Monday, November 16, 2015

Sewing for Charity: Softies for Mirabel and Fluff Project (updates!)

I've kicked it into high gear to make sure I have something to send to Spoonflower for their Softies for Mirabel drive.

Here's what I have so far:


Sweet and sour pickles!

It's a free pattern courtesy of While She Naps' Abby Glassenberg.  HERE.

The original pattern was for felt with french knot bumps and felt eyes.  I mixed it up a bit with textured fleece/minky (got it in the remnant bin and it made 13 total pickles and there is a bit still left over--my first test pickle is not shown here but it turned out great so it's part of the donation pile)

I also subbed out small safety eyes and then did embroidered mouths.



Half dozen for Softies for Mirabel and half dozen for Fluff Project.  The extra will go to Mirabel (yes, I was tempted to keep it but these are so easy to make I could make more for me any time I want so no need to keep the tester since it turned out perfect).

More pics because I can (the color is a minty green despite what these pics show--I still have horrible lighting in my kitchen and I'm too lazy to make a light box and all that shit).



Holding it in my hand to show the size.  It's small but even with the small size was not hard to sew at all.  The pattern is three pieces (to get the good shape) which had me worried it would be a pain to sew (more dimensional stuff can be a pain in the ass and when I want to assembly sew for charity sometimes I prefer patterns of least resistance).  I was also concerned the eyes wouldn't fit but they did.

TIP:  Put the eyes on after you sew the pickle but before you stuff.  That's not normally how you put on safety eyes but since this sucker is small, the stems of the eyes would get in the way.  And you won't have to fight with them getting too close to the edge.  That's a super pain in the ass when you're making something and the safety eyes are already on and when you're trying to do the seam the eye is all in the way.  No, just no.  Put the mouth on after you stuff but before you close (so you can best hide the knots).


Pickles aren't the only thing I'm up to.

(I'd like to note that since I made 6 pickles for Fluff Project, technically I've met my five stuffed toys for December goal AND met my yearly goal, too. . .but I still want to make some other stuff for Fluff if possible and I've already started on something else for Fluff).

I've also been cranking out stuff JUST for Softies for Mirabel.


I got all that done this weekend.  The crabs (also an Abby Glassenberg free pattern. . .I think I forgot to link it before so HERE it is--I make mine with quilting cotton not fleece but that's my only change--I just don't like fleece for small fussy pieces since it stretches a lot and annoys me).

The snail is one I've done for Fluff Project before, so the TWELVE here are all for Mirabel.  I'm going to googly eye them all since I love that look.  Now I just need to close the crabs (then they are DONE) and finish up the snails (close the bodies, put on eyes and mouth, and attach shell to body).


"Mom, hurry up and leave the room, I want to nose around in that scrap bin and see what I can find to eat!"

Yes, Murray likes to dine at the scrap bin buffet.  Butt.  I have to dump it every time I sew (or make sure there isn't anything desirable like long pieces of thread or crinkly plastic or paper or cardboard. . .you get the idea. . .in there).  I can only leave a few fabric pieces (not bits, they have to be larger pieces, I like to save them to test my machine when I have to change thread) in there since that's the only thing he seems to not care about, though he'll still get up on the table and rummage about.  I think he's part raccoon.  OH and I have to cover everything too, especially if there are little bits cut out.  If they don't actively cart them off, they'll push them off the table and play with them (meaning they get lost) or just generally get into shit.  Cats, gotta love them.  (or just not have them because you're never going to win with them.  Never.)

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