A P.T. Stitchy Afternoon

Recently I received a couple Plush Team kits in the mail and today I decided to sew and put one together. The kit is for creating a plush toy of the Plush Team's mascot, P.T. Stitchy. The team put these kits together for the Maker Faire a while back when they taught some plush making classes. I have a doll show coming up in September where I will be teaching basic sewing skills as well as how to get starting making plush and dolls. I will be offering instruction, skill sheets and simple plush kits. I thought I might bring along these Plush Team kits in case any one would like to make their own P.T. mascot. If you are interested in your own kit you can find them for sale in the Plush Team Etsy shop here.

I would definitely recommend this kit for beginners as it was super simple and quick. I believe these guys were printed by Spoonflower which is a place I have wanted to try for a long time. I like how the design is printed on the fabric and ready to sew. I'm thinking it might be fun to print up the BeBe Babies bunny mascot and turn her into a plush!

I think it took me about an hour to complete him and isn't he cute??! He quickly found his way into bed with Maisy. She isn't so sure about him yet.

Another thing I did this weekend to get ready for teaching at the doll show was I put together my first skill sheet and video. The skill that I find the most useful when creating plush is the ladder stitch. I know from recently trying to teach it to my Mom that it isn't easy to get or remember if you don't use it often. Because of that I made a sheet but also a video for my Mom, and anyone from the doll show, that needs help at home. You can view the video on my website here or watch on YouTube below.

I hope you find it helpful!

Sloths are my Favorite

If you read my previous post you know that my friend Sarah and I exchanged birthday gifts yesterday. She received the good day, bad day polar bear pillow from me and guess what I got!!?? A crochet sloth finger puppet!!! OMG! I have been a huge fan of her finger puppets like FORever and I also love sloths a whole lot. I fell deeply in love with sloths after watching videos like this one. As far as the puppets go I mean LOOK at these cuties. I want a whole collection now...hint hint.

Anyway here is my sloth! Isn't he/she the cutest ever???? I keep calling him a he but maybe it's a she. What do you think?

My favorite thing about him is his adorable little claws. They remind me so much of a real sloth and I love the way his arms curl up. Sooo sweet!

I think Sarah should make millions of finger puppet animals and let me adopt them all. hahaha

Summer Happenings!

Well I finished spring term yesterday and even though summer is still slow in coming around here it is officially summer break. I spent the day today relaxing and working on finishing up a couple of projects. It was a wonderful first day of freedom. It started with checking out all of the pretty things happening out in the yard.

Then I was able to finally get pictures of my entry into the Plush Team May/June challenge. The theme of this challenge is circus. I decided to finally make a BeBe bear clown, which is something I have always wanted to do. It seems when I doodle, I doodle circus bear clowns. I thought I might make another one but after how difficult this one was I'm not sure.

He has shiny red shoes and a wool felt hat. The balls he is juggling were made by me out of clay and they are on a white wire. The ball he is standing on is weighted and he is attached to it. He doesn't stand perfectly on his ball but takes a little coaxing (or lightly leaning against something).

And lastly I made a birthday gift for my friend Sarah. She really likes polar bears and I decided to make her a polar bear pillow that is happy on one side and mad on the other. I call him the good day, bad day polar bear. I actually traced the pattern from a picture of a real polar bear which I am not sure translated well into plush. I think next time I would make his head more symmetrical. What do you think? My Mom kind of likes his kooky ears. I don't know what Sarah thinks yet.

More Realistic Eyes

Now I will admit I don't have much in the way of painting skills and I have never felt that I am very good at it. My dolls have very basic eyes and painting which is truly the way I like it. However, I decided a couple days ago to try painting eyes on my newest doll that were a little more lifelike. I searched online for tutorials on painting eyes and ended up roughly following this one. The tutorial is for painting on a canvas but I figured it wouldn't be much different on a doll. I didn't do every step or technique on the tutorial but changed it to suit my taste.

I think they came out really pretty but I'm not sure if it fits with my BeBe Baby style. First I think they make her look much older and less babyish and second I think they are too big. I suppose I could continue combining some of the techniques and not using others. What do you think? Here is a close up of Maribel's eyes.

And her is a farther away picture of her.

If you are interested in adopting her you can find her in my Etsy shop here.