Sewing, blogging, and creative business.
I’m very excited to have finished this patchwork Progress Pride Flag quilt. The pattern is by Bobbie Gentili from Geeky Bobbin. All of the fabrics are scraps from my stash.
This was a fun project and the finished quilt is really bright and colorful. As part of this process, I also enjoyed learning more about how the design of the Progress Pride flag came to be.
I've been working on some monsters, playing around with different weights of fabric, patterns, color, texture and with goofy monster-like expressions.
I've been working on animals that are made like dolls. The heads are animal-like, but the bodies are like dolls that you can dress. Roxanne picked out the pink fabric for this bunny's dress. It is reversible with a tiny snap closure and little buttons at the shoulders. Thank you so much for all ofRead More →
A few weeks ago I was in bed reading one of my favorite books, The Techniques of Soft Toymaking by Enid Anderson. Although I’ve read this book many times over, I’d never noticed the dedication. Here is what Enid says, “I was motivated at the start of my craft career by many people, but possiblyRead More →
Four kangaroos later… She has a nice wide open pocket ready for a joey. There are so many factors to take into consideration when you are designing in three-dimensions. So many variables and so many ways to go wrong. It took two tries to get the stance of the legs right, but then the chestRead More →
I'm deep in the throes of drafting a pattern for a kangaroo. It can be a tedious process, full of hope and anticipation and then frustration when the next draft, all sewn and stuffed, is still not right. It's going to be amazing, right? Hang in there. Keep going. I've been listening to these podcastsRead More →
I am thrilled to tell you about an upcoming group show I will be part of in Toronto this summer. The show opens at bookhou June 29 and runs through the month of July. It is called "Winged Migration" and will feature birds by me, Gennine Zlatkis, Margaret Oomen, Arounna Khounnoraj, and Abigail Brown. I'mRead More →
I had a huge design breakthrough the other night. It suddenly became completely clear to me how to design a muzzle, or any three-dimensional protruding shape. I have sewn dozens of patterns with muzzles that were part of the face pattern, and I sort of got how they worked, but not well enough to easilyRead More →
I'm working on a new pattern. These are six head prototypes. Through making them I learned how to create a round monkey muzzle. Today I made muslins of the body and the legs. Pattern development is a long, messy process!
There is going to be a section in the book about designing toys based on basic shapes. I am working on a sample project and sewing instructions for my editor, Thom (hi Thom!). The project is due the first week of June. In order to escape from that feeling of being so crazy overwhelmed thatRead More →
Man this guy took forever to stuff. I found this fabric at a church rummage sale on Saturday. It is some kind of wool-polyester blend, probably originally intended for making a women's suit jacket. It just looked like a snake to me. I couldn't resist. And it was 25 cents for two yards.