baby finds a kazoo

Sunday, January 06, 2008

some cute

As I mentioned in my last post, this Christmas season was filled with gift-making at my house. I cannot really express how much I enjoyed this. It was satisfying in a way that shopping just isn't.

I liked doing it so much that I fear I'm losing sight of the fact that the people in my life might not actually want handmade gifts. Perhaps there are people who secretly roll their eyes and think, "Oh lord, Molly is making things again, what is it this time? A hand-felted oven mitt?. Perfect. Just what I was hoping for."

I myself, would love to get a hand-felted oven mitt, but for some people handmade gifts of this nature have too much in common with macramé plant hangers or Christmas wreaths made entirely of wine corks.

In any case, I figure nobody is ever going to tell me that they hate getting handcrafted gifts (unless they get really drunk before opening gifts), so I'm free to please myself and continue making them.

This post is devoted to three crazy-adorable things I made this year.
Beware, the cute is strong.

These slippers were a Christmas surprise for my little boy, who refuses to wear socks and is always complaining that his feet are cold. I made them with gorgeous, super-thick handmade wool felt that I bought from A Child's Dream Come True.

They are lined with charcoal gray cashmere that I felted from an old sweater. I figured the shape out, and created the pattern. The ears and eyes were a last-minute inspiration and were sewn in place at 4:30 am on Christmas morning. Ouch.

Now that they are done, I wish I had just googled felt slippers and found a pattern online. Had I done that, I might have some slippers that were cute AND actually stayed on the boy's feet.
Aw well, at least they are cute.

I plan to improve their functionality by sewing the wrists from the same gray sweater into them, thus turning them into little boots. I hope it works.

I made this little bunny for my sweet friend Skyler. It was outfitted with a little loop at the top and meant to hang from her Christmas tree, as this was Skyler's first Christmas. I also sewed alphabet beads in Skyler's name on the bunny's rear.

Skyler's bunny was inspired by a pattern of a little bear by Lynn at Molly Chicken (You want to talk about cute. Holy freaking cow. You will find so much cute on her blog, your heart swell many times its size inside your chest. seriously.)

She is incidentally, also the genius behind the mousies and their beds which we made a few months back and have been enjoyed so much around here.

And finally, meet Gillian Bear. She is also a Christmas tree ornament and (surprise) was made for little Gillian. I used the wonderful book The Knitted Teddy Bear by Sandra Polley and the pattern for Molly, Toby, and Jake. Parts of this little bear were a bit tedious to make, especially because she is so little (about 3.5" sitting), but the results were adorable and I love that the arms and legs are movable and the sweater can be taken off.

Had it been a bear for me, I would have chosen different colors, but this particular 4 year old girl is very fond of pink and purple. My big boy chose the buttons. I think they are perfect.

Too much cute can overwhelm a person, so I'll stop there. Until next time.

Labels: sewing, Toys