Here we go!

I have shelved the car plushie for various reasons including lack of grey felt. I also was dying to start on the nursery rhyme book.

I showed you the designs a little while back for a book based on a German nursery rhyme that my Omi (grandmother) taught me as a child. It is a gift for my niece (good grief that was December last year).

Recently I started choosing background colours and then today I bought the interfacing to put the designs onto on the back which I use as a guide.

I have to trace it two ways, one the right way and one on the reverse as that is the side that will remain visible once it's attached to the base fabric for the page.

I'd previously spent some time choosing the fabric colours for each page and the fabrics I was going to use. This was a joint decision based on what was going on the page (e.g I wanted green for the snail to be in the garden) and what fabrics I had in the right size pieces. I wouldn't entirely be guided by the size of the pieces if I really wanted something I'd sew some bits together but it's a lot easier not to. I was also guided by making sure the same colour didn't repeat too much and if possible I'd have preferred no repeating colours but I have repeated yellow (two shades, one more orange) and green (one more yellow one more blue).

Once I'd traced the designs I then ironed the base fabric and ironed on the interfacing...except for page one where I'd accidentally traced the design on the wrong side - whoops. That one is just pinned in place.

This my friends is the only ironing I enjoy because it's quick and actually interesting...

And there's the pile of completed.

I love the reuse aspect of what this involves or any of my projects really. I love that the sky is made up of the same fabric as a Khaleesi costume, or that the butterfly's background is made up of an old duvet or sheet cover from home, or that the purple is left overs from making a picture cover for my Dad. I look forward to more reuse of fabric as I work on each page.

Where do we go from here?

I realised I never posted any pics of Babydoll mark 2

There aren't many pics but here it is!

She was a second version for the same person who wanted one for herself and one for her partner.

Anyway as mentioned previously I have been asked to make

• Imperator Furiosa
• 2 kids in a school  uniform
• Delorean - still no idea when I'll do that one
• I think I may have promised a Harley Quinn and possibly Rogue and possibly Scarlet Witch...

That's where we are on projects anyway

Doctor no 11....yes again

So glancing back at my previous posts forever ago I'm sure you're thinking where's my darn delorean, where's my nursery rhyme book for the niece?

And the answer would be I don't know I got distracted. Instead I've been asked for the straightforward kind of plushies and I've finally made one of them - the 11th Doctor. This is not my first outing with the 11th Doctor. The last time I made one for a friend's daughter.

I have just realised I left something out of my plushie this time - the braces! Ooops. Never mind can add those on top. Done it before.

Anyway, on my second outing I was thinking about what fabric I had to hand in the more or less right colours.

I don't use a lot of felt really in my plushies despite the fact that it doesn't fray and is therefore easy to use. I guess because I don't have a lot generally and I have a looooooooot of other bits of cloth. I was slightly excited this time to get a chance to use a fat square I'd bought ages ago on holiday that was faintly reminiscent of tweed but cotton for the jacket.

I confess I did some cursory colour research but then I just got stuck in. I had to slightly make use of some scraps creatively to create the hair as I didn't have enough of the fabric I wanted.

I probably should have taken more care of the lining up of the pattern of the fabric of the jacket but I like the way it looks.

The requestor had asked for a fez, which I hadn't done the last time.

The last stage involved me realising I'd mised out the braces, I sadly didn't photograph them but they were the same material as the bow tie which was a fun touch.

So there we are, he's done. I like some aspects of this one better than the previous version. Admittedly the previous plushie was much earlier into my odyssey into plushie making. I currently appear to have made well over 20 of the darn things!

I've got to the stage now where I quite like that things aren't perfect, that the legs and other parts aren't even and the fabrics vary so much. I like the challenges that each one brings, even when I make the same plushie again.

I've got a toughie coming up - someone asked me for Imperator Furiosa and I'm thinking about how I can make that arm. Sadly I don't have any more grey pipe cleaners. But maybe I can cover some ones I have of another colour.