Toy Society drops

Although I've been running a bit late, I have managed to do roughly a toy a month for my Toy Society drops.

Because of the lateness, January and February's drops were both that wonderful hippo pattern I bought from 2 Little Banshees at Stitches & Craft last year. It's become a wonderfully soothing activity that comes together in more or less an evening (maybe two, for stuffing and fiddly bits like embroidery and button attachment). These two were drop number 974 and 984 respectively.

But in March I managed to sew something a bit different, and dropped it on the 1st April, just before Easter.

It's a little overexposed, as the Attack Toddler managed to get at my camera and change the settings the day before (and I was in a rush to get a shot before the drop, so didn't realise before taking the photos). This is an altered pattern from the book Softies. The original was a cat skittle, but a bunny felt much more seasonally appropriate!

Merry Christmas, Midsummer, Yule & Festivus

I know I've been slack about updating. Truth is, I've been panicking; we had a family gathering with 14 people last weekend, for my dad's family, we spent the day itself with my in-laws, and then we're going to Canberra to see my mother and siblings, tomorrow. Plus, all 3 of us are ill (We must have been on the very top of Santa's naughty list!).

My grand plans of a wholly handmade Christmas gift pile have fallen by the wayside. Apart from a bunch of baking for my cousins, the best I could manage was this no-sew polar fleece blanket for my aunt & uncle.

Wait, I guess that's not strictly true - I did manage to make yet another of Two Little Banshees's hippo stuffies, this time in green, a Midsummer gift for my son. I'm hoping it will be the first of a collection of "handmade stuffies by Mummy", not to mention beginning a tradition of one handmade gift opened on the equinox (I'd like to make something for my partner next year too, and encourage him and our boy to make presents for me and each other as well).

At least it's now mostly over. We just have to get over these colds!

Blue Hippo Sublime

I can safely say I feel I'm really getting the hang of this hippo pattern (finally!), though each new incarnation makes me feel even sorrier for the hippos that came before. I'm noticing less tendency to sew folds into their faces, and their bottoms are becoming plumper and more rounded (which, let's face it, is what you want in a hippo behind. Skinny derrieres are Just Not Hippo!). As my first hippo bum was weirdly creased and folded (and I even left off the tail by accident) I hope the other adults with whom I share my home will forgive the fact that I waxed lyrical over my latest hippo behind and don't think I'm too weird for very long.
Best of all, I was able to whip up the latest hippo in a few hours, over a single Friday evening. Yep, us parents of toddlers know how to party!

Softies

This unnamed hippo is the second I've made from this Two Little Banshees pattern. Her sister's name is Bubbles, and she is a lot wonkier. Luckily, I was always the sort of kid who appreciated the 'imperfect' stuffed toys in shops more than their perfectly balanced siblings!

Unnamed Hippo is not going to be staying with me, though. I'm hoping that she, and a few friends, will be headed off to Melbourne come early November, for the Softies for Mirabel charity collection this year.
I've never actually completed a softie before and once I've mastered this pattern, I'm hoping to try my hand at a few more, so I've been scouring the internet for ideas and tutes. There are so many out there!

This little girl with beret and capelet is super sweet, for instance. But there's also this little felt dolly or their weird contemporary if I'm not in a "sweet" mood.

If I wanted to stick with the animal theme, there's also heaps of options, like a Pointy Kitty, Blinking Flights Bug (designed by a local from my city!) or some of these Beautiful birds. I think I want to have a go at that last one for myself, to put on a twig to decorate my house. But that will come later.