Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Socks

It's inevitable. Every dryer eats them. So, your bound to have a few single, lonely socks in your drawer hoping to be reunited with it's mate. It's time you take that sock and toss it or do something fun. Here's a few ideas.

monkeys

sock monkey tutorial

puppets

door draft snake (this one will take a knee sock!)

chirp chirp (so cute)

sock and glove animals book (amazing!)

Here's a great one for the tree using ideas from the above mentioned book:

cardinal

Cute right? I know. I'm hoping to have the time to make a few little sock animals for kiddos to decorate at my oldest's school Christmas party and then give them to those in need. Now, go ahead - go! I know you're dying to rummage through your drawers to see what lone-ranger awaits a make-over! Have fun. xo

Meet Buddy!

My boys have multiple lovies. Blankets, aka "bookies," stuffed animals and the like fill their beds every night. I don't know if this is something I created or if it's just their personalities. Either way it's kind of sweet. They are so affectionate and cuddly. Unfortunately, they are all baby lovies; nothing they can grow with. That's where Buddy comes in. I found Buddy in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby. He's so odd and silly looking - he's perfect!

When making Buddy, I followed the book's instructions rather simply, aside from the legs and arms. I don't know why I had trouble here. The directions are pretty straight-forward. I typically like to cut corners wherever I can and I think that's where I got into trouble. (If you try making your own Buddy, I'm sure you'll do just fine.) I like the fact that Buddy has no removable parts (his eyes and mouth are painted on) and he doesn't transform! Buddy is simple, requiring imagination only! I was worried my oldest might not like him due to his simplicity, but he loves him!

I gave Buddy some pants by cutting his legs out of a contrasting material and covering his bottom half in the same material as his legs. I couldn't have Buddy running around naked! The other little guy in the picture above is "Needermier!" He was a gift for my girlfriend's little boy who just turned two. He was inspired by hours of Nick Jr. They have the most amazing illustrations in between shows.  I adore Moose A. Moose and his pal Zee! "Needermier" is suppose to be a dog, but I'm not sure he really looks like one. Oh well, whatever the case, my girlfriend just informed me yesterday that he is loved dearly and sleeps with her son nightly. Yay!

Think you might make a Buddy of your own? I recently made a second Buddy for my youngest too! It's a day's work (maybe less without distractions) and worth every second. PS...Buddy would make a great gift too. xo

Introducing...

The Cat Softie! She's finished and she was pretty darn easy! I think it was a good confidence booster to start off easy! Here's how the project progressed:

After going to FedEx Office to blow up the patterns, I cut them out, laid them onto the fabric, pinned the pattern to the fabric and added my own seam allowance. *I did this because I decided not to blow up the pattern quite as large as specified in the book. The book called for 100% and I only did 60%. (My Grandma-in-law does have to fly back home with this thing!)

Once the fabric was cut, I began pinning and sewing.

Tip: On the round bottom piece I cut little slits all the way around to allow the fabric to curve a bit easier when pinning and sewing.

I have to admit, when pinning the bottom piece onto the body of the cat, it seemed as if the bottom was too big. I just pinned and pushed the fabric around until there were only a few little bumps in the bottom fabric. When I was sewing it up, the foot glider worked it all out and I finished with a smooth edge. Whew...thank goodness.

Next up, stuffing! I was worried that the cat would be bumpy because I chose some pretty thin fabric for the body. The trick to preventing that is LOTS of stuffing!

I finally closed up the stuffing hole and voila...the finished product (see below.) My sweet husband is at his studio now shooting a better image for the grand finale. I'll post that upon receipt. All in all I think it turned out well and it was quite easy to do. Good luck to those of you who try one of your own! I think it would make a great door-stopper. Happy Weekend!

Softie in Process...

Flickr image by susanstars

Up, down, up, down, up, down. Can you hear my little machine hard at work? I'm in the process of making "Cat" from my new Softies book. I will show the final product tomorrow and report the details of the project as well.

First drawback for me - I don't have a scanner so I had to go to FedEx Office to make copies of the patterns and blow them up as well. Oh well, now that many of the patterns are made, I can get to work on loads of Softies! See you tomorrow!

Softies

It's here...my first book to begin my new journey for 2010. Softies Only a Mother Could Love by Jess Redman and Meg Leder. I'm so excited! I have decided that my first project will be a cat softie for my Grandmother-in-law. She's always doing amazing things for our family and she LOVES cats, so I thought a little something for her is in order.

I've found the color palette that I'd like to use (image below.) I think browns and orange with hints of pinks and cream will be perfect for this little kitty.

Below is a pic from the Softies book of the "Cat." I also included my first attempt at a softie in this pic. I made it for my youngest son when he was chewing on every strap he got his hands on - yes, even the ones in the grocery carts that every other kid in our city had chewed on before him. Sick! This little owl softie was made with scrap fabric, webbing straps and filled with grocery bags for stuffing and crunchy sounds! "Hootie" was loved, legs chewed on and most recently - discarded. Now that Liam's chewing has subsided and he's moved on to cars, I can't find the courage to pass Hootie on to anyone else. He was my first softie after all.

I hope to finish the Cat softie by the end of the week. Stay tuned for progress reports and the final product!