mini Cuddle Pillow Toy

This cheeky little puppy with his spotty eye patch and protruding tongue was originally designed to be a cute pillow toy at a comfortable 10 inches in size. However I decided to make this at a reduced size so he could keep company with my half-Kneazle Crookshanks who lives on my bookshelf. So now I have a mini 6 inch dog to partner my ginger cat.

Completely hand-sewn with tiny 5 mm shiny black eyes, a blanket stitched black nose and little pink tongue, this puppy has a fully stuffed body, with stubby semi-filled paws and floppy ears that hold only a little stuffing at the ends to give a bit of volume. At full size I can imagine that it would be a very huggable and comfortable toy for young kids.

Making this puppy was simple enough due to the well written instruction that accompany this pattern. There were also plenty of pictures throughout to help aid in this patterns construction, there were even a few links to techniques used that may be unfamiliar to the novice sewer. Overall a fun project that I will make again. This pattern was found in the Shiny Happy World shop HERE.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set01 - Usagi Tsukino

So it took me a while, but I finally got around to watching the reboot of the classic Sailor Moon from the 90's, Sailor Moon Crystal, and I love it. I wasn't so sure I would when I first saw the new super skinny look of the characters, but the storyline, now in-line with the manga, is really good and you forget how skinny they look and see just a group of girls ready to save the world.

These are my first Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers and they feature the main heroine Usagi Tsukino. To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Please let me know if your having any problems with these. Hope you enjoy.

Disney Princess 3D Paper Doll #2 Pocahontas

It's been a while since I posted a paper craft and I thought I should finally get around to the next Disney Princess paper doll, so here is Pocahontas. If you ignore the sequel, as I do, the first movie shows a free-spirited young woman with a deep respect for nature and love of her people. With her animal friends and Grandmother Willow, she demonstrates a deeply spiritual side and shows one should always follow their heart.

As with the previous paper doll Ariel, Pocahontas was printed at half the size, making her more difficult to cut out then she would be at the full size, but with an xacto knife and cutting mat (NOT a job for little hands) the process was made easier. This Pocahontas doll is available to download HERE at the Disney website, there are full instructions and best of all its FREE.

Sailor Moon Hair Clips + Moon Stick & Disguise Pen Key Chains

Previously I made a Sailor Moon Bow Hair Clip that I just love, I also made a Sailor Mars Bow Hair Clip & Transformation Pen Key Chain, so I thought I would continue the trend and make Sailor Moon's red hair pieces, or odango shields. There were a few examples of these in iron bead form that I found online, however they were made using a square bead board and I preferred the look a round board would give so I just made up the pattern myself, not that it was difficult at all...

These odango shields are roughly 2 inches, big enough to be noticeable but also small enough not to be too obtrusive, and since I don't have long hair like Sailor Moon I can choose to wear just the one and it still looks cute. As mentioned I made these using iron beads on a round board then hot glued them to hair clips. There are many types of iron beads you can use, including perler, hama and pyssla. The two key chains were made in a similar way only using a square bead board.

I found the designs for the two key chains, the Moon Stick and Disguise Pen, with a basic google search. The Moon Stick is about 4 1/4 inches while the Disguise Pen is 3 1/2 inches, making them just the right size to attach to your keys or bag, so it's easy to carry a little Sailor Moon magic with you wherever you go. These were such a simple and fun way to spend a few hours and the results are so pretty.

Disney Princess Art Doll - Snow White

I have a new art doll based on the Disney Princesses and made as a gift, this is Snow White. Dressed in her iconic colours of blue and yellow, as reflected in her top and skirt, this doll is finished with a red ribbon headband in her short black yarn hair. Rosy cheeks complete her look and with a printed tag she is ready to be off to her new home.

This Snow White art doll was fully hand-sewn, her arms and legs being hand stitched into her body, and possesses the ability to either sit or stand as desired. Her eyes are painted on and her cheeks are crayon, which is why they look a little rough. Being 10 inches at her full height and just 4.5 inches when sitting, overall this art doll is a pretty little thing.

Kashira Heads

Since it is almost Halloween I thought these Kashira heads from the movie Spirited Away would be a fun make. These are three brothers that are simply big green heads that bounce and roll around the witch Yubaba's office. Although mine don't actually bounce, they do roll about and are an ideal size to be handled, tossed or juggled when not being set as decorations.

For these heads I resized the pattern to make them small and cute ,and easy to handle as mentioned above. The facial details are embroidered and the eyes are stitched to the face using needle turned appliqué. The pattern pieces for the ears are actually from this Garden Gnome pattern and their facial hair is stitched on using black wool.

These super cute Kashira heads were made using Choly Knight's Blob Plush sewing pattern that was found in her book Sew Kawaii! The Blob pattern is simply the body for these with add-ons to create a bunny or kitty, whereas I added on my own features to create these heads, as described above. Choly has a number of other patterns, many for FREE on her blog Sew Desu Ne?

Radish Spirit

I have a new little fiend to share with you. Those of you who have seen the movie Spirited Away will (hopefully) recognise this strange looking creature as a Radish Spirit. This gentle but large vegetable spirit is one of many spirits who visit the bathhouse owned by the witch Yubaba. The Radish Spirit is based on the japanese daikon radish or white radish.

I found the perfect pattern to use for this Radish Spirit, only having to edit the facial features and add the roots or hairs to the hands, mouth and facial features which I did using a silken cord. I also had to design and create his accessories, the apron tied around his waist and an upside-down soup bowl he wears as a hat.

The soup bowl, or hat as this Radish Spirit prefers, was a little tricky to design and then piece together. Once I had created a shape I liked, I decided to sew the fabric pieces over the same pieces cut from a plastic sheet in order to give the finished hat a more rigid bowl look and not just have a floppy fabric piece to place on his head.

The apron was easy enough to put together, just a bit time consuming as I only hand sew. The Radish Spirit would not be complete without his leafy greens on top of his head. This was made simply by hand cutting a piece of green fabric into a leafy shape and attaching to the top of his head by a few well placed stitches.

With black safety eyes this Radish Spirit is complete. Standing at just over 6.5 inches tall, this Radish Spirit is a gentle reminder to treasure the simple things in life, for even something as simple as a humble radish is worthy of reverence. He is also a welcome addition to my ever growing collection of hand-sewn plushies and dolls.

The pattern used to create this Radish Spirit was from Choly Knight, it was her FREE Cthulhu Plush pattern with a few alterations as described above that brought this unique plush to life. This pattern, and other FREE patterns, can be found on Choly's blog Sew Desu Ne? on the Free Patterns page link.