff firmly. Close the opening with ladder stitch (see my post here for more on how to close an opening).

Press the wings to smooth them out. Pin the tail to the underside of the bird, hiding where the opening was. Stitch in place by hand using small backstitches.

Fold the brown felt in half and press. Place the base of the beak traingle on the fold and cut out (no seam allowance needed). Put a bead of glue along the fold and press the beak to the bird, pinning it in place until the glue dries.

Draw circles for the eyes with a disappearing fabric marker. Use one strand of black embroidery floss to stitch the eyes with satin stitch.

Thread a needle with a single strand of monofilament or metallic thread and take a stitch through the bird's back. Tie off the thread, forming a loop for hanging.

  Set your bird free!

*And if you'd like to try your hand at more fabric bird patterns, there are 16 patterns for birds in my book, The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make and Sew!

 

Winged Migration: A Group Show at Bookhou

I am thrilled to tell you about an upcoming group show I will be part of in Toronto this summer.  The show opens at bookhou June 29 and runs through the month of July.  It is called "Winged Migration" and will feature birds by me, Gennine Zlatkis, Margaret Oomen, Arounna Khounnoraj, and Abigail Brown.  I'm thrilled to have my birds side by side with the work of these talented women artists! 

For the show I wanted to make some bigger birds in wool felt that stay true to the kinds of toys I've been making in the past few months.  I chose to focus on penguins because I love the penguin pattern from The Artful Bird and I thought it would be really neat to set them up all together, like a family, inviting the people who visit the gallery to imagine a narrative between them. 

 

I changed their eyes from embroidered eyes to halved felted wool balls.  There are three adult penguins, two chicks and three eggs. 

If you are able to be in Toronto in July, Geninne is teaching at workshop at Bookhou on making your own handcarved stamps!  What a fantastic opportunity. You can sign up right here!