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!).

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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

Fabric Friday: Caramel Town

A new super cute fabric panel from Lecien, Caramel Town is available in red, green and brown.

Each square is approx 13.5cm (5-5/16inch) along an edge and we were very surprised to discover that the text is in Hungarian (according to Google translator). 

I made up this cute little cube using 1/2 panel of the fabric.

To make the cube:
1. Cut out each square with a 5mm (1/4 inch) seam allowance on all sides.
2. Cut the floral and gingham patterned strips from each side of the panel to make the ribbons.
3. Iron each square onto a medium weight interfacing (optional).
4. Sew the ribbon strips to a backing fabric, right sides together.
5. Turn ribbons strips right side out and press. Cut into pieces so that you have 8 pieces the same length.
6. Sew 4 squares together edge to edge to create a continuous piece and then sew the start and end edges together to form four sides of the cube. Start and end all of these seams 5mm (1/4in) in from the ends, this will make it easier to attached the top and bottom.
7. Pin the ribbons into position on each sides of the top and bottom of the cube, baste in place.
8. Attach the top square, once again start and end all seams 5mm (1/4in) in from the ends.
9. Attach the bottom square leaving an opening in the centre of one edge.
10. Turn the cube right side out.
11. Stuff with toy stuffing.
12. Sew the opening closed using ladder stitch.

One panel will make two cubes.

This is a pretty quick and dirty tutorial, if you would like a more indepth one with pictures, let us know and we will try to put one together.

- Ky

My Creative Space

Lots of sewing has actually been happening here at Voodoo Rabbit : )  This week we have been making up samples of some new Funky Friends Factory patterns that we are stocking in our Coorparoo Store. All of these patterns are designed by the very talented Pauline, a Brisbane local.

Stu the Sea Turtle
- Shellburne Circus Wheels Black by Windham (shell and beak)
- Shellburne Circus Flags Black by Windham (head and flippers)
- Ta Dot Black by Michael Miller (tummy and sides)
We found that this pattern went together quite easily, the trickiest bit is sewing the curves but as long as you go along slowly it isn't too hard. We used 3 fabrics but he could easily be made up in just two if you make his tummy out of the same fabric as the shell and his sides out of the same fabric as the head.

Heather Hippo
- Apple Dot Autum by Sandi Henderson for Micheal Miller (main body)
- Early Bird Yellow Crosshatch by Cosmo Cricket for Andover Fabrics (tummy, ears and feet)
This pattern was a bit trickier, as soon as you introduce gussets, foot pads and snouts the difficulty level increases. The result in well worth the effort though.

Prince Charming
- Send in the Crowns Plum by Micheal Miller (main body)
- Small Leaves Black by STOF (tummy)
This is probably the easiest of the 4 patterns so far. There are only 2 main pattern pieces plus the eyes and crown. Once again as long as you sew slowly around the curves you shouldn't run into too many problems. The pattern suggests using plastic pallets in the feet but we found that this didn't look very good since we used cotton fabric (would be fine in fleece) so we have just used poly fill.

Artie Aardvark
- Early Bird Geometric Floral by Cosmo Cricket for Andover Fabrics (main body)
- Early Bird Yellow Crosshatch by Cosmo Cricket for Andover Fabrics (tummy, ears and feet)
The aardvark would be on par with the hippo in regards to difficulty level, the snout is a bit trickier and we recommend sewing it in by hand as there just isn't enough space to get you machine in.

We still have a platypus and lion pattern to make samples up so stay tuned. I have also just found a tutorial on Pauline's blog on how to sew in the perfect foot pads, which I will be following dilegently next time I need to sew a footpad in.

For more Creative Spaces head over to Kirsty's.

- Ky

Thanks to everyone who voted

Squee came 16 out of 93 entries, thank you to everyone who voted. We should have our sample print of Count Squeecular next week, we will sew him up ASAP and show him off.

- Ky

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