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| Softies made on a recent trip. |
I recently spent several weeks away from my stash and sewing machine. I had the opportunity to spend time in a much warmer climate in the middle of winter. It was an opportunity that was certainly good fortune. But I was concerned about what I would do in what my friend Cora calls "found moments." Being a quilter I did not want to have needle and thread withdraw. I actually packed my Singer Featherweight and some fabric then changed my mind and unpacked the Featherweight and fabric. For anyone that doesn't know a Featherweight is a small mid-century sewing machine that comes in a small black case and weighs 11 pounds. It is perfect for travel or taking to sewing classes. It is famous for its perfect stitches. I have several, but that's another story.
I looked around my sewing room/studio/boys bedroom and spied Jodie Rackley's book, Happy Stitch. I purchased this book several months ago. Jodie was one of the first people to "follow" me when I joined Flickr several years ago. She was posting and selling really cute felt ornaments and dolls that were embroidered and hand sewn. Her line, Lova Revolutionary, is also her Flickr name. My friend Kim also found her and gave everyone in our quilting group one of her bird ornaments a few Christmases ago. Jodie blogs at lovarevolutionary.blogspot.com
Needless to say, I was drawn to her work and now was my turn to give some of her patterns a try. The day before I left for my trip I went to the print shop and had the patterns in the back of the book for the Softie toys enlarged to 400%, as suggested. I packed felt, needles, thread, scissors and pins and was on my way and ready for a bit of hand sewing.
As you can tell the Fox was my favorite and after running out of orange and tan I started making them in other colors that I had with me. The blue fox is a favorite. There is a bit of fabric on the belly of the Softies and I chose Robert Kaufman's Fox and the Houndstooth fabric by Andie Hanna. It was perfect and I had the fabric from a recent shopping spree.
This was a fun road trip project. I used felt for the eyes instead of buttons since these will be gifts for one-year-old nieces and nephews.
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| The Foxes were my favorite and I didn't stop at one color. |
Owls
Nesting Dolls
JodieRackley's Book, Happy Stitch.
