a wardrobe change for the owls...

Aside from making up a few for my last craft show, I really haven't been sewing many owls lately.  And the owls I had been sewing were really out of the same 4 or 5 fabrics.  I decided to give the owls a little shopping spree for new summer clothes.  

I'm big into bright colors and bold patterns when it comes to making soft toys.  So I knew I wanted the owls to pop a little more than they have in the past.  The results:

Exactly what I was going for.  Eye catching, fun, and attractive.  The back of all the owls feature a wonderfully soft and cozy brown fleece.  I love these owls so much and am thinking of keeping a few for myself.....seriously, pick one up and feel the soft fleece on the back and you're see why.  

I love this fabric so much!  Kinsey got it for me for Christmas this past year and I have been saving it.  For what, I'm not sure.  But I figured that I shouldn't let it just sit around forever.  It's by Julia Rothman and is 100%  organic cotton.

Another fabric favorite!  Not sure of the specifics of this fabric, but I purchased it at Jo-Ann.  The yellow flowers on the gray background are so beautiful!

Look for these owl guys (and owl girls!) in the shop over the next few days.  Some are there now!

rattle, rattle

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I recently have begun sewing soft rattles.  I've often seen rattles in some of my craft books and always thought they seemed simple enough, but never really gave them a try.  Then I found myself with less than a week to go before Spring Bada Bing and felt like I needed a smaller plush item for sale.  Something fairly quick to do (seeing as I like to have at least 10 of all my items at shows), interesting, fun, and inexpensive.  Enter the soft rattle:

I chose to create a pattern that was reminiscent of an animal, without doing the entire body of an animal.  I'm calling the shape a giraffe head, however a horse head fits the bill (or rattle in this case) as well.  The rest of the rattle tapers out slightly, but is really simple.  

These rattles gave me the opportunity to use some of the many fabrics I've been saving for "that special" project.  The "special" project you always plan to use all the fabric that you're afraid to cut and mess up and waste on something common.  For me, I've been hoarding pretty fabrics for "the quilt" I've been planning to make for my bed for 3 years now.  Well, I'm no closer to that quilt than I was when I made that promise.  However, I have increased my "pretty" fabric collection much.  Kinsey got me some really great fabrics this past Christmas and I had yet to use them.  

This rattles gave me the perfect reason to try some of my fabrics out!  They're small enough so they don't take a ton of fabric and the fabric really makes the rattles.  

Most of the fabrics I've been using are 100% organic cotton...another bonus for something that will be chewed and drooled upon.  

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and they sold very well at the show.  I'm already planning more shapes and styles.   They are currently available in the shop.