My Creative Space...

This week we are starting preparations for the Kustom Kraft market on May 23rd. It will only be the third market that we have done and we thought that it was time to spruce up the stall a bit.

First up some red and black felt bunting for along the front of the table.

Ironing bias binding, the epitome of excitement and burnt fingers

Pinned up and ready for sewing

Even though we predominantly sell fabric and buttons at our stall it is always nice to round things out with a few handmade items.

Some Voodoo Rabbit skins ready for Cloud to put together this weekend
(told you I would be cracking the whip)

Don't forget to check out Kirsty's blog for some more creative spaces.

Ky

Fabric Friday - Special Guest Korina's Kreations

As a special treat this week we have Korina from Korina's Creations picking out today's fabric. Korina sews the most beautiful toys using Funky Friends Factory Patterns. We are always impressed by Korina's fabric choices for her toys and today she has been kind enough to pick out her three favourite patterns and suggest fabrics to make them up in.

Pattern: Larry the Lion Soft Toy Pattern by Funky Friends Factory

Body: Sasparilla Sheriff Stars Blue by Riley Blake Designs

Mane and Footpads: Premium Solid Tomato by Northcott

Face: Premium Solid Ivory by Northcott

Pattern: Timmy T-Rex Soft Toy Pattern by Funky Friends Factory

Body: Tattoo Light Tea by Alexander Henry

Tummy and Footpads: Premium Solid Emerald by Northcott

Pattern: Wodger Wombat Soft Toy Pattern by Funky Friends Factory

Body: A Ladies Diary Moments in Time Teal by Wilmington

Nose, Inner Ears and Footpads: Premium Solid Rose by Northcott

Don't be surprised if you see these combinations appearing on her Facebook page very soon :)
Here are a few of the toys that Korina currently has available for purchase, aren't they just the cutest, especially the trio of cherry ducks :) Click on each image for purchasing information.

Happy Friday everyone :)
- Ky and Korina

Craft and Sewing Show Giveaway

We will be at the 2012 Brisbane Craft and Sewing Show at the end of this week with Pauline from Funky Friends Factory. The show runs from the 22nd - 25th March so there is just enough time to squeeze in a fabulous give-away!!!!

We will be giving away a toy-making kit which features a brand new toy design from Funky Friends Factory and fabrics from the ‘Cephalopod Collection’ designed by Voodoo Rabbit :)

It’s EASY to enter!
LOOK at the toys in the box above
GUESS WHICH is the one we are giving away as a KIT,
AND leave a comment here (or on the Funky Friends Factory BLOG POST) with your guess!

WHAT can you win?

1st Prize – will win a toy making KIT of this NEWEST Funky Friends Factory design (Valued at $45).

2nd & 3rd Prize – will win a Printed Pattern and a $10 voucher to spend with Voodoo Rabbit (can be at the show or online too!).

***

The draw will take place on Wednesday night (21st March) and we will announce the winners on our Facebook pages.

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Looking forward to seeing you there – look for the Voodoo Rabbit at stand number D18


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!
- Ky, Cloud and Pauline

My Creative Space

While I was busy making a pile of Gingham Invaded Cushions last weekend, Cloud was having fun making our latest Funky Friends Factory sample up. Facebook followers may have seen a picture called "Camel Foot". This is who the foot belongs to - Crissy the Camel!

Cloud needs to start planning for Christmas early (she's so slack) so it's a good thing she has made Crissy now. I think Crissy is pretty cute for all year round.

Pattern:
Crissy Camel by Funky Friends Factory

Fabric:
Holiday Happy Scattered Snowflakes by Happy Zombie for Lecien (body)
Holiday Happy Little Santa Red by Happy Zombie for Lecien (feet and inner ears)

Crissy is a fully jointed toy so you can make her sit down, stand up, stand on 3 legs, wave...

Funky Friends Factory will be sharing a stall with Voodoo Rabbit at the next BrisStyle Twilight Markets in King George Square on the 29th April. We will have all the Funky Friends, including Crissy Camel, patterns and kits for sale.

Voodoo Rabbit will have the kits for sale in our online store in early May.

The home of My Creative Space is taking a break this week but we thought we'd still play along.

- Ky

My Creative Space

This cute little bunny was a custom order for a little baby boy.

He is based on Funky Friends Factory Baby Bunny pattern but he has extra long ears.

The fabric is our very own Bunny Goth Scatter in blue.

Pop over to Kootoyoo for more Creative Spaces.

- Ky

My Creative Space

Even though My Creative Space is officially finished for the year I thought I would still try to do one each week. Here is the last of the Funky Friend Factory samples for the patterns that we have in stock.

Meet Larry the Lion, isn't he adorable? He was a joint effort between Cloud and myself.

Larry has been made up using Tailor Made Scissors teal by Cosmo Cricket (body), Tailor Made Floral Outline by Cosmo Cricket (Main, Nose and Feet) and white homespun cotton (muzzle).

Larry's design includes footpads and gussets so he is of a similar difficulty to the aardvard and hippo patterns, maybe slightly more fiddly. He can be sewn in either woven or stretch fabric and you could easily turn him into a lioness by leaving off the mane.

Pauline very kindly sent us 2 extra patterns to try out so we will be making them up next ; D

- Ky

My Creative Space

This week we have managed to make one more Funky Friends Factory toy, introducing Plattie the Platypus.

He is made up using Daisy Doogle Lime by Michael Miller for the body and Adventures in Wonderland Faux Leathergrain by Winham fabrics for his bill and feet. This is a very simple pattern that goes together fairly quickly and easily.

His bill got a little squished in my bag on the way to the shop, poor little Plattie.

We are halfway through the Larry the Lion plushie mentioned in last Fridays post, hopefully he will be finished in the next day or so.

Join in the last creative space of the year with Kirsty over at Kootoyoo.

- Ky

Etsy Favourite - Astaire the Hypno-Bunny

Our Etsy favourites list is quite large, there is a lot of very talented handcrafters out there. We thought that we should show off some of these awesome items.

One of our favourite Etsy stores is Static White's Stichery where you you will find OOAK (one of a kind) ornaments, art dolls, unique clothing, accessories, home decor, & more... All created with an artistic eye, stitches like sutures & a wee touch of madness.

This little feller recently caught our eye, let us introduce Astaire, the Hypno-Bunny w- Felt Carrot Knife Plush by Static White's Stichery.

 

Astaire is approx 9.5" (24.13cm) tall from head to toe (not including ears) and has an awesome carrot knife...

and look at his little tail, so cute.

 

- Ky and Cloud

My Creative Space

We didn't have a market this weekend so I got my creative on! It has been a while. Too long in fact. I bought a the third of the 'Softies' books recently - Simple Softies - which is chock full of patterns for toys that can be made without a sewing machine.

I got the book mainly so I could make the Sampler Kitty. Here's mine:

He has the sweetest little face! This was done with Satin Stitch and Chain Stitch.

To embellish him, I used a scrap of our Gingham Invaded Black on White & handstitched a sampler of different stitches. From the top:

Whipped Whipped Stitch (I think that is what it is called)
Single Feather Stitch
Cross Stitch (to hold down the Gingham Invaded fabric)
Raised Stem Stitch
Arrowhead Stitch
Running Stitch

He was assembled with Whip Stitch.

Kitty sits on my window sill at work and makes me smile during the day. He's so squishable & cute!

Head over to Kirsty's blog to see what other people have been doing this week :)

- Cloud

Free Grug Pattern

Some of you may remember that earlier this year I blogged about this awesome Grug toy that Sue (a fellow ASG member) made for one of her grandchildren. Sue very kindly supplied me with the rough working pattern that she created to make Grug. Since then I have been faffing around trying to write up some instructions and create diagrams so that we can share this pattern with you all.

The pattern can be downloaded from here.

Before you jump in to make a Grug of your very own here are a few disclaimers:

• Grug is a copyrighted character so you cannot sell the complete toy or the pattern.
• The instructions (pages 1 - 4) are on A4 size pages and the pattern pieces (pages 5 - 7) are on A3 size pages.
• The difficulty level of this pattern would be for an intermediate to experienced sewer. I have made some assumptions of knowledge when writing the instructions.
• I have not personally tested this pattern (I hate using furry fabrics) so if someone would like to volunteer to pattern test it would be greatly appreciated.
• If you encounter any errors please let me know and I will update the pattern.
• Grug is just over 30cm tall when completed.

- Ky

Soft Toy: Paper Dolls

Over the weekend, I finally got to do some sewing. I hadn't touched a machine in nearly a month because I have been working on shop administration instead of creating. I couldn't stand it any longer so on Saturday I cut out two sets of dolls from the Aunt Lindy Paper Dolls Large Panel.

Here are the results:



The hardest part of making these dolls was the clipping, turning and stuffing. The sewing itself was quite easy (but that may be because I am used to sewing curves). I used a clear machine foot so I could see the sewing line easier and I also had the machine on the slowest speed setting. Getting the polyfill into the little pointy bits of the dolly hair and corners of the dress was the most annoying part because it kept escaping back into the main part of the doll.

It felt so good to be making something again! My favourites are the blue dolly and the little pink puppy.

Cloud

Wishlist Wednesday

In celebration of the birth of Leesa's baby girls, this Wishlist Wednesday is dedicated to twins.

Twin Purple Wooden Gnomes by greenfairythings

Monkey Twins in a Big Tree Wall Decal by designedDESIGNER

Backstage at The Follies 4 x 6 Print by matouenpeluche

Evil Twin Magnet by mindseyecards

And, finally, because I just can't resist kawaii creepy cute...

Pink Tabby Conjoined Kitties by wholelottalisa

Cloud

My Creative Space

This week I have been working hard on finishing off a design for an upcoming Spoonflower Fabric of the Week submission.

It is a pattern for a sewn apron that fits onto a single yard of fabric and must include instructions. I have the apron design complete, now I just have to finish off the instructions.

Finished items this week include more bunnies from Cloud...

...and a manbag, hopefully this one will be metsy approved.

For more creative spaces head over to Kootoyoo.

Ky

A Herd of Zebras

We were sent this photo the other day from Sue (she also made this Grug toy). She purchased a meter of zebra fabric from our Japanese fabric haul and made this awesome herd of zebras from it. Each zebra is approx 20cm tall.

Have you made something from one of our fabrics? We'd love to add it to our blog so please send us a photo or a link.

On a side note, Sue has kindly given us a copy of the Grug pattern that she drafted and I will do my best to post it up here as soon as possible.

Ky

Voodoo Rabbit Stitches

We have started stocking our new Etsy shop, Voodoo Rabbit Stitches. This store will only feature goods handmade by me and Cloud.

Crazy toys by Cloud (yep this is the only one so far but I will crack the whip on the weekend and get her to make some more)

Tote Bags featuring Voodoo Rabbit Original Fabric designs

Homewares - featuring both commercial fabrics from our fabric store as well as Original Voodoo Rabbit fabrics.

We will continue to add new items as they are created and eventually any handmade items currently listed at Voodoo Rabbit will be moved over to Voodoo Rabbit Stitches.

Ky

My Creative Space

My creative space (and my dining table) was completely taken over by Cloud. This last week she has been busy finalising the design of her Rabbit Plushie. He has been an ongoing project of hers for at least six months now. There were a number of attempts before she was happy with him.

This one was the first 'non-stumpy' version:

Sacrificial bunny (he just doesn't know it yet)

He got his legs chopped off & and became part of the bunny carnage below:

Bunny carnage

The bunny propped against the sewing machine also was pulled apart - Cloud wasn't happy with his legs / feet. After one final design alteration to his legs, Cloud cut out the final pattern and got him ready to sew. He looked a bit Hellraiser at this point:

All pinned up and ready to sew

Finished, photographed and ready to be listed.

He's now done! It is always funny whenever Cloud sews. Sometimes it can be a total disaster. Then the crazy creative impulses she buries away in her brain manifest themselves and we end up with our Voodoo Rabbit Plushie. He is going to be sold in our new store - Voodoo Rabbit Stitches - which will be just for our handmade items.

Ky

Wishlist Wednesday

I wish Ky & I could work full time on our shop. To do that, we'll need to find a million dollars under the couch. Join me on the hunt :D

Step1: Head to the couch (I really wish mine looked like this)

Beatnik Barry White Sofa by sprucehome

Step 2: Lift up the cushion (ok so shamless self-promotion but I do love our cushions)

Pixelated Patchwork Heart by VoodooRabbit

Step 3: Find lots of moolah (preferably real)!

I'm Rich 1954 Play Money by buygollymissmolly

Step 4: Open up our own Brick & Mortar shop (preferably next door to a tattoo parlour & a coffee shop)

Rudy's & Stum 8 x 12 Fine Art Photograph by PhotoGrunt

Cool Thing From Japan - Totoro Jigsaw Puzzle

I picked up this really cute 150 piece Totoro jigsaw puzzle while I was in Japan. The best thing about it is that you could buy a little frame to display it in.

I got it from a toy shop called Yamashiroya, accross the road from the JR Ueno train station. All of the jigsaw puzzles are in the basement level, and you can buy a frame for any of the puzzles that they sell.

Grug Softie

One of the ladies at my ASG sewing group made this awesome Grug softie for one of her grandchildren. She made him up from scratch without a pattern.

I read Grug books when I was growing up and would have loved a toy like this for Christmas.

Hungry Hungry Hippo

As promised here is my second softie for Mirabel, more or less finished. Her name is Henrietta Hippo and I found the pattern for her in Sew Hip issue 3.

She is actually quite large at 40cm long and 18cm tall.

I may still add on some eyelashes so the eyes don't look so weird.

The pattern wasn't too hard to follow though I did have some difficulty around the head where the pieces didn't all meet up quite right but the bow hides most of that. All in all softies aren't my favourite thing to sew and I hate stuffing them even more, so back to garments sewing for me.