Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Hamsters the family of mascots.



Greetings!


Three generation hamster family,
They are so happy and lovely.
Grandpa is ready to go walking,
Grandma is always busy knitting.
Daddy is about to read the newspaper,
Mummy is happy to take a stroll with baby hamster!

I just made up this poem! Lol!  My last post ended with this sentence, I smell a rat close by!"
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow". Yes mother cat was  so right. She rather smelt a family of hamsters 🐭......... This is another beautiful and vintage patterns made from Jean Greenhowe's book called 'Small cuddly toys'.
 The dolls are complete to the last detail. The father is wearing a sweater, jacket, and a hat. Also, the author has given him a character by placing a newspaper under his arms.

 The mother is wearing a dress and a hat and the baby hamster is wrapped in a blanket and is wearing a shawl underneath and also a bonnet. A small pillow is glued inside the pram.


 The grandfather is wearing a cravat and a jacket. A pocket watch is tucked in his pocket and also he is wearing a pair of spectacles and a hat. Holding a walking stick in his hand looks like a typical English hamster! 😃.


 The grandmother is wearing a Shawl on her dress and a pair of spectacles, and holding a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn. 


These mini hamsters are just 8 cm (3 in) high, and baby hamster has a pram (or baby carriage) made from a very small cardboard box. While they are not of course suitable for very young children and adults should enjoy owning these little furry creatures as mascots or ornaments.
I really had a lot of fun sewing these little creatures. Every thing is handmade and they live in a luxurious two storey tree house!


Have a knife day 🍴, see you spoon!😉
💕 Revu!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Three little kittens.....

Greetings!

Here is another amusing project from Jean Greenhowe's book 'Small cuddly toys'. This is another vintage project, and I am very proud that I could make this set.  

This is a group of toys representing the nursery rhyme 'Three little kittens lost their mittens'.
It's extremely hot and it's quite hard to sew, yet, I enjoyed sewing these little kittens and their mother! 

According to Wikipedia:
'The three little kittens' is an English nursery rhyme, probably with roots in the British folk tradition. The poem first published in Britain in 1833. With the passage of time the poem has been absorbed into the Mother Goose collection. The rhyme tells of three kittens who first lose, then find and soil, their mittens. When all is finally set to rights, the kittens receive their approval and some pie. 
The poem depicts the mother cat's disciplinary measures and the kitten's need to report their movements to her are the indicators of a bourgeois status.

There are so many versions of this rhyme, and the complete history about this rhyme is available on Wikipedia.

Three little kittens.png
Illustration from Ballantyne's 1858 version


Illustration of the rhyme from 1874

The kittens playing in the garden, an illustration from 1874





Three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
"Oh mother dear,
We greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled".
"What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens!"
They began to sigh,
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow".

Three little kittens,
They washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
"Oh mother dear,
Look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed".
"What! Washed your mittens,
You're such good kittens.
I smell a rat close by!"
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow".





It is extremely hot in here, yet, had a great time sewing these 😃!

Will be back soon, with my next project!

❤️ Revu!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Strawberry Shortcake Dolls 🍰🍰🍰


Greetings!

When I saw the strawberry short cake dolls, I fell in love with them. I wanted to make a few, so I tried making these in a miniature version. 







I loved them! I got inspired by this book. 



Also I love this pic, that I found on Wikipedia. 


According to the information I found on Wikipedia: 

Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products. The Strawberry Shortcake properties also include a toy line of the character's friends and pets.

The Strawberry Shortcake line has their own fruity/dessert-themed name to match their clothing, and they each had a dessert- or fruit-named pet. Like the Strawberry Shortcake doll, all the other characters' dolls had hair scented to match their dessert theme. The characters lived and played in a magical world known as Strawberryland.

Since 1980's, there are so many characters in the collection. Here are a few, I love to make all of them someday!

Hope you loved them!

💕💕 Revu!


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Aunt Pettitoes, free knitting pattern.

Greetings!

I thought of designing a free knitting pattern and I chose, Beterix Potter's, Aunt pettitoes from the 'Tale of Piglingbland'. 




Enjoy! Knitting your own Aunt Pettitoes. Please do not post this as your pattern. 



Aunt pettitoes knitting pattern.

Materials:
Blue and white worsted yarn.
Small amount of black yarn to make the facial features.
A pair of Number 2 knitting needles.
Tapestry needle.
Stuffing
A piece a blue felt and cardboard.
Yellow permanent marker. 

Method: 
Skirt.
Begin at the bottom of the skirt and using blue cast on 66 sts.
1st row: knit one inc in the next st to end -99 sts.
Purl one row.
Break the blue yarn and join on white. 
 continue in st-st for 40 rows,  (work in stripes. Change the color every two rows.)
Continue in stripes and shape the skirt.
K3, (k5, k2tog) to last 5 sts. K3, k2tog -85 sts.
Purl one row.
K1 (k4, k2tog) to end - 71 sts.
Purl one row.
K1 (k3, k2tog) to end - 57 sts.
Purl one row.
K1, (k2, k2tog) to end - 43 sts.
Cast off k wise. 

To make up:
Cut a 3 1/4 diameter of circle from a thick cardboard to cover the base. If the cardboard is thin cut 2 or 3 cardboard pieces. Also cut a piece of felt 1/8th inch larger than the cardboard piece. Place the cardboard inside the base of the skirt. Now stuff the skirt firmly. 
Once the skirt is stuffed, cover the cardboard piece with the felt, sewing it all around using the needle and the matching thread.

Bodice:
Beginning from the waist edge and using white cast on 40 sts.
**Next row k1, inc in the next st, till the end - 60 sts.
Purl one row.
Break of white and join on blue, continue  working in stripes for every two rows and in st-st for 10 rows.
Next row: k2tog to end 30 sts.
Next row : p2tog to end 15 sts.**
Cast off k wise.

To make up:
Over sew the row ends together and turn right side out and stuff. Place the cast on edge near the waist and sew this in place. Now stuff some more all around the bodice. Leave the neck edge open.

Head:
(Head is worked from back to the front).
Begin at the lower end of the back and using pink cast on 36 sts.
Beginning with a knit row, St-st for 2 rows.
Next row: (k1, inc in the next st) to end : 54 sts.
Beginning with a purl row, st-st 13 rows.
Next row: k1, k2tog -  36 sts.
Purl one row.
K2tog twice, knit to last four sts, K2tog twice - 32 sts.
Purl one row.
Repeat last two rows one more time- 28 sts.
Beg with a knit row st-st 2 rows.
Next row: K1, K2tog to least st, K1- 19 sts.
Purl one row.
K2tog twice, k to last 4 sts, K2tog twice - 15 sts.
Purl one row.
Repeat last two rows once more - 11 sts.
K2tog to end, k1-6 sts.
Break the yarn and draw through the needle tightly.

To make up:
Over sew the row ends together. The center seam will be below the neck. Stuff the head firmly, but do not close the opening. Keep this aside for now.

Nose:
Begin at the lower edge and cast on 7 sts. (Note purl side is the right side)
Inc k wise into every st - 14 sts.
Beg with a purl row st-st for 7 rows.
K2tog to end -7 sts
Break the yarn and draw through the needle tightly.

To make up:
Gather around the sts and pull up loosely, stuff the nose but do not close the opening.
Using black yarn, make two small vertical lines on either side of the nose. Now close the opening at the back side and finish off.
Sew the nose to the pointed tip of the head. Using black yarn, make three small vertical sts for the eyes, eight rows above the nose. Make the other eye, 7 sts apart from the first eye. 
For mouth, use a length of black yarn, and make broad 'U' shape three knitted rows below the nose, slightly to the side.
Stuff more inside the head if needed, gather around the sts, pull up tightly and finish off.
Now place the head above the neck, and sew in place, tilting the head slightly.


Hat:(main part)
(Note the purl side is the right side)
Beginning at the top of the hat and using white cast on 40 sts.
Now work as for bodice from (**to**), but instead of 10 rows of st-st work 20 rows, in stripes.
B&t tightly.
Over sew the row ends together, the center seam should go at the back of the hat. 
Keep this aside for now.

Lower part of the hat:
(Note purl side is the right side)
Beg at the lower edge cast on 30 sts with white.
Working in stripes st-st for 4 rows. 
Continue in st-st and working in stripes, dec 1st at the beginning of next 4 rows - 26 sts.
K2tog to end -13 sts.
Cast off purl wise.

Make up:
Sew the cast off edge of the lower part of the hat to the lower back of the main hat piece. Stuff the hat lightly. Place the hat 8 rows above the eyes and sew in place.

Ears:
Begin at the lower edge and cast on 16 sts.
Inc k wise into every st -32 sts.
Beg with a purl row st-st for 3 rows.
Dec 1 st at the beg of every row until there are 16 sts.
K2tog to end - 8 sts.
P2tog to end- 4 sts.
Break the yarn and draw through the needle tightly.

Apron:
Beginning  at the bottom and using light blue cast on 66 sts.
Beginning with a knit row st-st for 38 rows.
Next row shape the waist: k1, k2tog to end- 44 sts.
Purl one row.
K2tog to end -22 sts.
Bind off k wise.

Making up:
Place the bind off edge of the apron near the waist and sew in place. Catch all the sides. 
Use a yellow permanent marker and slightly mark the apron here and there.
Make a length of white twisted chord to go around the waist and tie a bow in the front and sew in place.

Hands: (make 2 alike)

Arms: ( make two )

Beginning at the lower edge and using pink, cast on 7 sts
Next row : purl
Inc k wise into every stitch - 14 sts 
Continue in st-st and work 7 rows
Break off the skin color and join blue for the sleeves
St-st for 2 rows.
Next row: break off blue and join on white. k1, inc in the next st , ( k3,inc in the next st ) 3 times - 18 sts 
Purl one row.
Continue in the st- st and work in stripes for 18 rows.  
Next row : k2tog to end - 9 sts.  
Purl one row.
Leave the stitches on the needle leaving a long tail, and then with a tapestry needle draw through the stitches and pull tightly and fasten off.

To makeup :
Join the row ends together leaving the bottom of the hand open. Stuff the hands firmly and then gather the stitches at the bottom and pull them tightly. Make sure the center seam is at the back of the hand.
Keep the hands aside for now.

Thumb: (make 2 alike)
Using pink cast on 6 sts.
Beginning with a knit row st-st for 4 rows.
K2tog to end- 3 sts.
Leave the stitches on the needle leaving a long tail, and then with a tapestry needle draw through the stitches and pull tightly and fasten off.

To make up: 
Join the row ends together. Make sure the center seam is at the back. Stuff lightly and finish off. 
Sew the thumb to the hand as shown in the illustration.

Now sew the hands to the body, one row below the neck.


 

 





 


 






Baby Bunting doll.

Greetings!

Here is the cuddliest of all baby dolls with his own snuggle-down sleeping bag. 
(Completely handmade! I didn't use a sewing machine for this!)

This is another vintage doll from Jean Greenhowe's 'Favourite dolls and toys'.  I really had a lot of fun making this doll 😃.




❤️ Revu!


Vintage Doll

Greetings!
I made this doll from Jean Greenhowe's 'cuddly toys and dolls'. Her sewing patterns are as beautiful as her knitting patterns. Her patterns are very simple and easy to follow. I was very happy to sew after a very long time. I made this doll to gift one of my friends. I did not use a sewing machine and hand stitched this completely. 




In my opinion this is a vintage doll because, this book was published in 1983 and it's not available anymore. 
Hope you love her!

❤️ Revu!