Celtic Knot Woven Brooches

Its been a long while since I did some knitting work, and by knitting I mean using a knitting nancy not knitting needles, which I have yet to become completely competent in. I would love to one day be able to knit properly with needles and knit myself a proper Ravenclaw scarf, as it is most difficult to find a Ravenclaw scarf that has colours true to the book, that being blue and bronze, instead of the movie colours of blue and silver/grey.

For now through I have been using my knitting nancy to create some Celtic designs that I have turned into brooches. This first grey knot design is of the Celtic Cross. This cross is formed from a single line as the Celts believed that the one-line weave represented Eternity, enhancing the virtue of faith. The circle woven through the cross brings all things together,  meaning that of the mind, body, spirit as well as self, family, world.

This second knot design is of Longevity. This cross is made from one continuous line conveying hope for a long life. Also known as the Celtic Eternity Knot, it represents eternity in all things, such as eternity of the world, of life, of love, friendships and relationships. This type of knot is seen in many cultures and is also known to represent compassion and wisdom along with long life. This knot design is identical to the ancient Mongolian symbol that also has the meaning of 'Long Life'.

This third knot design is of the Mother and Child Celtic Love Knot. This knot design expresses the protective, nurturing and unconditional nature of a mothers love. This knot design features a top loop to represent the mother and a bottom loop to represent the child held within the mothers loving embrace. The meaning conveyed with this knot is one of deep connectedness and eternal love that bonds a mother to her child.

This last knot design is of the Triquetra or Trinity Knot that in this variation is depicted as the Celtic Triangle of Inner Strength. The original Triquetra Knot design represents the triple aspects of the Celtic Goddess. The addition of the inner loops in this knot design represent inner qualities, such as self-worth, self -assurance, self control, that flow outward to manifest into personalities. It can also represent inner thoughts manifesting into outward actions.

To create each Celtic Knot piece I took the knitted cords made with the knitting nancy and arranged them into the knot designs that I found online. Using a single piece of yarn, the same used to create the cords, I stitched each knot design together at the connecting/overlapping points of the design, before attaching the bar brooch pin back to the back of each knot design with a few stitches.

Simon's Cat Car Plush

In the last couple of years I posted about these car window plushes I made, and I've now made a third Simon's Cat car window plush. This is yet another gift so I only had time for a quick photo before I gave this away. This was hand-sewn with the eyes blanket stitched and stuffed and a black bead added to the centre of each eye. The nose and mouth were hand embroidered in black.

On each paw I stitched suction cups on to allow this plush to attach to glass windows. This cat car plush was created from a FREE pattern by Katrin Black found HERE. Her website is actually in Russian but there are plenty of pictures provided to guide you in making this and there is always google translate to translate the page if you prefer.

Bunbun Pocket Plush Mashup UPDATE

A couple of years ago I made these two little bunnies from the combination of two patterns from TeacupLion. At the time I was pleased with how they turned out but looking at them now they seem unfinished. So I decided to see what I could do to make these little bunnies a little more complete.

                                             original                                                                       new

For the larger of the two, the doll bunny, I added a braided pink yarn cord to better define the doll's face from the bunny costume she is wearing. This cord was stitched on with the ends left long and loose to tie into a bow to help give the look of a doll in a bunny costume. For the little bunny I simply added a black pompom tail.

                                             original                                                                       new

These two bunnies were fully hand-sewn from a combination of two patterns. The pattern used for the body of these two bunnies is actually from the FREE Pocket Bear sewing pattern found HERE. The bunny heads for these two is from the FREE Bunbun sewing pattern available HERE. Both of these patterns are from TeacupLion.

Fantastic Beasts Newt's Suitcase Box REMAKE + PATTERNS!

After sharing my pattern for Newt's Suitcase Box last week, I decided to make a few small changes. First and most noticeable is the colour, with the original brown box it is difficult to notice the single black beads on each corner of the case. Here, however with the orange, the brown corners of the case stand out nicely. Which leads to the second change I made, instead of using a single bead in each corner, I instead used four beads in each corner to give a more distinguished look to the corners. Also I couldn't resist showing this off with my  mini mooncalf inside.

So before anyone asks, I have gone ahead and created patterns for this updated suitcase box. This was asembled in the exact same way as my original Newt Suitcase Box if you are interested to see how I made this. However if your needing more instructions just let me know. In the mean time enjoy making these pieces yourself. To better view these patterns click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Fantastic Beasts Newt's Suitcase Box PATTERNS!

I've had another pattern request, this time for Newt's Suitcase Box. My original post for this also features a bowtruckle bookmark along with two key chains, one a niffler and the other a gold coin. In that post I also go over a little about how I made and assembled this suitcase box, but if your needing more instructions just let me know. In the mean time enjoy making these pieces yourself. To better view these patterns click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Pigwidgeon 'Pig' REMAKE (inspired by the Harry Potter Series)

Sometime ago, about 2 years actually, I made THIS Pigwidgeon owl. Pig, as Ron calls him, is a tiny grey hooting owl full of energy and enthusiasm. My original make of Pig was actually given away, so when I decided to make another little "fluffy snitch" as Harry describes him, I made a few small changes to see how he would look and this is the result.

                                             original                                                                       new

Both versions of Pig were created from the exact same pattern and used the exact same materials, with the one exception being the eyes. Pig's body and wing are a grey fabric with white fabric for the face and under wings. Black fabric was used for the beak and feet and safety eyes were used to finish this. The yellow safety eyes were used on the original Pig and the black were used on the remake.

                                             original                                                                       new

The other differences between these two versions are the face and wings, The original Pig had a face piece cut with pinking shears to give a textured feathered look, whereas the remake had its face stitched using needle turn applique, it was then stuffed to give a fuller look. The wings on the original Pig were stuffed and stitched to the body, however the wings on the remake are left unstuffed, but are poseable. As with everything I sew, these two versions were fully sewn by hand.

Dress Pillows #5

This is the last Dress Pillow that I made as part of a set that was gifted to my niece. I call them Dress Pillows because I made them from literal dresses, as well as tops and sleepsuits that my niece wore as a baby. I came up with the the idea to make these Dress Pillows because I liked that these could be functional and pretty keepsakes as pillows, as opposed to just keeping these baby outfits in a draw or storage box somewhere.

Making these Dress Pillows was very simple. While turned inside-out I sewed the bottom hem shut, then sewed the two sleeves closed. After this I turned the dress right-side-out then stitched the neck line. Before I closed the neck I stuffed the dress with stuffing until full. As with all my makes these were sewn by hand. Again I have to apologise here for the quality of the pictures as I had only minutes to take photos before these were given away.