...And on that farm there was a...

Young MacPippi' had a farm

ee i ee i o

And on that farm there was a....

ee i ee o

and a

and some

Mother hen gather your chicks and RUN quickly from that sly fox.

and some

and some

and finally, a Wombat.

Next week we'll go to Africa!

Have a great weekend.

I Made This - Felt Food

Some time ago I began telling you about how I had stated that I could "most definitely make felt food" and of my subsequent desperate search for felt food patterns and ideas.

I loosely followed the patterns and suggested designs from Hiromi Hughes - Felt Cuisine for the pizza, the pikelets and berries and the cake.

How would you like to have some nice warm piklets with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries on a chilly winter's day?

Would you like a slice of "The Lot"?

Or perhaps some Strawberry Cake?

This little Corn Cob is all of my own designing and doing! I definitely Made This

I needle felted a cylindrical shape then needle felted it over with yellow corriedale wool. I then 'divided the corn cob from end to end with embroidery cotton until I had divided into 16ths.

I then back stitched my way around the corn from the top to the bottom to make the 'kernels'.

It took forever! And nearly a whole skein of cotton but I am very pleased with it.

Can you pick the 'impostor?'
I also figured it really couldn't be too hard to make fried eggs and a 'bit of steak'.

I simply cut out a wobbly 'egg white', sewed it(with the machine!) and turned right way out, then I blanket stitched the yolk on and lightly stuffed both the white and the yolk.

The steak was the tricky one, it took me ages to come up with this - I needled felted a 'rough ' steak shape then covered it with the red wool felt. I then sewed on the 'fat' with the white wool felt.
So there you have it. Sometimes I tell semi-truths that turn out to be 'truths'. Sometimes I learn a hard lesson about telling such semi-truths but mostly I am amazed at what I can actually do when I put my mind to it (especially when there is a witness to my "sure I can" response!).

This 'play' food will be going to the small girl's Kindergarten and I get to have a 'bit o play money in return'.

Have a great play today!

Terry Towelling Pants..

Well now, I wasn't exactly inundated with ideas for the Terry Towelling but for those who did offer up a suggestion or two I am grateful and will endeavour to make some of them (and the offer still stands should you want some).

Now, I get to show you all why I am not friends with my sewing machine and why I am trying to work on our relationship.

Like all great relationships communication is the key. Open, clear, effective communication. The problem is though, I don't speak sewing machine and I don't think that the machine speaks frustrated non sewing machine using- potty mouth either.

All in all for a girl that hand sews and needle felts, who doesn't know how to read a 'pattern' (and wants to know why you don't get instructions with them) I think these pants turned out reasonably well.

I realise I have a significant challenge ahead of me in order to improve my sewing skills but who knows, the next pair of duds may even have a straight 'bot' pocket, even width legs that don't clean the floor as Miss M swans about in her "crazy pants"!

Got to start somewhere though hey?

'Twas nice to have Miss M sidle on up to me and say "Mummy, I lub my crazy pippiwillow pants".

The ambience of feeling pleased with myself (errors and all) and the palpable appreciation (squeezing cuddle being given to me) was shattered by the following request, "but next time can you make me a skirt and a dress and some socks and a fairy dress that's got wings and orange pippi'-pants with front pockets at the side and two bot pockets on my bot"......Whoa there little Miss M, one disaster at a time I always say...

Calling All Crafters

Every now and then I do something very odd (more than my normal level of 'oddness').

Every now and then I am overcome & compelled to .......do what ever it is that I, am at that point in time compelled to do.*

One such time I was at a rather large craft supply store (a store that I know many don't enjoy going to much) as it was having a 'moving shop location sale' and I was absolutely compelled to buy ridiculous amounts of Terry Towelling. Not just a metre or two, I bought the entire remaining amount left on the bolt.

Why? (because it was a bargain) I don't know! I am not able to justify my actions that day.

I was/am using a fair amount of these kinds of fabrics for another crafty endeavour but, 'bolts'? Seriously!

I have no idea what to do with this fabric. My 'ideas well' has run dry.

I have had this fabric for so long it has a dust outline. I can't look at it anymore, each time I do I am reminded of my inability to conjure up something lovely n crafty which further increases my inability to conjure up something crafty. Adding to this the Mr has 'suggested' that it be utilised or moved on to craftier pastures.

So, dear crafty community I beg of you, if you, or anyone you know has any ideas, inspiration, suggestions, plans, proposals or recommendations for this fabric PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

There's plenty here to be shared.

Thank You

* I reserve the right to, at whim act (be it shop, sew, craft, design, sing etc.) upon a compulsion.

Dinosaurs Exist

A quick search for 'Dinosaurs' using Wikipedia and, a brief read through the information yielded the following bits of 'knowledge'... Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animal of Terrestrial ecosystems for >160 million yrs., from the late Triassic period (approx. 230 million yrs. ago) until the end of the Cretaceous period (65 million yrs ago) when most of them became extinct or, so we have been led to believe.

You can't always trust what you read and here is why.

Right here in 'sunny Melbourne' our own Dino' village exists..

Daddy Dino, Mummy Dino and Baby Dino (A hand sewn gift for the small boy from my beautiful sister Tam).

Under attack...

From a strange blend of a Stegosaurus and T-Rex type Dinosaur, ferocious non the less I am sure.

or perhaps he just wants to play?

A Camel and a Burst Bubble

You know when you're really feeling that 'sewing vibe' just flow through your creative self. You joyously continue stitching on & on & on with an almost air of stitchy smugness because you are now being so productive, you are over your small bout of 'crafters block' and the project is nearly done.

Just as the level of pride has risen to nauseating levels (I am nearly dizzy with the ever growing bubble of 'I just created stuff stuff' buzz) I show the Mr my 'finished' camel.

My bubble doth burst as the Mr turns and states "Oh he's beautiful but, you're not done yet Pip, I think you forgot something"...

So caught up in my stitchy groove, my creative crafty 'vibe' was I, and despite following a pattern, I forgot to give him his tail!

A foreign meek voice could be heard leaving my mouth "I can fix this without having to un-pick a squillion miles of camel"...

No longer smug, no longer 'in my creative groove, I no longer feel my 'vibe'

I am hopeful and humble again.

And I am not going to forget to sew the tail on his friend.

Felt Cake -

After declaring that "I could most definitely make some felt play food" when asked by the small girl's kinder teacher, I desperately needed a pattern or at the very least some inspiration.

I am constantly amazed at the speed at which semi-truths can flow oh so freely from my mouth. My face (to those who have functioning eye peepers, does not have the physical ability to match the verbal 'semi-truth')

My lovely friend Sam came to the rescue and gave me some patterns to use - the creator of these is (to the best of my knowledge) Hiromi Hughes www.feltcuisine.com

I didn't create the cake as per the instructions, it is significantly larger than it would have been.

As I am innately lazy, I simply went to a store and bought a cushion insert rather than messing about cutting up foam blocks etc..

I then divided it into 6 pieces (again the laziness thing - it was to have been 8)

I chose a cream coloured felt for the top and sides and a chocolate for the base.

Some 1/2 strawberries on the top, along with some "whipped cream swirls"

"It needs some cream through the middle" said my cafe frequenting cappuccino drinking cake eating friends. So I dutifully added a layer of"cream".

Loads of blanket stitching and a bit of artistic license later.. and

Cake Anyone? It's 'Lite'!