Ladybird,

Many moons ago, I had a free pattern posted on a craft and sewing blog called Whip Up.  Sadly, Whip Up is no longer live, which, after double checking some of the links on my blog, also means the pattern for the ladybird is also no longer live. 

There's been a long absence for me from blogging, reasons for which I'll go into in my next post, but for now, I'm going to add the ladybird pattern here, it was a popular pattern and is also one I've used myself a few times when I've done teaching sessions, its small, simple, quick to do, doesn't require a huge amount of materials and can all the sewing can be done by hand.

pattern skill rating : easy

You will need...

2 pieces of fabric 3” x 4” (7.5 x 10cm) for the body

1 piece of craft felt 3” x 4” (7.5 x 10cm) for the wings

1 piece of craft felt 1” x 2” (2.5 x 5cm) for the eyes

2 small buttons

sewing thread

stuffing

small pebble to weight the ladybird

plus the usual needle, pins, scissors etc

Begin by printing out the template image below

STEP 1 : making the body

1.  Cut a body shape using the template, from each of the fabric pieces, place them both right sides together and pin.

2.  Sew round the edge leaving the turning gap open.

3.  Turn the body right side round, stuff with a little of the stuffing, then pop in the pebble to give the ladybird a little weight to it.  Continue to stuff until it is almost full then fold in the raw edges of the turning gap and sew it closed.

STEP 2 : adding the eyes and wings

1.  Cut 2 eye circles from the smallest piece of craft felt.  Hold one in position on the body (the opposite end to where the turning gap was), and anchor in place by attaching it on with one of the small buttons.

2.  Repeat for the other eye.

3.  Cut 2 wings from the other piece of craft felt and attach one to the body using small random straight stitches along the short straight edge.  Flip the other wing and attach in the same way so both wings line up as indicated on the template.

STEP 3 : embroidery embellishment

1.  Add some french knots dotted around each of the wings.  To do this, anchor your embroidery thread to the ladybird’s body with a knot underneath one of the wings.  Bring the thread up through the wing, wrap it round the needle 3 times and then take the thread back down through the body, coming up where you want the next stitch to appear, pulling the previous french knot tight as you go.

2.  Add some antennae by passing a short length of embroidery thread through the head from one side to the other, just above each eye.  Remove the needle and tie a knot in each end of the thread trimming each end if needs be.

And there you go, to finish off, here's a batch of ladybirds made in a class I taught at my daughter's high school.

sewing bee...

Here in the UK, everyone in the crafting world is currently going Great British Sewing Bee crazy (for what it's worth, I am Team Lauren), although I suspect the rather easy on the eye Patrick Judge may have a little something to do with it's popularity!

Anyway, in celebration of all the sewing machines which will no doubt now be being purchased, here is my contribution to get people sewing.  In the Sewing Bee, they are making clothes.  In my humble opinion, sewing clothes can be quite complicated, so if you are new to the craft, here's a simple little project to try which encompasses a handful of techniques, a sewing bee softie...

You will need :

selection of fabric : black & yellow (I used fabrics with sewing related prints!)

selection of craft felt

toy stuffing

2 small buttons or beads

sewing thread

embroidery thread (I used Pearl Cotton 8)

paper, pencil & scissors

pins & a needle

Step 1 : First create 2 squares of fabric, (8x8cm) by patch-working together 3 strips for each. 

Step 2 :  Draft yourself a pattern for the Bees body by drawing an oval shape onto the paper that is roughly 6.5cm tall and 5cm across.  Cut out and pin the template to the first of the fabric squares and trim to size.  Repeat for the other piece.

Step 3 : Pin the 2 fabric ovals, right sides together, sew round the edge to join (either by hand using backstitch or on a sewing machine), leaving a small gap for turning it back right side round.

Step 4 : Through the gap, stuff the bee, tuck in the fabric edges and then stitch the gap closed.

Step 5 : Switch to the embroidery thread and add eyes by attaching 2 small circles of craft felt with a tiny button or bead in the center.

Step 6 : Make yourself another template, this time a wing shape (mine is kind of like a flower petal) and cut 2 from the craft felt.  Stitch into position with the embroidery thread.

Step 7 : To finish off, after the wings are attached, take the needle up through the middle of the bee and tie a loop in this thread so you can hang your bee up.

And that's it, all done.  A quick bit of sewing and you've practiced pattern drafting, patchwork, sewing, applique and embroidery!  You could make lots and create a mobile, and even nip over to Whip Up for the Ladybird project I posted there, both insects are about the same size so will work great as a pair.

A tail of two rabbits,

It's the school holidays here in the UK, which also means I get very little time to work in between all the other parenting stuff.  The offshoot is there's very little to blog about, hence the quietness here!

Until the other day, I'd promised the kids a comic each, and during the hour (it felt like an hour!) it took them both to choose one, I went browsing amongst the sewing magazines and discovered...

Sew Hip, issue 32 - September 2011, has a pattern extracted from my book in it!  I knew there were a few projects placed by the publisher as features, but didn't know what, when or where.

It's the baby Rabbits that are featured, along with their personalised tails.

Although the dates still look odd to me being a Brit.  As the book publisher is American, the dates were stitched with the month first, followed by the day.

If you do buy the magazine and make a Rabbit, remember to join the Countryside Softies Flickr group and post what you've made.

The eyes have it...

I tend to do the eyes on all of my Softies the same.  A circle of felt attached with a very small (1/4" wide) button.  In the book, at the back there is a list of resources, and these are the buttons which I use,

But, there are a number of ways to stitch the eyes if you don't have any of those buttons to hand...

A small circle of felt attached with an embroidered french knot, 

also a small circle of fabric again, attached with a french knot will work, although to prevent the fabric from fraying, I'd dab some glue or fray check on the edge.

Another way is to embroider the whole eye.  This one is made by satin stitching a circle (I drew a border with an air erasable pen first), then sewing a french knot in the center.

Similarly, you can stitch a circle using darning stitch (seen in more detail here), and again embroider a french knot in the centre.

The stitched eyes are also safer if you are making a Softie for a child as there's nothing to come off and be swallowed!

I tried one with a bead, but it kind of stuck out from the base fabric a little too much.  Hopefully these ideas will be helpful if you find the buttons hard to get hold of.  Let me know if you can think of any other ways!

Don't forget to leave a comment on my previous post to win a copy of the book.  And follow the rest of the blog tour, 

tuesday 26th april - i heart linen - Rashida has made toadstools!

wednesday 27th april - sometimes crafter - that's today

thursday 28th april - plush you 

friday 29th april - allsorts

Title's too long to write...,

  It's the Countryside Softies, book blog tour, book giveaway, live web chat, plus retro Owl post!

Have you been following the tour?  So far it's been to Australia, USA, USA again, the UK, back to Aus, the off to Finland.  Today it's my turn, so, let's get down to business ::

1. Have you got the book?, if not, you can get it either from here or a signed copy direct from me on Etsy.

2. Leave a comment on this post by midnight (GMT) on Friday 29th April, and you will be in with a chance to win a copy.  You can also win a copy at every stop on the book tour and don't forget there is nothing to stop you commenting on every post so you go into every draw.

3. All the book winners will then move onto a separate draw to win the Robin Softie.

4. If you have got the book, please do join the Countryside Softies Flickr group and post your creations.

5. There's also the Lucykate Crafts... Facebook group as another way of keeping up to date with design news etc...

6. This evening (as in easter Sunday), I will be here online from 9pm (GMT), see down at the bottom of the blog, there is a Wibiya bar, click the 'join chat' icon and sign in, this will open up a chat room box which is where I will be (not literally, but you know what I mean)

Don't worry about me being a 'billy no mates' for my web chat.  When I say I'll be here live, it will involve sitting by the computer with my feet up, a bit of sewing on the go, a (large) glass of Pimms and an easter egg with the chat box open.

Talking of sewing, remember my hankering for all things retro, Lucienne Day-ish, and the fabrics which I bought?  Well, here is the result.  Taking a motif from the atomic design era,

and we have eyes,

add a little embroidered cross hatching for a crest, 

and we have an Owl.  A retro Owl.

Although once I'd finished, I wished I'd used greens and browns instead.  Guess that's my sewing for this evening sorted!

Well, if you're around later, I'll see you for the crafty web chat, if not, the there's the rest of the tour to follow, continuing tomorrow with the lovely Manda...

monday 25th april - treefall design 

tuesday 26th april - i heart linen 

wednesday 27th april - sometimes crafter 

thursday 28th april - plush you 

friday 29th april - allsorts