POMERANIAN PLUSH

I'm working on a commission piece of this Pomeranian. I love Poms. I have two myself. This stuffed dog has been quite the challenge. The reason being...the hair. I wasn't sure how to approach it. Do I sew it out of fur or make it out of fleece then cover it with fur? What to do? So I decided to make the body shape out of fleece and add the fur on.



Here's the body before the fur.





So adding the fur was like putting puzzle pieces together. I cut pieces of white and black fur and sewed them to the body. I fussed a lot with the fur to get it to lay in the right directions. After I got the sections of fur sewn on I went back with some wool roving and needle felted long strands of wool in different areas that needed more detailing. This was especially so in the face.





Tail still needs to be added as well as more detailing.

MARY POPPINS DRESS

Below is my take on a child's version of a Mary Poppins dress.



I choose a white cotton eyelet fabric. Bodice and skirt are lined with a white cotton fabric. I could have gone with a satin, sheer or lacey material, but decided on cotton because of the durability. After all it is for a 4 year old.

I simplified the look a bit. Decided to not add the high collar. I could see complaints of itchiness around the neck being an issue. Went with a short sleeve instead of the 3/4 length sleeve and also left off the frilly collar/chest piece. If I had been making the dress for myself I would have gone all out to recreate the look. But on a 4 year old I think it would be a bit much.



The red corset/cumberbun is detachable. It is secured with velcro in the back.



I used Simplicity pattern 2989 in a size 4 width and size 5 in length.

 

CLOTHES PIN MARY POPPINS

After seeing a clothes pin doll of Mary Poppins on Pintrest I knew that's what I wanted to make for the top of my daughter's birthday cake.

I didn't realize how popular these clothes pin doll cake toppers were. There are some great ones on Etsy by LittleBun and TinyBlossoms. I love the wedding cake toppers created by Sarah Neuburger of The Small Object. Love the costumization and attention to detail!



I had a lot of fun making this. I kept thinking of a ton of other things to add to it but decided to keep it pretty simple. I'll definitely be making more. It'll be a great project to do with my daughter and a great way to use all those fabric scraps I have laying around.

The wooden clothes pins, heads (wooden balls), and bases can be bought at any hobby store.



I noticed that most of the clothes pin dolls I found all had painted hair. I decided I wanted yarn hair. It was a little tricky. I drew the on the hair line and used Tacky glue, works much better than Elmers, to attach yarn.  I think the yarn hair gives it an extra texture and gives you more choices of hair styles. The key is to find a thin yarn. Sock yarn would work well.

PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY

Illustration and design for birthday invitation.



:::UPDATE 9/4/2012::Almost weekly I have receive  many requests to buy this invitation. I am flattered. However because I work for a large greeting card company my contract states to sell artwork for other card companies or to an individual for card use is a conflict of interest. Sorry I am unable to sell this. I'd kinda like to keep my job. Thanx.

DRAWING WITH THREAD

Every now and then I'll do a drawing or some sort of art work depicting my daughter. This time I decided to try embroidering a portrait. Definitely a lot harder to capture a persons likeness in thread as opposed to a sketch. I started with a sketch that I really had to simplify. Then I transfered it to my material. I used a light table to set my drawing on then placed my fabric on top to trace the image. I used a blue Dritz marking pen that is water soluble to trace my drawing onto the fabric. Then I started stitching. Once I was finished I lightly sprayed the fabric and stitches with water and the blue line work dissappeared.