Happy Hallowe'en!

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en!

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Tutorial: Easy Teddy

This is the easiest teddy I've ever made. I should perhaps mention I've only ever made two types of teddy, but this was definitely the easiest. You don't even need a sewing machine - as long as you can sew a running stitch you can make this teddy.

YOU WILL NEED:

Some fabric, twice the size of the teddy you intend to make
A length of ribbon
Needle and cotton
Pencil
Card and an existing teddy to use as a template (or just freestyle one)
Toy stuffing
Fabric paints/ pens

1. Put something on the telly to entertain you whilst sewing. Pride & Prejudice is my film of choice because, despite loving it, I have no TV boyfriends in it to distract me

2. Ensure your workspace doesn't look like mine

3. Create your template. You can either draw around a teddy you already own, in which case make sure it's a flat, unarticulated teddy like the one pictured below ...

... or create your own template. I'm using one from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle by Tone Finnanger. I highly recommend her books, they're filled with fabulous projects.

When creating your template remember not to draw in ears, ideally they should be a seperate template to ensure they stand up correctly but, honestly, anything goes. As long as you can sew it you'll be fine.

You'll notice on my template I've marked where to leave a hole for each ear and a hole to allow me to reverse and then stuff the teddy. You'll need to mark these on your template too. The ear holes will, naturally, be the same width as the ear and the side hole just needs to be big enough to allow you to turn the finished teddy in the right way and also allow you to get your fingers inside to position the stuffing.

4. Fold your fabric in half and place your template in the middle. The entire template will need to be sewn around, no using the fold in any way (sorry!). Draw around your template and remember to draw around your ear template twice.

Comme ca!

5. I've found that when sewing together the bottom piece of fabric tends to move about so pin your two pieces together just to be on the safe side.

6. Running stitch your way around each template using the line you drew as your guideline. A very handy tip I picked up from Tone Finnanger, sew on the line! (sorry about the over exposure here)

7. Once it's all stitched (apart from your gaps!) cut out your template with a seam allowance added. Don't forget to clip the curves. I tend to veer into a fatter seam allowance around the area for the side hole as that will need to be invisibly stitched closed and I've discovered it's easier with more fabric. The choice is yours though.

8. Turn the ears the right way in and insert into the hole you left on the head upside down (trust me). Once you've positioned them to your satisfaction sew the hole closed. In the picture below the left ear is in place and the right ear demonstrates how the ear should be positioned. You just need to insert it between the fabric inside the hole, not lay it on the top like the right ear.

9. Turn your teddy in the right way ...

10. ... and stuff! (my favourite part!)

11. Slip stitch your side hole closed. Youtube has some excellent tutorials on this stitch if you're not familiar with it but essentially you're still doing a running stitch but each complete stitch is on opposite sides of the fabric. Remember to stitch on the folded-in fabric so you can't see the cotton and when it comes to knotting the fabric poke the knot in so it's hidden.

12. Grab your ribbon and tie, tightly, around the neck to define the head.

13. Draw on your face, add any other painted features you please, iron to ensure they're wash proof (or follow the instructions of your paints if they differ) and you're done!

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Walk This Way

Autumn is well and truly here. It was a lovely crisp afternoon here in the Cwm Rhymney so I decided that, rather than trudging around the Old Tip as usual, I would take the wolf up the Pit Road and across the mountain ridge below the farm for a wander. Below are some of the sights we saw on our travels. It may surprise you to learn I don't own a camera (at least I hope it would), all the photographs on my blog are taken by myself on my phone unless otherwise stated. It makes getting interesting photos that little more challenging!

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Scavenger Hunt

I've been tagged! I'm at a standstill in terms of clothes as a) I don't have many b) I can't afford fabric and so c) I have little to blog about. Consequently, this post is kind of like the white noise on a telly after a night out on the pish, you can ignore it if you like and no one will be the wiser ;)

Tell Everyone Who Tagged You:

Tea and Crumpets

Find and post the following items:

Your Favourite YouTube Video:

Followed closely by:

A photo of something that will make people say 'awwwww':

Puck and Bear sparko after a spot of duvet destruction

A Funny T-Shirt:

{ Source: Unknown }
Okay, so not funny per se, but it makes me giggle every time I see it

Something Geeky: 

{ Image © Genie Chua }
The jump seat on the TARDIS is the most comfortable chair I have ever sat on. Seriously

{ Image © Genie Chua }
Much more comfortable than Captain Jack's

{ Image © Genie Chua }

An Image From Your Favourite Movie:

{ Source: Unknown }
This is me every time Viggo does something heroic:
"..." *thunk*

A Link to the Newest Blog You've Discovered:

Did You Make That?

A Picture of Something on your Wishlist:

Tag 3 other blogs:

Molly & Mango

Sysaker

Quietandsmalladventures

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Take On Me { Literal Video }

Molly linked me to the below literal music video in the comments of my previous post whilst we were gushing over discussing Morten Harkett of A-Ha. I laughed so hard the wolf jumped on me to make sure I was okay, so please note this is apparently not pet safe ;)

Top Five ...

Oh dear. Quietandsmalladventures posted her top five crushes growing up. Here's mine (and possibly where I began my fling with TV boyfriends). Your turn! Go!

1. Christian Slater (in everything he ever did*)

2. Morten Harket (that voice, that smile, those eyes .. mmmmmmmm)

3. Kyle Maclachlan (in everything he ever did* ... except some bits of Twin Peaks that I'm sure he was fab in but I never watched because I'm a wuss)

4. Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver (and, well Stargate now ... I'm still growing, right, does that count?)

5. Han Solo (interestingly, not so much Harrison Ford)

And an honorable mention to Jeff Richards who played second eldest brother, Benjamin, in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I adore that film and him.











* Did I mention I'm slightly obsessive? ;)

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