I'm sailing through these characters and enjoying every minute of it. This week saw the completion of Mr. Tod and Pigling Bland.
As I mentioned previously, I'm hand stitching these. I'm using backstitch for most of the seams and ladder stitch for a few difficult-to-reach constructions (such as attaching the inside leg to the body).
The following tool has been very useful in this project. I don't know what it's called, picked it up at a thrift shop if I recall correctly. It's very helpful when turning newly sewn pieces right sides out, and a big help when stuffing batting into small places. It also makes a great needle puller for when I need to sew through a thick seam.
This needle is also getting lots of use, not only to poke holes in the body for the arms (and sometimes legs), but for helping ensure the arms are balanced from one side to the other. It's long enough to poke all the way through the body, so I can check for levelness and position front-to-back and up-and-down.
Some of the pieces have to be tinted (inside the bunny ears, for instance). I am finding these Inktense blocks to be great for that. They are water-soluble pigments and work on cloth. Look at all those beautiful, exciting colors!
And pins! Pins, pins, pins. The trickiest bits to sew are sometimes the ears, but with enough pins to keep them in place while sewing, it works out.
The patterns for these ornaments were purchased from The Cheswick Company (on Etsy).
I took a walk around the yard the other day to forage for potpourri material. I gathered only enough to make a bowlful as I'm experimenting. If it goes well, I'll gather more next year. I also have a bunch of blossom heads drying that I can use as well. Need to make this asap, so I may plop them in the dehydrator, since it will need 6 to 8 weeks to cure and I'd love to have it ready for Christmas.
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