lots of different projects

I've been busy making lots of different projects recently. First of all, I made a rag dolly for Isla. She doesn't have a name yet - I'm leaving that to Debbie to do.

I had made the same dolly for Emily back in January, 2019. Her name is Sally.

When I made Sally, I promised myself I would never make another one - the pattern was very finicky and I can't say I enjoyed making it. Needless to say, I *had* to make one for Isla. Thankfully, it was much easier to make this time around as I'd written down a few changes to the pattern last time and it was much easier and enjoyable to sew!

Next it was back to the crate of Debbie's bits and bobs. I made up this quilt from a panel. It must be the quickest quilt I've ever made!!

Showing the fabric on the back.

I stayed with Debbie's crate and made up a couple of Christmas tablerunners. These were bits that had been left over from other projects so it was just a case of working with what I had. I'm really chuffed with how they both turned out.

The front:

And the back:

The front:

And the back:

Next it was some pinnies for Emily. One like this:

And 2 of each of these fabrics:

Next I decided to make a few embroideries. These two are now on my kitchen wall.

These 2 will be heading to Joanna's house when it's allowed.

Lastly, today I made a wee tutu for Emily. More of a wee net skirt, really. I'm a bit worried that there's not much of a swirl to it. I have more of the fabric so I can easily make another one for her if it's not swirly enough!

My next plan is to go through the box of bits for dolly's clothes. It's overflowing as it's been a while since I dived in there. I'm looking forward to playing!

Stay safe!

Big Wow and 2 Wee Wows!

I finished the lion for Debbie - or rather for Emily and Isla. Let me take you through the process.

First of all I cut out all the pieces.

Then I sewed the body up as for as I could.

I needed to wait for the stuffing I'd ordered (from Dunelm Mill) to come before I could do more with the body so I made up all the rest of the bits. The tail:

The mane and the ears:

And the bits for the face:

Then I got this wild idea. As I had fur fabric leftover, why not make a mini version? In fact, why not make 2 mini versions? Honestly. I do have to wonder about my sanity sometimes!!

Anyway, I printed out the pattern at 200%. The big lion was printed out at 599% so 200% was going to work out at about a third of the full size so it would finish at about 11" long. Perfect for a wee cuddly lion! So, I cut out the pieces:

Sewed the bodies up to the ready-for-stuffing stage:

Made the tails, manes and ears:

I had enough stuffing to stuff them so I did that and then sewed on the manes and tails.

Then I sewed on their faces and ears and here they are.

OMG Aren't they just fab?

The stuffing arrived for the big lion the next day - perfect timing! - so I got him stuffed.

And here he is with all his other bits attached.

I am sooooooo pleased with him. He really is gorgeous!

As we wait to be allowed to go and visit family, the lions are all lying about in the living room. I smile every single time I look at them!

Now, you might be wondering what the title of this post is about. Well, Emily has a lion hand puppet which she calls "Wow". When Debbie and Joanna and I were discussing what the name of the big lion could be, Debbie said it had to be "Big Wow". Perfect! Then, when I made to 2 mini versions, Joanna said that they just had to be called "Wee Wows". Hilarious!

a blouse, a topper and some placemats

There's been quite a bit of sewing going on here - as usual. Let me show you what I've been making.

First of all, I bought this blouse pattern from ebay. It cost me a whopping 39p plus £1.50 P&P which delighted me no end.

As I was about to lay the pattern pieces on my fabric, something caught my eye about the pattern. Why were the edges not a full black line? They were a dotty line. you can see that in this photo.

I realised that whoever had used the pattern had cut it out on the seamlines. Was the pattern too big for them and they thought that might make it the next size down? I hate to tell them, it probably wouldn't have worked. Sizing doesn't work that way! Anyway, I dug out some paper and taped it all around the edges of the pattern pieces and used my double wheel to add 1.5cm to those seamlines. I am just soooooo glad I realised what was wrong before I cut the fabric!

After all that, I got the blouse made and I have to say I am deeeeelighted with it.

Here's a close up of the spots - they're like little tufts!

The blouse fits me beautifully and I know I will be making many more of these. So well worth the £1.89 it cost me in money and the hour or so in time to add the seam allowances back in.

Next, Joanna asked me if I'd make her a topper for her new trolley so I did.

I used the same fabrics which I used in her window sill topper shown here with a couple of extras added in to get the full circle. I'm really pleased with the way this turned out although the huge black bit in the middle feels a bit bare but the quilting in the rainbow thread lightened it up a bit. And, let's face it, when it's on her trolley, it's always going to have something lying on it so the big black square won't be all that visible!

Here's the back.

I didn't have quite enough of the black spotty fabric so decided to cut it up the middle and add in a strip of more of the rainbow colours. I like this side too!

My next "task" was to make some placemats for Debbie so I made a couple of prototypes to test out a design I'd seen on youtube. The link to the youtube tutorial is here - and the link to the free pattern is here.

I didn't have the 45º triangle ruler that was used in the tutorial so, being a mathematician (a long time ago!!) I drew the triangle myself. It turned out smaller than the tutorial and, to be honest, the placemats are a bit small but they're okay so they'll be used (by us) for now.

When I showed the placemats to Debbie, she confessed that she liked them but didn't love them and would I mind just doing squares. To be honest, I was relieved. Squares are much easier! So, here are the 4 sets of placemats I made for her.

Next on the agenda is the big lion I showed the pattern for here. Originally, Debbie thought she would make it herself but I suggested I could do it to save her house becoming covered in lion fur. Hopefully I'll be able to confine the fur to my sewing room. It's funny how quickly she agreed! LOL

Stay safe out there!