Today's robot

We went to the @ Bristol Museum yesterday which was great fun. I got time to make a very quick animation in the time that Ellis was focused on something (about one minute in total!). Errol's animation casts Ellis as the people-eating monster! There was a robot building activity going on but it was so busy that we didn't get a chance to make one, so I asked for the two l.e.d lights and we got down to building our robot on Sunday instead. And here he is complete with his little lights.

The Owl and the Pussycat

I made this little puppet Owl and Pussycat when I was on a course at my local children's centre - the idea was to make objects to accompany a nursery rhyme. The pussycat is made out of the pocket of a jacket that was a bit too small for me. And the owl is made from a tatty old glove that had been left on a wall! The lining inside the boat is a bit of machine knitted wool I made when I tried out a machine knitting course. I wish I'd got on well with machine knitting as the fabric is so beautiful and flimsy, but working the knitting machine was a nightmare. I made a little five pound note and a jar full of honey, but they've since got lost in Ellis's toyland!

Felt sea cushion

When I was working on making the Owl and the Pussycat for Ellis, I got thinking about how I could make the sea. Then I had an idea about making a sea cushion that you could put your hand into to fish things out. So I took a regular pillow and folded each side into the middle and then sewed it all together so that there was a hole right in the middle. Then I sewed white zigzag stiching into long strips of felt that I cut into waves, and then sewed each wave strip onto the cushion. I got the blue felt from a blanket that I bought at a carboot sale ages ago. I couldn't have done this project without those long strips of blue felt! Then I thought, well if I'm making the sea, I may as well make a shore and a beach, so on the bottom of the cushion I sewed on another bit of leftover felt. And then I handstitched white merino wool around the edge of the sand to create a shore.

Owly

Owly (the one on the left in the pic) was the first soft toy I made for Ellis. He's handstitched using the fabric of a jumper I picked up for free at a carboot and then felted in the washing machine. It was a pretty hideous jumper! He had an owl obsession at the time. I made the other owl when I was pregnant as a wall decoration for Ellis's room.

Ghostie

Somehow I got hold of a dressing gown for Ellis before he was born, a fluffy white dressing gown I think it was passed on with a bag of clothes that were never used. I mean, honestly, what baby wears a dressing gown - and especially a white fluffy one! So I turned the dressing gown into a ghostie. I kind of just cut the dressing gown up, scrunched it a bit, sewed it here and there, and Ghostie was born. Ellis and I played with Ghostie today, which basically involved me saying "wheeee splat" and hitting Ghostie's head into whatever object was in range, and Ellis creasing up with laughter. What I love about him is that he's got such an expressive face considering he's just got two eyes and that's it!

Humpty Dumpty softie

Ellis started an obsession with Humpty Dumpty after seeing him in the First ladybird Book Of Nursery. Rhymes.

My husband bought the Second Ladybird book at the Tobacco Factory market book stall one Sunday. I have to admit I was a bit dubious as to whether Ellis would like them, but I was so wrong, as I often am with my husband's intuition on things! He loved the book so much that I ended up buying the rest of the series on Ebay. And now he knows all of the nursery rhymes so we sing them together. I have to avoid some which are violent, like one about beating a horse. But the illustrations are lovely and I've enjoyed making up tunes for the ones I don't know the tunes for - like "Here am I Little Jumping Joan", and "To Market to market...", and also "I saw a ship a sailing...".  And Ellis loves "Sing a Song of Sixpence" which I used to love when I was little.

So anyway, as Ellis's obsession with Humpty (or Dumpy as he first called him!) grew, I knew I had to make a Humpty for him. And here he is with trousers that match Ellis's.

Felt robot

I love felt robots - here's the one I made for Ellis's first birthday. It's a bit fluffy now, but still gets played with and loved. I made up the pattern in my head, made the cube head first and then made the rest up. 

Here's two other lovely inspiring hand made robots.

From Hatched and Patched

From Sew Make Believe

Hand sewn baby chicks

Another Christmas present I made for Ellis. The little chicks were made from a gorgeous little bird pattern I found online. I crocheted the nest from bits of left over wool then ironed on some glittery stuff that melts when you iron it. I can't remember what it's called but it's lovely! The mummy bird was from a pattern that my friend Rachel lent me from her sewing magazine. The little egg was made by covering a plastic egg shaped container (not sure where I got this from, it was just lying around the house) with pva glue then covering it with strips of fabric. It worked great.

Woolen Hot Air Balloon

This felt hot air balloon was one of Ellis's presents for his second christmas. It's made from a child's hat that's been felted in the washing machine and turned inside out. I crocheted the ropes and hand-sewed a little basket. Thank you Rachel for the amazing hat donation for this little project.

Bo Peep

This little crocheted lady was an old project of mine. I intended to crochet a bride and groom for a friend for her wedding, but got as far as doing the bride and gave up! It was fiddly and took ages. So she sat around for about eight years until Ellis came along and named her Bo Peep. At last, she has a name!

Wedding favors

Hooray I have started a blog, my one New Year's resolution I hope I can keep! Got a whole host of craft things I've made which started in pregnancy and have continued as my little boy "grew" to inspire me. 

But, before I get started on things for him I'm going to go backwards a bit to my wedding day as I'd like to share some pics of the wedding favours I made.

These hand sewn favours (90 in all - one for each guest!) took a couple of months to make. I basically made them while relaxing watching TV in the evenings or whenever I had a spare moment. I had a basket full of different colour felts and threads, a big needle, a scissors and some stuffing. I made all sorts of shapes - clouds, penguins, smiley faces, hearts, fried eggs, little chicks etc. I wondered what to do about the fact that the guests would abviously be male and female, and how to ensure that male guests wouldn't get something too girly. In the end, I stuck a little sticker on the back saying something like - "Handmade favour for your sock drawer, feel free to swop me with someone elses if you fancy".

My friend Caroline took photos of the favors at the place we got married, Ashton Court Mansion in Bristol which is a lovely venue. Thanks Caroline!