Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Softie swap

I led a softie swap in one of the forums I take part in, I don't really have any real experience with making them but I thought I have enough sewing experience to try. I wanted to make an original and unique one, I didn't want to use a pattern from a book or from the Internet so I started out sketching what I wanted my finished softie to look like and it came out quite masculine looking.
I knew I wanted to use fleece for the body as I love it, it's soft and warm and compliments a softie don't you think?
The face elements are made from felt and sewn by hand, when I was finished embroidering it I noticed that my softie has a girly expression…

At that stage I accepted the fact that my HE was going to be a SHE, so I decided to dress her in overalls instead of the shirt and tie I planned at the beginning. My life story by the way, I always end up with something different then the original plan and I always find myself improvising.
Last time I made trousers I was pregnant with my eldest and that was almost 16 years ago, so I searched the Internet for patterns and changed the proportions to fit my softie; they are made from a cotton fabric with suspenders connected with buttons on both sides and as she’s a happy sort of softie she’s holding a pink felt heart.

She is 40cm' (15.5 inch) long from head to toe. Speaking of toes, she has pink "shoes".

I was so happy to send her to Hagit, a very talented woman who's art I appreciate, her work can be seen on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hagit/
I usually have no problem sending off what I make for swaps but my daughter had quite a problem parting from this one so I'm going to have to make at least one more which isn't going to be a problem as I really enjoyed this project.
Here she is:

Hagit I'm so glad you like her, hope she makes you happy and you live happily ever after (-:

5 comments:

מונגר said...

your softie is perfect!!
i love her!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much, Anat! She's a real darling, and I loved reading about the process. There's a quote which I can't find right now about true art, and according to it the whole idea is that the creative process takes you places, and you end up with something else than you thought you would. I love that!:)

Anonymous said...

Your softie is so cute and lovely.
Your finishing are always so well done, the clothes, shooes, little heart, the ribbons everything!!
Love her!!

Unknown said...

זיקוקה, היא מקסימה. כמובן הכי מושקעת בעולם לפרטי פרטים והכל מותאם פרפקט.
את מלכה, כבר אמרתי?

urban craft said...

what a wonderful swap, wish I would have known about this, great work!