Busy Little Squirrel

I've been a bit obsessed lately with plushies. I had heard about them but never really looked into them until I picked up a pattern from Gingermelon, specifically this pattern. I still have a bit of work to do to figure out the errors but these are my first drafts:

Obviously they are not perfect. The bunny was the first attempt and there's a few issues. The bear is my second attempt and was a lot more stable but still having a few issues with attaching the paw parts. On the bright side, I learned what a fell stitch was and I am really loving the blanket stitch. Because the pieces are so tiny, they are all made using handsewing.

They're also ideal for Pullip size dolls.

This next project is my blue dragon using this tutorial by TammyHallam. I am making a few slight changes. Her dragon has just one piece for the ear wings and arms but I am making four pieces and lightly stuffing mine. I also did my dragon's face using embroidery thread although I'm investigating where to get some safety eyes from as I think they look quite cute and would be neat to use on some plushies.

He gets shoved into this little jar when I am not working on him because the pieces are so tiny, I need to keep them somewhere safe.

I want to make a totoro plushie but the pattern I have is for a big one so I am thinking of re-sizing to a smaller size and making it for doll size.

I found this colourful fun yarn at the local Lincraft a week ago and thought it would make a neat crochet sweater for Eve. It's so soft too which I love.

And last but not least, this gorgeous lace was on a dress that I had but sadly, the dress kind of fell apart so I decided to reuse the lace for a skirt for Eve. All the pieces have been cut to size so I just need to sew it all together. I'm still debating over using a wide ribbon or a wide elastic for the waistband part. I'm using a tutorial meant for humans for this skirt as a rough guide.

I tend to do this a lot because I really dislike having to make patterns (and I'm not good at it anyway). When I feel the urge to sew, I just want to start sewing and don't want to mess around with having to do up a pattern first.

I do all my doll/craft sewing by hand (thanks to my friend who showed me how relaxing handsewing can be plus she's a big inspiration to me). That and I just fight with my sewing machine whenever I try to use it so handsewing is the better option although I will most likely use the machine if I end up making skirts for myself because it's quicker and I'd be using a lot more fabric!

I also recently discovered a website that I wanted to share that has some really neat ways of making some clothing pieces which can be easily translated to doll size. It's called MADE. Most of the tutorials just use simple measurements to cut out fabric pieces or use existing clothing to trace out pattern pieces. Simple, quick and still with good results. Just the way I like it. It's got to be easy to understand because sometimes for me, sewing is a whole other language!