Little Bunnies♥

These bunnies are tiny at about 5.5 inches high but are ever so sweet.

Like my other bunnies these are made with merino wool felt and stuffed with   Bio Wool .

 I love the tiny bows and the heart shaped tummies!

These bunnies are now available for adoption at my etsy shop:)

This super cute little bunny was designed by Gingermelon. You can find the pattern in her shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon?ref=seller_info

Easter is coming!

 

It's about 7 weeks till Easter and time to start thinking about bunnies!

This years Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are looking quite springish in daffodil yellow and lime green.

  

These darling bunnies are hand stitched and embroidered by me. I use a merino blend wool  and stuff them with Bio Wool  (which means it hasn't been treated with yucky chemicals). The bunnies are about 7.5 inches to the tops of there ears and Mrs. Bunny has her cheeks lightly blushed with bees wax.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are now available for adoption at my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/TookensTale

 They were made using another adorable pattern by Gingermelon. It's the Pocket Bunny pattern and you can find it at her etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/listing/123577972/pocket-bunny-pdf-pattern?

Two Little Kitties

These two adorable kitties are off to their new home! They were custom made for two dear sisters and the kitties are very happy they will get to play together.

They are made from merino wool blend felt and stuffed full of Bio Wool (which means happy sheep). Their dresses are made out of 100% cotton with lace trim and satin ribbon tied at the shoulders.  The pattern I used is Flora the Explorer by Gingermelon https://www.etsy.com/listing/171511318/flora-the-explorer-pdf-pattern-instant?ref=sr_gallery_6&ga_search_query=gingermelon+flora&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all

I love making dolls from Gingermelon's patterns and I'm happy to do custom orders! It typically takes me 1 week to make a doll if I have the felt available 2 if I have to order it. I seem to get a lot of requests around Christmas and Easter so please contact me at least 4 weeks in advance if possible for the Holidays.

Flora is going to explore Australia!

Flora is all set to travel to her new home.

I can't believe she gets to go all the way to Australia!

What a lucky kitty, I told her to eat a bowl of Sultana Bran for me :)

Jungle Jill

 

A very lovely friend of mine is expcting her first baby next month.

She's having a little girl and chose Carter's Jungle Jill as the theme for her nursery.

I new I had to try and make the cute little monkey.

I used Gingermelons Flora the Explorer patten 

( http://www.etsy.com/listing/150990298/flora-the-explorer-pdf-pattern?ref=shop_home_active )

and made a few modifications to monkify it!

She is made from merino wool blend felt and stuffed with the eco-wool i love to use.

Her pillow case style dress is made of cotton with organza ribbon ties at the shoulders.

I know she is going to love her new home.♥

 

Flora and Laura the Explorers

Laura and Flora are ready to go adventuring!

I really love this pattern! Designed by Gingermelon you can find it in her shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/150210041/flora-the-explorer-pdf-pattern?ref=shop_home_active 

 I have been waiting to use it because I wanted to try it in both a woven and a non woven felt.

Up until now I have only been using the non-woven felt for my plush dolls and I wanted to see the difference, besides price. ( The woven is a bit more).

Laura on the left is made with a hand dyed woven felted wool and Flora on the right is made using the non-woven merino wool blend felt.

 

The non- woven felt is a little stiffer and has more of the look of what I think of when I think "felt doll".

The woven felt conforms nicely to curves and is a little fuzzier. It makes me think "plush" first, "felt" second.

Non-Woven on top------Woven on bottom

I was kind of hoping by making the same pattern with both felts I would really prefer one over the other.

But they really are different enough that I like them both!

Does this mean I will have to make all the patterns out of both felts?

Which do you prefer?

Both Laura and Flora will be available for adoption at my Etsy shop later today.

Happy Easter!

Here are three little chicks I made using another one of Gingermelon's adorable patterns!

You can find the pattern in here etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/listing/127658145/easter-bunny-and-chick-pdf-pattern?ref=shop_home_feat

But there is something extra special about these chicks!

I made them into pins:)

My daughter and I will get to where these cute little fellas on Easter!

Happy Easter!

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny on their way Home!

I'm so excited to say that Mr. and Mrs. Bunny will get to go to their new home together!

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny

                            
         Mr. and Mrs Bunny are all dressed up for Easter.

 They were made using another adorable pattern by Gingermelon. It's the Pocket Bunny pattern and you can find it at her etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/listing/123577972/pocket-bunny-pdf-pattern?

The bunnies are hand stitched and embroidered by me. I use a merino blend wool  and stuff with eco wool (which means it hasn't been treated with yucky chemicals) The bunnies are about 7.5 inches to the tops of there ears and Mrs. Bunny has her cheeks lightly blushed with bees wax.

These cute little bunnies will be available for adoption tomorrow night 7:00pm Eastern Time at my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/people/TookensTale?ref=si_pr

Tag Along Owl

As I mentioned in my last post I have started my own little doll shop. For Christmas I took 3 custom doll orders, 2 were 18" dolls which I will showcase in later posts and 1 was a Gingermelon doll.

I had a request to make this Tag Along Owl for a sweet young lady who just loves owls.  I have admit owls are on of my favourites too. The pattern can be found Here at Gingemelon's Etsy shop. He is made from a merino wool blend and stuffed with eco wool from happy sheep:)

He has gone on to his new home where I know he will receive lots of love.

Trio

Here is the Trio I made for my son's Christmas present. They are about the same size as the girls I made for my daughter and of course they are designed by Gingermelon. You can find the patterns at her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/109934410/pocket-pets-pdf-pattern-you-choose-two
They are all so cute I will have to eventually make them all.

Even though the Fox and Dog are girls in the pattern it was super easy to make them into boys. I just left off the eyelashes and put them in a shirt and shorts.

Well Gingermelon week has been about 2 weeks and though I will be moving onto some other exciting projects I know I will have to get more Gingermelon patterns in the future.

Things I have learned through this process.

1. I really like using wool blend felt. The felt from Benzie Bazaar is an heirloom quality merino blend that is soft to the touch and holds it's shape. http://www.etsy.com/shop/BenzieBazaar

2. Buy the colour chart. I was never quite sure if I was picking the right colour by looking online and had to email Shelly (Gingermelon) several times to find the right one. She was wonderful at sharing the colours, Thank You !!.If your computer screen is colour balanced this may not be a problem, but I love seeing the actual pieces of felt and am much happier now that I own this.

3. When working with felt you want to make sure your edges are cut very smooth. I found using applique scissors (right side) worked best for me.

4.Since I work at my kitchen table having somewhere to store my projects is essential. The top right corner is the container I use. one side is a large zipper compartment. I like to keep my wool stuffing there. The other zipper compartment has alot of little zippered areas where I keep patterns, notions , needdles ect.

5. Little paper pieces are easy to lose! I now put each set of patterns in it's own snack size ziplock bag.

I love using wool for stuffing.  The wool retains body heat so the dolls are extra warm and cuddly.The wool I use is from Weir Crafts http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/waldorf-dollmaking-supplies/wool-stuffing.html
I like that it is sustainably grown wool that's exceptionally clean of chemicals and pesticides.

By the way I don't get compensated by any of the companies I blog about. I just know when I'm reading a blog and there is a project I want to try I want to know the specific materials and resources they use, so  I always try share that info.

                                   This is Peter the Dog,

                                                                                                                                                                               Flash the Cat, (named after our own striped cat)

                                                                                                                                                                   and David the Fox. I so wish we had a fox!

I hope everyone enjoyed Gingermelon week(s)!                          

      My daughter has a birthday coming up in November my next blog will feature something I designed for her :)

Friends

Did anybody guess Cotton Candy Dolls?
My daughter loves dolls that she can hold in her hand and play with. When I saw the Cotton Candy dolls at Gingermelon's Etsy shop I fell in love with these girls and their wool felted hair. I knew instantly that I would have to make one. The pattern can be found here Cotton Candy Doll Pattern

I thought it would be fun if  these three friends had eyes that matched their dresses. So I used the same iridescent safety eyes I used on my crochet dolls. You can read more about the eyes on my post Here.

This is Paige I used Oat coloured felt for her body and Swan colored felt for her dress.
I put her hair up in high pigtails.

Here is a view from the back.

Next I made Allison. Her body is made from Cinnamon coloured felt and her dress is Fern.

I put her hair in low pig tails and I gently needled the ends into little puffs.

Finally I made Maria. Her body is toast coloured felt and her dress lavender.

I gathered her hair back into a low bun and needle felted it firmly in place.



I didn't use woven felt for the clothing. So even though I put snaps under the buttons of the overalls it will be hard to take them on and of several times with out them pulling out of shape.
If that happens I guess I will have to get some woven felt and make her a new dress. :)

Again the patterns and directions from Gingermelon were great. And included how to needle felt hair onto the doll, which I had never done before. The application instructions were wonderful and I had fun playing with different hairstyles.

These are great dolls to make for either beginning or more experienced doll makers.

Since I made presents for my daughter I also needed to make some for my son.
 So which Gingermelon patterns do you think I used?