Random Necklace Design #3

Again playing around with iron beads I made yet another, larger, necklace. This necklace has a somewhat tetris like feel to this design with the blocks of colour being fitted around each other with only a black border between them, along with a few jump rings. The jump rings are used to give the necklace a little more movement and comfort while wearing, as opposed to wearing one large ironed piece.

This iron bead necklace is definitely a statement piece with the full measurements for the three ironed pendant pieces being about 21 cm wide and 10 1/2 cm high. It is very much a bold and bright design that also features two red hearts on its centre piece. I'm not exactly sure when I will wear this, but it was a fun piece to make.

Ponyo & Rilakkuma - Book Bags & Bag Tags

Something a little different are these book bags I made based on the characters Ponyo, a goldfish, and Rilakkuma, a bear. To accompany these book bags I also made matching bag tags using these same characters, and again gave these away as gifts. The book bags measure about 10 inches tall and roughly 9.5 inches wide, a comfortable size for most book sizes. The bag tags measure about 3.5 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide, not including the ribbon or 4 inch chain.

These book bags are made using curtain scraps. I liked the look of the colourful stripes for these bags so I measured, cut and sewed up the sides, folded over the top and sewed again to create the space for the drawstrings. I made these drawstrings from yarn, plaiting three pieces of yarn together for each drawstring, threading it through the tops of the bags then tying the ends together. I made two drawstrings for each bag so that when holding one in each hand and pulled, the bag is drawn closed in the centre.

These bag tags are made using fabric, paper templates for each character that I made from images found online, a plastic sheet cut to size for the clear window on the back, ribbon and handmade chains using a length of chain, jump rings and lobster clasps. Once stitched up the front and back pieces were blanket stitched together. A second front piece was made of each character using just the fabric and templates and were again blanket stitched to the front of each book bag.

Book bags are a handy thing for anyone to have, especially if your a reader which I always encourage. These book bags were simple enough to make and finished up looking fun, bright and very practicable, and not just for books. These bag tags were more complex to design and put together but they turned out very cute and usable. It was fun to branch out a in a way and make something a little different.

Magizoology Wallpapers set2 - Pygmy Puffs [or Henrietta and Barney Sitting In A Tree...]

Here in Australia it is officially Spring and, although the weather is yet to feel like it, it seem that Henrietta and Barney, my two pygmy puffs, certainly know it is. Not long ago I noticed they had disappeared from the house. I was beginning to worry about this couple, that is until I today stumbled upon their nest in the hollow of a tree in my backyard. And they were not alone.

I decided I should make some desktop wallpapers of Henrietta and Barney sitting in a tree. These wallpapers are size 1366x768, which is the size of my own computer, but if other sizes are wanted I can make those too. 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". Hope you enjoy.

Topsy Turvy Doll mini - Doll & Sailor Jupiter

I finished another smaller topsy turvy doll, this one as a gift for my sister. These smaller dolls are made not so much for play but as decorative pieces, but they are still very playable if that is desired. Standing at about 8.5 inches from head to head and about 9.5 inches from head to hem, as the skirt hangs a little lower to fully cover the doll under it, these are an ideal size for display.

Although with my larger flip dolls I embroidered individual face designs for each character, for these smaller dolls I decided to stick to the patterns original face templates. This meant making one dolls face happy and the doll on the flip side sad. These more basic faces were embroidered on using black and white for the eyes with black eyebrows, a pale tan colour for the nose and either red for happy lips or pink for sad lips.

The hands of each doll is also embroidered to give definition and create the fingers on each hand. The hair for each dolls head is made from yarn stitched first in a layer to cover the head, then followed with a second layer to create the length of the hair. This was done to ensure no bald spots on the dolls heads. For the brunette doll I created a fringe and a ponytail tied with a green ribbon to match her skirt.

For the hair on the blonde doll, I create the hair length and left the loops on the ends so it wouldn't look choppy or uneven but instead was left soft and rounded to better disguise any uneven ends. The dress on this blonde doll originally belonged to my sister before she donated it to me for sewing materials and she was pleasantly surprised to see it returned to her in this new representation.

If it was not already obvious, the blonde doll was made to represent my sister but the reverse brunette doll was actually made to represent Sailor Jupiter, the sailor scout who represents the month of my sisters birthday. The outfit for this second doll is a simplified version of Sailor Jupiter's fuku, that is a white top with her signature green colour for her skirt and hair ribbon.

As with everything I sew, this flip doll was completely sewn by hand and this includes the hair and dresses for these dolls. At some stage I will have to find the time to make a topsy turvy doll for myself, I would really like to make a Harry Potter themed doll for my shelf, but in the mean time I have another two sister I am making these dolls for and because they are hand-sewn they tend to take some time to make.

Pokémon Pikachu Bookmark & Ash + Pikachu Key Chain & Poké Ball Box

I've never made anything Pokémon related before but my nephew is a fan so I decided to make a Pokémon  gift set for his birthday. This set includes a Pikachu bookmark, two key chains, one of Ash Ketchum and the other of Pikachu, and lastly a box made to resemble a Poké Ball.

When I found this design for a Pikachu bookmark online I thought it was so cute I had to make it. Using a square 29x29 peg board, the finished design was ironed pretty well flat on both sides to make it as thin as possible so the finished piece could be comfortably used as a bookmark, with the finished size being about 13.5 cm tall.

These two key chains were made directly from patterns I found online and seemed to me to be the perfect designs for key chains. Ash Ketchum and Pikachu are very iconic to Pokémon and were a must to include in this set. The actual key chain part is also handmade by me using red rope, jewellery endings, jump rings and a lobster clasp.

The Poké Ball was was a bit trickier to make. After searching online for a Poké Ball I found a few that I liked and a few that I didn't, so I combined a couple of these designs to create a look I liked. I used a round peg board and made rings of white, black and red in differing sizes to create an oval shaped box.

Once all the layers were ironed together I then had to hot glue these layers to create the 3D box shape. I preferred a more oval, flattened circle a perfect round shape as it was more box like. I also added a magnet closure which, along with the front button piece, was hot glued to the finished box to create the Poké Ball.

I was so pleased with how these turned out and I think my nephew was too. I especially like the Pikachu bookmark, its such a simple design but so adorable. I again ran out of so many colours when making this, you might have noticed that the Poké Ball has some orange iron beads on the inside as I ran out of red. Once I get more iron beads I plan to make more themed gift sets.

Cuddle Pillow Toy - Puppy #1

A while back I made a mini Cuddle Pillow Toy who sits on my bookshelf looking all cute and cheeky with his tongue sticking out. Looking at him I couldn't resist making a larger, full size version of this puppy as a gift for an equally cheeky, yet adorable little boy. The end size for this full sized Puppy Pillow is about 10 inches by 10 inches, making him a comfortable size for hugs, play and naps.

This Puppy Pillow has black safety eyes, a blanket stitched black nose and orange eye patch, semi-filled paws and ears to make them floppy, and a happy little wagging tail. As with all my sewn projects I stitched this completely by hand. The pattern for this puppy can be found HERE in the Shiny Happy World shop and includes detailed instruction on assembling this puppy along with the pattern pieces.

Topsy Turvy Doll - Harley Quinn & Wonder Woman

I have made another of my up-side dolls, this one featuring Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman as seen in the cartoon DC Superhero Girls. Although the Wonder Woman for this doll is actually made in the same way as my Elsa & Wonder Woman doll, with Wonder Woman being more inspired by the DC Extended Universe version of the character.

Although Harley Quinn is seen wearing pants in the DC Superhero Girls, along with Wonder Woman, I have made these dolls into my interpretations of these characters and not an exact copy of them. This is due to the nature of these dolls needing skirts, to be able to be flipped, and also to fit how I had decided I wanted to interpret each character.

Both Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman have block colour skirts, styled sleeveless tops with ribbon accents and ribbon belts. All colours chosen were those that best represented each aspect of their outfits. Wonder Woman with her yellow (golden) indestructible bracelets, tiara and belt. Along with the yellow detail on her top.

Harley Quinn, although mostly based on her DC Superhero Girls version, also has influences of her other incarnations. Instead of splitting her skirt colour I made it all black with a blue belt, this is partly influenced by how I wished her to look and partly by the supplies I had at hand. Her top with the red ribbon trim was more influences by her Suicide Squad look.

Harley Quinn's hair was very much a copy of how it is seen in DC Superhero Girls. Her hair, as well as Wonder Woman's, was stitched on to her head in two layers. A bottom layer was stitched all over the head to hide any bald spots that may show, then a second layer was stitched on. For Harley Quinn this second layer was fashioned into two ponytails, with her coloured stripes included and for Wonder Woman this second layer was left long.

The face designs for both Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman were taken from their DC Superhero Girls versions to give each doll a personalised look. It is interesting to see how different colour and shaped facial features can portray their individual personalities. Both Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman have all features of their faces hand embroidered, and Wonder Woman's stitched on tiara is also embellished.

Along with all my sewn projects, this topsy turvy doll was completely hand sewn, so it does take a while to complete one of these dolls but it is well worth the effort seeing the end result. This was yet another doll made as a gift, one day I will make one of these lovely dolls for myself. I was given a suggestion to make a Harry Potter themed doll of Professor McGonagall, with her as a cat as the second doll on the flip doll. I am so tempted to make this, I just need to find the time..