Creating...Kev Snuggle Koala

Tada...finally Kevin (brother to Kirsten) Snuggle Koala is finished! After the usual endless interruptions to 'creative time' (I'll have to fire that maid...haha) Kevin is ready for his time in the spotlight... 

Kev the intrepid explorer surveys the
neighbourhood from the Bottlebrush tree...

Of course being the lovable & curious creature that he is...Kevin took a turn around the yard or through the trees should that be, & surveyed the yard for any enemy dogs or cats that given half a chance would rip him to pieces!!

Back inside to pose by the janome...

Back inside again...Kevin poses by the Janome...looking very nonchalant while he munches on his BYO  gum leaves & waits to see who else might venture out...

Kev & Kirsten meet at the Janome Cafe...the hip place to
be seen!

Well hello sister, fancy seeing you here! The janome is now the Janome cafe...the hip place to be seen for Snugglebuddies & their friends ;-)  Kev & Kirsten settle down to have a yarn & share a few gum leaves...hahahaha...


Kevin or Kev is not named for anyone in particular, it's just a fine blokey Aussie name!
Kev is made from the other leg of the recycled 80's ladies trousers (see 'creating...Kirsten...') & various scrap pieces of felt plus a scrap of 2005 ikea material on the belly. He comes with his own supply of gum leaves as he is always hungry (these leaves are a permanent fixture...a bit 'magic pudding'-like!).


Next on the creating agenda (besides lunch *gurgle, gurgle* excuse my tummy) will be some pocket sized snuggle koalas to use up the bum end of the trousers. Not much will go to waste...the zipper & belt buckle will go into the hoarding holding box for future projects & the scraps into the 'scrap' bag...*eye roll*...of course.


See you tomorrow for some Jamie Oliver news that includes your truly ;-)  
xxx

Creating...Kirsten Snuggle Koala

I have a new 'Snugglebuddy' for my Aussie series to introduce...the groovy Kirsten Snuggle Koala... 

This is a native tree but not one koalas usually
like to feast from. Kirsten just thought she'd
check out our backyard wildlife...

She is made from a recycled pair of 80's woman's trousers, oddments of felt, and the floral 'belly' is from some leftover ikea fabric. As I was working on her I thought "how groovy & 60's does she look...yeah baby!"...

Felt pieces are hand stitched but the flower
'belly' is machine stitched around the flower
petals & circumference.

I named her Kirsten after an old friend that I grew up with. We learnt to sew on her Grandma's old singer treadle sewing machine & boy did we have some laughs! ;-)

I haven't seen Kirsten for many years but hope to catch up with her again one day. xxx

Kirsten posing by the Janome...not a
treadle in sight....hahaha!

Stay tuned in the next few days for Kevin Snuggle Koala, Kirsten's brother...

Creating...Tasmina Snuggle Devil 2

With a big sigh of relief...yesterday I finished Tasmina Snuggle Devil 2. There were no major dramas & no swearing (that I remember) *phew*. I am extremely happy with the results & hopefully she will be off to her new home next week.
I had planned to make her out of vintage fabric but didn't have any predominately black material of a suitable thickness. The fabric used is an Ikea one that I bought 5 years ago to make cushions, which have now been re purposed (obviously!). I think the pattern has an indigenous art look to it so really suits my Aussie critter theme of the moment.
With regards to my sewing this year my plan is to use as much of my stash as possible & only buy essentials (hopefully on special or other peoples cast-offs) like threads, elastic etc...but...I would love a decent needle threader & a bias binding maker like the ones seen in American craft books...very nifty! My stash is a combination of vintage & more modern bits & pieces. Some were clothes that my Mum & her Mum (Mumma) made or bought that I just love the fabric of...a lot is from op shops & of course lots that I've bought from sewing shops over the last 20 odd years to make clothes & soft furnishings with & have remanents of. I have old buttons, bits of lace & ribbons & ancient ric-rack (a lot of the rick-rac seems to have grown very weak unfortunately). Anyway...that is the grand plan which I actually find exciting & inspiring, plus I borrowed a heap of craft books from the library to learn some new skills & of course ogle other peoples ideas!
Back to Tasmina 2 who has been waiting patiently on the side-lines to have her picture posted...

Tasmina 2...front view

Tasmina 2...back view

Ready for my close-up!!

Creating...New Snugglebuddy

I spent last week working on some ideas for a range of Aussie animal inspired snugglebuddies. I decided that I would improve *eye-roll* on my original design and add separate limbs & tails. My first design was my interpretation of a female Tasmanian Devil who by chance will be moving to Tasmania (when the design is tweaked to my satisfaction...'nother eye-roll) . All started well...

Happy with the pattern...check. Happy with the features &
extremities...check. Hehe, all goes well!

Everything seemed to be working well & the construction coming along quickly. I had decided to stitch & stuff the limbs & tail separately & then sew them into the seams when the body was inside out. I was getting very excited, pumped with adrenalin, thinking I would be finished before I had to pick up Mousie from school (Friday)...Oh, dear *head scratch*...how on earth is everything going to fit in that cavity while I sew the body together?? To cut a long story of swearing, unpicking, re-sewing, swearing, adjusting, head scratching, clock watching, a bit lot more swearing, a very fast walk to school *mutter, mutter*, short...I finally got Tasmina (cute, huh!) finished & apologised to Mousie for being cranky & banning her from the workroom until I was finished.

Tasmina front...

Tasmina back.

When I invited Mousie to come & 'check Tasmina out', she said "Why have you made a girl vampire Mummy?". I replied " She's not a vampire. Tassie devils have some very long fang-like teeth!". Mousie promptly started chasing me around the room with Tasmina saying "I vant to suck your blood...aaaaaaah!"...Good grief!! A bit later on when Daddy Rat came home from work, Mousie yelled out "Hey Mum, where's the thing you made that sucks? I want to show Daddy!"....Ahahaha...thanks for the encouragement oh child of mine, I know where you live!
I was all ready to email Allana from 'High Maintenance Hippy' (who along with her little munchkin are adopting Tasmina & also being an alternative sounding board) to let her know I'd finished my 'sample' when I realised that Tasmina looked like she was ready to do either an Irish jig or one of those jumps where you click your heels together sideways....grrrrr...with all my mucking around the legs where skewiff! Not good enough I'm afraid...so I'm anal, what of it ;-)
What have I learnt from this? Don't try and change too many things on a fail safe pattern at the one time! OR...If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
The good news is (Allana, if your reading) Tasmina Snuggle Devil 2 is redesigned, cut out & ready to be decorated & put together...phew :-)

Tasmina 1, chilling out & catching a breeze
on our front veranda.

Mousie of course has decided to adopt Tasmina 1 herself & has been proudly showing her the neighbourhood & sharing her bed...One happy ending xxx