Leopold the draft snake November 9, 2009
Posted by Sarah in blue, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, green, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, snake, thrifty, toy, wool.add a comment
I’ve just listed this very sweet draft snake in my etsy store.
His name is Leopold.
He likes: croquet, croquettes and croque monsieurs
He disklies: crocodiles, croquembouche, and crocs
He’s keeping Harriet company at the moment, Archibald will be joining them shortly!
Hazel the ruffled hedgehog November 8, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Craft, buttons, fabric, felt, gift, home made, love, recycle, refashion, sewing, thrifty, toy, vintage.add a comment
My little niece Sofia turns 2 next week, and I wanted to make her a special toy for her birthday.
I found this great tutorial for making a ruffled hedgehog on the lovely blog Matsutake. I’m pretty sure that Katie’s version is much more petite than Hazel, like handful size. But that’s ok, Hazel is more the size of an actual hedgehog, and I like that.
I made Hazel out of a great printed vintage polyester shirt that Mum gave to me a while back. It wasn’t the right style or shape for me, so i’m glad it’s been upcycled!
The purple and black ruffles are made from felt. They took ages to sew on, I didn’t want to have any issues with a little person being able to pull them off and choke on them.
Hazel is in the post and on the way to Sofia now, I think they’re going to make very fine friends indeed!
Wisdom Tooth softie October 20, 2009
Posted by Sarah in book, fabric, felt, gift, home made, sewing, wool.2 comments
I made this little wisdom tooth softie April this year for my friend Lydia, who was having her wisdom teeth removed. Ouch!
I used light blue embroidery floss to make the eyes and mouth, complete with a set of healthy looking teeth.
Of course if you’re going to have a wisdom tooth you need to make him look wise. I looked around on the internet for photos of graduation caps, then made one for my tooth out of wool felt.
And I added a piece of wool to imitate the look of the tassel.
I found the idea in this lovely inspiring book. Yay!!
A gift for a a little man named Felix October 10, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, fabric, felt, flowers, gift, home made, sewing, snake, toy.add a comment
My Niece Amanda and her boyfriend Ryan welcomed their son Felix into the world on the 10th of July this year. That day is also my sister Lisa’s birthday. She turned 40 and became a grandmother on the same day! Special times for us all : )
I’m now a Great-Aunt, and with that title comes much responsibility. Like making really cool toys for birthday gifts. Snakes, for example.
I love the way this photo makes it look like a snake-pretzel : )
Frocktober day 9 October 9, 2009
Posted by Sarah in Frocktober, Fundraising, buttons, clothes, cosy, dress, fabric, felt, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, thrifty, wool.add a comment
My friend Maree came over a couple of weeks back with a pair of woolen pants that she no longer wanted. They were really nice quality Veronika Maine wool crepe wide legged pants. They were worn in a few spots, but otherwise were still in pretty good condition. I popped them onto my fabric pile and left them alone. This morning I woke up wishing I had another woolen dress to wear for Frocktober, because most of my dresses are pretty summer cotton numbers, and it’s been so cold here in the last week. I remembered the woolen pants this morning while I was deciding what to wear. I sliced up the centre seam in the leg, and removed the pockets, waist band and fly. Then I ironed the fabric and turned it into this dress!
There was a little patch on the back heel of the pants where they had been rubbed through and repaired. I’ve put these colourful buttons on to cover up the marks.
Joh and I are heading over to Maree’s house tonight for dinner, I can’t wait to see what she thinks when I tell her what i’ve done with her pants! I wonder if she will recognise them?
Remember, if you want to support the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation during the month of Frocktober you can. Click here to donate.
My registration number is 539381. (you can put the registration number in the final page of your paypal payment).
Meet Gwendolyn October 2, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, flowers, home made, recycle, sewing, snake.2 comments
Gwendolyn is the newest draft snake to come out of craftyllama HQ. She’s headed to New Zealand to keep my sister and her flatmates warm and cosy.
Gwendolyn likes: sneakers, telescpoes and oolong tea
Gwendolyn dislikes: mud, bananas and garden gnomes
She’s the first thing I’ve made out of my favourite fabric from my stash, this beautiful blue and red floral patterned vintage fabric.
She’s been made with love and care from recycled and vintage materials. I can’t wait to see what my sister thinks of her!
We’re off to the post office this afternoon. I hope I can get her in a postal bag!!
Harriet October 1, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, clothes, crochet, draft snake, fabric, felt, home made, recycle, refashion, sewing, snake, thrifty, toy, wool.add a comment
EDIT: Harriet has now been listed in my Etsy store. Go on, make our day and buy her!!
Meet Harriet.
Harriet is a door snake.
She keeps you toasty warm by staying close to the door and keeping drafts out. She’s also very useful if your city happens to have a dust storm.
She likes: boys, new stockings and peanuts.
She dislikes: dust storms, things that bite and sneezing.
She’s made from completely recycled materials.
She’s now in the craftyllama etsy store. For now, she’s keeping guard at our front door, making me laugh every time I walk past.
Miss Maree’s new guard snake August 20, 2009
Posted by Sarah in buttons, cosy, draft snake, fabric, felt, flowers, home made, sewing, snake, thrifty, toy.add a comment
This little beauty is for my dear friend Maree. She specified that she would like a cream and green snake. I hope she likes it!
The tongue is made from pure wool felt. The little collar is wool, and the flower on the collar is cut from a piece of beautiful italian lace.
Buttons that I used for the eyes came from my mother, very retro.
This photo is to show the underbelly of the snake, I used some charcoal denim for the bottom half of the tail and the same kermit green I used for the head on the other half.
This is a close up of the fabric that I used for the top of the snake. It’s a beautiful textured cream fabric with a while brocade pattern printed on it.
I stuffed it with old cotton fabric, it’s just heavy enough to hold tight against any drafts that come under the door. Traditionally they’re filled with beans or rice but I’d prefer to use something non-recyclable and non-toxic that’s destined for the landfil. I’m heading to a local recycling centre this weekend to see what I can find. In the mean time, the cotton fabric stuffing works just fine I think.
I’m planning on making many more of these little darlings so if you would like to order one off me just leave a comment at the bottom. Cost is $45 AUD plus postage.
Edited for Maree:
Maree named her Lilith!
Likes: Licorice lozenges, leggings and leopards
Dislikes: noisy neighbours, hairdryers and dill
Ann’s birthday cupcake July 22, 2009
Posted by Sarah in cake, fabric, felt, food, gift, home made, sewing.add a comment
Treeeesa May 24, 2009
Posted by Sarah in fabric, felt, gift, home made, sewing, wool.2 comments
Rosa-May is an incredible friend, talented artist, and one of the funniest people I have ever met. I really wanted to make her feel special for her birthday this year. She really does love trees so I thought what could be more appropriate than a tree softie?
I got the inspiration for her from this lovely book.
