Crafty Community

These are almost all the toys that I have made in the last couple of years. They are all the result of being inspired by the work, swaps, and suggestions of other craft bloggers. Some are my own design, some are online patterns, and some are from books.

Here's the list of my inspirations — I hope you find some, too.

Top row (left to right):

• Batik Make-Your-Own Doll of my own design, based on these dolls, from this book for Bethany's hand-printed fabric swap.


• Crochet Creature based on Camilla Engman's "Bedfellows" from the Happy Hooker Stitch n' Bitch book. Here's a flickr search of Bedfellows made by others.


• Knit Bee Lady with removable stinger hat is my own design based on the boy doll from, "Woman's Day Book of Best-loved Toys & Dolls, 1982.


• Crochet "Bedfellows" Bear (with slight mods) from one of the two Camilla Engman designs in Happy Hooker Stitch n' Bitch book. Here's a flickr search of Bedfellows made by others.


• Well-dressed Cat is a quickly designed fleece toy that I made for my son when he was sick with a fever. I was trying for fastest-toy-ever, and this lopsided kitty is what I came up with. I thought I was going to embroider the features, but the Sharpie sketch worked just fine. I've had to draw over it once because of fading. He's one of the most loved of this bunch!
  


• Archie Doll from the Make-a-long Wee Wonderfuls pattern. I bought some of the accessory patterns, too.


• Stripe-y Patchwork Cat is a free PDF pattern designed by me. You can get it here.


• Spaceboy, pattern by Wee Wonderfuls. I think part of the success of Hillary's patterns is that there is something about them that actually gets you to sit down and make them. My return (number of dolls made) on investment (patterns paid for) over at Wee Wonderfuls is very high.

Middle Row (left to right)

• Wee Bunny is one of several free patterns from Wee Wonderfuls. Bitter Betty kindly made this one for my kids.


• Fabric Balls are fun to make and they get a lot of play around these parts.. I used this tutorial.


• Gnome Guy is another of my make-your-own dolls for Bethany's hand-printed fabric swap series. You can see his mushroom accessory right in front of him. The kids use it as a pick axe, which makes me want to make a set of soft tool series.


• Olive from Wee Wonderfuls' Make-a-long patterns. She's well-loved, too.


• Bedfellow Bunny from Camilla Engman's pattern in the Happy Hooker. Again, here is her inspiring flickr set of her own creations that these patterns were based on.


• Batik Imp If you are interested in batik, you have *got* to check out Malka's work. She makes the most amazing quilts with her self-dyed fabrics.


• Knit Boy Doll is straight from the pattern in, "Woman's Day Book of Best-loved Toys & Dolls," 1982. When I Googled this book I found that Star Wars fans have an interest in it because of the Outer-Space Station project.


• Make-Your-Own-Husband Doll is a knit doll based on the pattern from the Woman's Day book, but designed by me to look like my husband.

Front row (left to right)

• Knit Bean Bags from Kids Knitting, by Melanie Falick with illustrations by Kristin Nicholas. These are so much fun to play with.


• Lambkin is from a free vintage pattern over at Turkey Feathers' pattern shop, The Pattern Bee. Here's the flickr pool of everyone's creations.


• Tiny Chihuahua, made by Bethany from a pattern in this book (isbn# 4579108884), sits between Olive and Bedfellows Bunny.


• Another Lambkin from the free vintage pattern over at Turkey Feathers' pattern shop, The Pattern Bee. I embroidered grass and flowers around the legs to make them look like they were frolicking through a spring meadow.


• Last, but not least, Little Bunny based on the Bedfellows Bunny. For the ears and upper torso I used some really cool silk Noro yarn that was tape with an embroidered running stitch down the center. I've searched on Google and Ravelry and can't seem to find it. I bought it about three years ago.

Phew! Now that was a lot of links. Enjoy!

Mustard & Catsup: A Hand-Rolled Hem Headkerchief

This headkerchief was inspired by the Purl Bee's hand-rolled handkerchief. I didn't really follow their directions, 'cause I was out in the world without a computer — but mine was fun to make, with its whip-stitched edge. I made it with roughly 1/2 of a fat quarter of batik fabric that I got at one of my LYFs, Round Robin Fabrics. It even had little bits of wax still on it (at first I thought it was kid schmutz, but I remembered what it was from my own adventures in batik).

I don't make it over to the other side of town much, but each time I find myself at RRF, I really enjoy the store and its owner, Robin. We talk quilting, craft blogs, and kids — just like here, but IRL.

TTFN,
Michelle

Gnome Doll Sewn & Stuffed

gnome_doll
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Not much to say today. My little guy loves this gnome. The size and shape are perfect for him to hold. The big bro likes to use the mushroom as a hammer, which made me think about doing a batik softie tool series: pick axe, jack hammer, drill, hatchet, etc. I also want to do a Skelvis — you know, a skeleton Elvis; a subject I've played with before. I think it would be a good match for the crackily dreariness of the batik.

Batik Doll Inspiration

batik_inspiration
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


soft_toys_book
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

These are the dolls that inspired my adventures in batik. As you can see, I borrowed heavily in the stripes and checks department. This idea was in one of the many books that I got at an estate sale awhile back. I swear, the woman had every craft book spanning the 60s, 70s, and 80s — I bought nearly all of them.

In the past few years I've been lucky enough to happen upon, or be passed down, several people's craft stashes: Peggy's mom's yarn, Bob's mom's sewing supplies, Kathy's mom's vintage fabric and patterns, to name a few. I feel very honored to be able to give these things a good crafty home. I enjoy thinking about these woman and the things they made with these same supplies. I hope that when I'm gone that my stash finds a welcoming next generation to inspire.

Kitchen Imp: Batik Doll

This was the prototype for the fabric swap. I only dyed one color (blue) and then drew on the black parts. I sewed across the top of each leg so that she can sit comfortably on the kitchen shelves.

Fabric Swap Contribution: Sew-Your-Own Dolls

red1
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


beths
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


alice
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.


gnome
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Finally, I'm back online — our network was down — feels like forever, but I think it was only a week. Isn't it amazing how much you can get done when that happens?

These are a few of the fat quarters that I hand-printed for Bethany's swap. They're supposed to be sew-your-own dolls. I was inspired by a batik doll that I saw in a 70s kid craft book. I'll try to find it and scan it, but you know how that goes.

First, I needed a crash course in batik. Thanks, Sara. I think I called her twenty times that first day, when she loaned me her supplies. Then, I needed my own supplies. Thanks, Dharma Trading Co. Their stuff only took one day to get to me UPS Ground.

Several 1 a.m. nights and a week later I had eight sew-your-own dolls. They definitely have a bit of a creepiness that I'm digging. Finally, I got my dreary element I've been searching for in my craft. Who knew I'd find it with batik. I used some fabric pens to draw details and felt like I was cheating.

The top photo is Little Red Riding Hood. The second one I made specifically for Beth because she's got a collection of show-your-guts dolls. The third is a Franken-alice of sorts. She was born with a black eye. And, lastly, a gnome. Could have seen that one coming. I'm keeping him and have already sewn him up. I'll try to get photos of that, too, as well as the prototype. More photos over at Flickr.

I forgot to mention that I was a bit creeped out by the warnings on all the dyes, chemicals, and soaps that I used for this project and will be soon following in the footsteps of two inspirational natural dyers, Simmy and Siri. In addition to plant matter I think I'll delve into the world of mushroom dyeing, which I've been itching to do ever since I found some dyers polypore. I love it when craft interests collide — mushrooms and dyeing, sigh.

So much to do, so little time.

P.S. Even though I always turn up as Snape when I do those online quiz things, I really want to be Mrs. Weasley when I grow up. Sorry, Frick.