Monkey Business

I had found this free, adorable, Molly Monkey pattern at mmmcrafts website.  I had downloaded it quite awhile ago, but just got working on it this past week.  It's not finished yet, but here's what I have so far.

(these pictures were taken with my phone so they're not the best quality)

 I have the beret sewn but still need to sew on it's ribbon band.

 I edge stitched all around the shoes and the red flowers and also added a few french knots to dress them up a bit.  I loved doing this hand stitching and wanted to make more of these shoes because they are so adorable!  But I don't have anyone else to wear them.  :))

My daughter had her own ideas about how she wanted the face to look, so it's slightly different from the original pattern.  I didn't sew up the skirt yet, but hope to get that finished this week.

My boys loved this doll and when they saw that there was also a Mikey Monkey pattern, they sweetly requested it.   I had so much fun sewing Molly that I am looking forward to sewing them a Mikey.  By the way, the Mikey Monkey pattern can be found at mmmcrafts Etsy shop.

 

(Thank you Larissa for such lovely patterns and instructions!)

Stuffed Toys

I've been feeling crafty lately, but I think it's because it's been SO long since I've done much sewing or crafting just for fun.  It seems that recently the only time I sew is when I have to make something.  And for a while I was doing some sewing for profit.  But, after I officially gave that up and put my machine away, I hadn't touched it for some time.  But, I finally pulled out the old Kenmore last week and got to work on a couple projects that didn't NEED to be done, but were just for enjoyment.  Here they are:

I did a couple little Owls for my boys.  I found this free "Easy Owl Pattern" at Toad's Treasures on blogspot.  Thank you Emily!!

We took a trip to the fabric store and I let my boys pick out their own fabric and decide on it's design.  They also did the stuffing and together we got them done in 1 afternoon.

My 10 yr. old decided that he wanted a "tummy" on his, which was not on the original pattern, and so he picked an old world map design fabric for that. 

 

It's hard to tell here, but my 7yr. old picked out black and white checkered and zebra print felt for the eyes and feet, and the wings are black and white owls.  He later wished that he had picked a "tummy" piece as well, but he's still happy with it.

These were so easy and so much fun to make that I definitely want to make more of them.  I actually picked out fabric to make an owl for myself, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.  That will have to wait for another day.  :)

Crocheting Again

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here.  Hard to keep up sometimes.  Anyway, I've been crocheting again.  I would like to do it more consistently, along with sewing. 

I still consider myself a beginner at crocheting. 

Here are couple things I've been working on lately.

The first is my Blue Bird.  I have fallen in love with many of the amigurumi animals, especially these cute little birds.  I was a little chicken at first to give it a try (pardon the pun), but I finally just dove in and did it.

These are all supposed to be single crochet and crazy enough I had forgotten how to do that most basic stitch.  So, I googled it and watched the first video I found on it.  The funny thing is though, that without my realizing it, they had showed the wrong way to do the stitch.  So, I did the whole bird in this other stitch, half way between a single crochet and a half double crochet, (not sure if it's even a stitch) and I was thinking that my bird seemed a lot bigger than the one with the instructions.  Now I know why, ha!  Oh well, I still think it turned out okay.  I kind of made my own tail, since the instructions I had didn't explain how to sew it on.  And I didn't have any of those "safety eyes" so I just embroidered the eyes on along with the beak instead of using felt.  For my first one, I was happy with it.  It quickly became my daughter's and she named it Bernard, and my other kids all want one now. 

I didn't completely follow the instructions from any one website, otherwise I'd post it here.  But, here is a link for the one that comes the closest to it at Bitter Sweet.  Her birds are adorable, and she does lovely work on so many other items.

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Here is my other crochet project, which I just started and finished last night.  It's a winter hat with ear and front flaps.

The hat looks orange in these pictures, but it's actually red and black.  I used Vanna's Choice 100% acrylic yarn from Lion Brand.  The pattern is the Earflap Hat  also from the Lion Brand website.  I wasn't completely happy with the pattern and I had to adjust it quite a bit, which was a feat for me since I'm such a novice crocheter, but in the end it didn't turn out too bad.  I'm not sure I would use this pattern again.  I am definitely looking for another earflap hat pattern though, because my other two kids would really like to have me make them one. 

And this is the VERY first time in my whole life I have made a pom pom.  It was so much fun!  And SO easy!  I am now looking for things I can use these on because I just want to keep making more and more, ha!!