The Christmas Elf

I decided to be an Elf maker for a day, or two....It's Christmas after all, and this year since I have a thing for Elves I'm not making a Gingerbread house, or Pinata. Instead there is going to be an Elf who doesn't give out sweets and isn't made of sugar.

So I thought I would just make up my own sewing pattern, and this did sort of work out. Except the finished Elf didn't look exactly like the pattern I tried to draft. My Elf took on a life of his own...His face is made from the fabric left over from Humpty Dumpty, and the rest of him is made out of Christmas scraps of fabric.

This little Elf was supposed to have a bigger head. and this was cut out with more of a roundish shape to it. Except all this changed when I appliqued the hearts and mouth upside down on the face and the head was already sewn onto the body. I had no patience to start all over again so instead I re cut the head shape out again  on the body which made it much smaller.

Also my other problem was the Elf eyes, I forgot to sew them on in a contrasting thread which I really wanted to do. But before you knew it this 'Imp of an Elf' was all sewn up and glued together. Too late to change anything now. So I glued the eyes onto the felt circles and let him loose in the garden...and what a naughty little Elf he was!

Bells, glue, clips for the Ric-Rac...Buttons for the eyes and
silver fringing around the neck

Golden thread laces for the Elf shoes...

Garden antics of the impish Elf!

'Sorry no room for Elves, twos company threes a crowd...

Is that really me? Who else has sewn Elves this Christmas?

Have a Merry Christmas everyone....

Toot Toot it's a Little Tutu

This is Andy and he's modelling one of the no-sew tutus I have been making (his waist is just the perfect size). Yes that lavender and purple netting was in my stash too. I really don't know why I bought it I had no plans for it...It was on special at Spotlight years ago and like the 'moth to a flame' I  bought it!

There are lots of tutorials on the Internet for no sew tutus. Pinterest is a good place to look too...The tutorial I chose and really liked was on the Paige and Brooke blog. The tutu blog post can be found here. My knots are not as good as they have done on their tutu (they look so dainty). I think my netting is too stiff.  On the second tutu my knots where a lot better...

Do you want to know about Andy?...poor thing he has felt pen on his head, and his embroidery cotton is all thready, and there is a water mark on his head. Someones stolen his hat!  He's been dragged about that 'Andy Pandy'. He's a 90's boy rag a muffin man. We won't talk about 'Raggedy Anne' she's stuffed in the linen cupboard with half her hair pulled out. She was never as popular as Andy.

The Sewing Pattern I used to make Andy was McCall's 5567. If you ever find one it makes a good sized 36"Andy Pandy and Raggedy Anne.

The two tutus...one on Andy and the other
on the bush in the right of the photo

 Andy Pandy in his rather crumpled hat.
Raggedy Anne  with her  8ply wool hair.
What a big mistake that was it fell out
when she was played with...

McCall's Crafts 5567

Old Rag Doll McCall's 5514

This is a easy to make 24" vintage rag doll.
She's pretty old now, made by my daughter.
It has to be my most favourite rag doll....

I really love her ripped calico hair and her
black snap fastener eyes

This is how the hair is sewn at the back...She's
rather messy because she's been played with...

Her soft legs bend so she can sit.
Her babies missing, probably
in a toy box somewhere

A vintage pattern well worth making...if
you see one snap it up! 

A Lovely Lull

There is not much sewing happening in my little patch of paradise.  That's because I think there hasn't been a lot of time lately or has it been because I'm so full of so many ideas that I'm getting nothing done..........I'm always just thinking about What will I sew next?.........If I wrote up my list for my sewing projects it would be so daunting (that doesn't include the heap of mending) I wouldn't want to look.........Where do you start?

But I just can't help adding to the 'I'm going to make this sewing pile' so my list of things continues to grow.........I  think I've become a bit addicted to acquiring sewing patterns.  I just keep buying them!  My latest one is for a rag doll, it's the Happy Chibi Doll by One Red Robin. You can check them out here.

Rag Doll sewing pattern with a Japanese influence