My dear college bud Cynthia asked me to make a toy for one of her close friends in Italy early this summer. Cynthia’s friend had requested “something American” and anything I make is American because I am American right?

While we were in college Cynthia used to always tell me what she dreamed about the night before. Her dreams were always funny to hear and I was always amazed with the details she was able to remember.

Cynthia also always loved dream catchers (and I never knew her to have a bad dream) so a monster that ate bad dreams just felt right. Of coarse he needed a web in his mouth to catch the bad dreams.
I hope this toy makes a newborn Italian baby happy.

Oh and before I forget! Plush You! is this Friday, Oct 10th at Schmancy in Seattle. If you live around there you should defiantly check it out.  I’ll be there!

The last of my Plush You toys for this year. Despite my husband suggesting the name Dropy McSplat I think I am just going to call this guy a gremlin, the kind that wrecked airplanes, not the kind that you cannot get wet.

He has the same base as this blue guy I made last year. But this year’s model sports spiffy goggles and a parachute.

The parachute was a real challenge to make but a lot of fun. Boning in an i-cord casing makes a frame that holds up the chute that is attached to the swanky backpack.

When asking my husband what I should name some of my toys he always gives me names in the form of Blanky McBlank. Most of the time I laugh and then tell him to come up with something better but something about Whaley McBlubber just felt right.

This white whale has been a white whale of mine for a while now. I originally wanted to make a whale that ate people after listening  to the Mariner’s Revenge one to many times. Then I realized that would require me to make a doll. I never played with dolls as a kid and I don’t feel right making them now. But I did want to make a tinny cabled sweater…

After three or four deformed whales and one grossly oversized waterspout I finally have a whale I love.

This guy will be for sale at Plush You, October 10th in Seattle.

Some of you might remember my Friday Doodle from a while back. By popular demand, meaning my Mom and the few other people who peeked at my sketch book, he is now a toy.

This guy will be for sale at Plush You, October 10th in Seattle.

I have been working hard the last few weeks trying to get everything ready for this year’s Plush You Show. As soon as I finish touching up the photos I will post three new toys.

Made this little guy foe a commission. He looks almost exactly like my original Kitsune but in a smaller more pocket size. Hope Esther enjoys him.

First I had to make a toy before I went nuts and destroyed the sweater I have been working on. Still working out the pattern but these little guys are fun to make.

And Blake, the hubbie, wanted a case for his DS. So I tried my hand at case making. Took 3 tries for me to come up with something I like, above is a too tight case that is about a half inch to short. My case is coming soon, after I get new needles for my sewing machine… I kind of broke 3.

Oh and ends… lots of ends. I am almost done weaving them all end and then all that is left is sewing the arms on, 4 more ends to weave in and the sweater is done.

Why the hurry to finish everything? I have a commission for a new Kitsune. This one will be a little different than my last one. Looking forward to revisiting my old work.

I live in Georgia and I often joke with people that I have never seen a “real” snow. Only a few times in my life have I seen snow that does not melt away with a single footprint. Because of this snow has always seemed a magical thing to me. So when I saw snow come up as a topic in the Holiday Softie Awards I was immediately draw to it. If I can’t have real snow here I thought it would be fun to make a little sprite that brings snow.

This little guy was probably my most challenging piece construction wise to date. When I was drafting the pattern for him I forgot some basic math. I had in my head that the circumference of a circle was TTr² instead of dTT. Stubbornly I cut the pieces even though I knew it is not look right and I even went so far as to sew them together. Looking at that huge head and tinny legs and body I had to admit defeat. A quick glance at wikipedia and a slap on the head later and I was fixing the pattern. See kids, math is important. It helps you make softies.

After remembering middle, possibly elementary, school math. I was ready to roll. First I made the body, legs and arms, saving the head to later. I wanted the feet to be crocheted but I had to fumble how to do it. I did not want to have a sewn line running horizontally across the arms and legs because that would destroy the bell sleeve look I was going for. So I ended up having to make the crocheted sections fit under the already sewn arms. It would have been much simpler the other way around. Then a quick running stitch along the top edges before attaching the arms and legs and it was all good.

As a final touch I painted the eyes of my little guy blue. I used Testor paints, the kind you use in models. Worked great. I like how the blue eyes are much softer than the classic black safety eyes.