Froggie

I made my sister Brizee this cute frog for her birthday--

(I don't actually think it has a name. Get on that, Brizee!)
It was fun to make! This is how:

• Cut out the fabric according to the diagram. (Except the button shape! That literally means a button. Just a reminder...) 
• Onto one of the body pieces, sew the feet and eye whites. Embroider the mouth. Skip the buttons for now, we'll get to that later!
• Make the legs. Take a right leg piece and a left leg piece and make the right sides face each other. Sew them together, and then flip it back to right side out. Repeat so you have two legs. Lightly stuff and close them both. 
• Take both of the body pieces and put them right sides together. Position the legs where you want them. Make sure the rectangles on the legs are, from your current point of view, facing out. Close up the sides (where you should have the legs!) and the bottom, but not the top!
• Flip back to right side out.
• Sew the buttons onto the eye whites.
• Stuff the froggie and close it up.
• Enjoy!

That one was pretty tough, but just keep trying! Really!
See you next time!

Syd

Pretty Pillows

So... my mommy hated the way the pillows on her couch looked. And what's worse is, all of us agreed. Moss green and brown tartan? No thanks. (Brizee: I concur!) We don't have pictures of the before, but here's after I got to them!

They're double-sided and beautiful! It's easy to give any throw pillow a lovely makeover-
Here's how!

• Measure the pillows. Add one inch for seam allowance on each side (because most pillows are square.)
• Cut the fabric to whatever size you need it. You should have two pieces of fabric per pillow. Make sure it's one inch too big on each side.
• Flip the fabric with the right sides facing each other and sew up three of the sides. Flip the pillowcase right-side out.
• Put the pillow in it.
• Sew it closed. (you can hand or machine stitch this. It will show the stitches either way. 
• Enjoy!

Optional- You can put a zipper on the case instead of sewing it closed.
 That's all for now!

Syd

Country Rabbits

Country Rabbits!

That's the name of the 1969 McCalls pattern I used to make these cuties.  (Good luck finding it- My mom found it at the Goodwill!) They're so sweet, I couldn't resist putting them here. From left to right--
Baby Bunny, Mommy Bunny, Snuggly Bunny, and Sophie (Guess who the last fancy one belongs to?) (Brizee: Heh.)
I would love to show you what the cover of the pattern looks like, but, you know, copyright. *grumble grumble.*
See you next time!
(And no. I didn't make Baby Bunny's clothes... they're just baby doll clothes. Brizee made Sophie's dress!) (Brizee: Heh!)

Syd

Kitty Hat

For Christmas, I made my baby sister Charlie this little kitty hat--

DO NOT ASK HOW TO MAKE THE STRAWBERRY! WE BOUGHT HIM AT IKEA! (Best store ever!!!!)
Anyhoo, the instructions for this one aren't too tough.

• Find a crochet hat pattern on the internet, from a book, from a friend, wherever you can get one.
• Make the hat according to whatever pattern you're using and make sure it fits you, or whoever you're giving it to.
• Crochet two little triangles for the ears and stitch them on.
• Embroider a face. This is easier than it looks and sounds. For the nose, you embroider a series of lines either getting bigger or smaller, depending on if you started at the top or bottom of the nose. I usually start at the top, because the line is the biggest and that makes it easier. For the whiskers, just three embroidered lines on either side of the kitty face. For the eyes, which are a bit harder, you can employ the same tactic you did with the nose, only you have to, uh... diagram time!

We were having a little trouble explaining what to do there... Hope this helps!
Anyway, last step.

• Enjoy!

See you next time!

Syd

Brizee's Dress

So, a few weeks ago, Brizee bought some fabric and asked me to make her a dress. Well, it was free fabric. I couldn't tell her no! (No really, I couldn't.)
I can't disclose the pattern I used, or I might get sued because of the copyrights and stuff. I can show the results though!

Brizee usually wears it with this belt...

But this is the natural form of the dress.

I think it came out good, and she seems to like it too. She should. It took me forever to make, so Brizee had better like it! Four hours! FOUR HOURS! (and two of them was just measuring! GAH!)

BONUS!!!
Here's what I did with the extra fabric--
Made a dress for my cutie baby sister, Charlie!

Daww, so cute. A mini version! But it was harder to make! Never underestimate baby clothes....
See you next time!

Syd

Dollie

Recently, I made this simple yet ridiculously adorable dollie--

 NO, it isn't naked. I shaped the body like a dress so it really could never be naked. Unlike the Cabbage Patch Kids... *shudder*
....Anyway.
Here's another diagram by my (very lovely) older sister--

 Now, how to make it, you say?

• On one of the body pieces, stitch on buttons for the eyes and embroider the mouth. You can make it however you want to!
• Turn the body pieces so the right sides are together. (inside out)
• Sew them together, but LEAVE THE BOTTOM OPEN! Stuff it, but don't close it yet.
• Flip it right-side out.
• Make the legs and arms-- put the right sides together and stitch them together. Do this until you have two legs and two arms. Stuff them and close them up.
• Position the legs in the open seam of the body. Once properly positioned, sew up the bottom with the legs inside. Make sure you can still see the legs!
• Position the arms and stitch them on.
• Stitch the first hairpiece to the second.
• Stitch the hair onto the head (it's attached to the body, don't be confused!)
• You can make the doll a dress (my mom's been nagging me about this), but I haven't yet. When I do, I'll make a post about it!
• Enjoy!

That's all for now!
Bye!

Syd

Little Chickies

Today, I'm showing some cute little plushie chicks I crocheted. 

                                       Attack of the clones!

 (Syd-Brizee, stop the sci-fi jokes!) (Brizee-No.) 

Anyway, after my sister's bad joke, I'm going to do my best to give you an idea of how to make these. I found the idea for the plushie in a book called "Cuddly Crochet" from the library, so if you want a solid pattern you can buy that. 

• Start out by making a magic ring.
•  Crochet in a spiral shape until you get a sphere, but DON'T CLOSE IT OFF JUST YET.
• Make a second slightly bigger one, don't close up this one either.
• On the smaller sphere make two french knots for the eyes.
• Make a small magic ring and crochet until you get a small circle (not a sphere, a circle!) for the beak.
• Make two square shapes for the feet.
• Make two triangles for the wings. To do this, you pretty much make a square, but on each row, skip one hole until you have a point.
• Sew the feet, wings, and beak onto their respective locations.
• Stuff the spheres that we told you not to finish off.
• Sew the head onto the body (the smaller sphere onto the bigger sphere).
• Enjoy!

Optional: tie ribbon around the neck for a cuteness level of OVER 9,000!

(Syd-Brizee, I told you to stop with the jokes!) (Brizee- NEVER!)

....Anyway, see you next time!

Syd

My First Project

Hey, everyone! Syd here. This is my first post, so I thought it'd be good to start with my first project--

Owls! (That big navy blue owl in the back was really one of my first... It's, other than the fabric, 100% handmade.)

They're simple to make. I had my (lovely, wonderful, awesome, drop-dead gorgeous ;D) sister make up a Microsoft Paint diagram of how to cut the fabric--

Just to explain, "owo" is a little face, like this-- :3

Now, here's the instructions:

• Take one piece of the body and sew on the wings, beak, and eyes.(For the eyes you can use fabric or buttons)
• Turn the body pieces so that the right sides face each other and then sew them together, leaving the top part of the head open for stuffing.
• Turn the owl back to right-side out.
• Sew on the feet.
• Stuff the owl.
• Sew the head closed.
• YAY! Enjoy!

And that's it! Keep in mind that if you want to, you can cut four pieces of the feet and wings to sew them together to prevent fraying.

That's all for now, see you next time!

Syd