Halloween Skeleton Jacket

With Halloween just around the corner, pirate jackets for costumes have been going out the door as fast as I can make them.  A few weeks ago I received an email from a lovely customer who ordered a pirate jacket and she wanted a second outfit for his younger brother!

Her request was for a skeleton outfit, so I put my thinking cap on and the new Big Little “Skeleton Jacket” was born. 

My honey helped me with the proportions of the skeleton (he is so clever with these things) and although we were minus a few ribs, the rest of the skeleton is anatomically quite good!

It comes complete with a little drawstring "loot bag" to stash the lad's candy in too!

Obviously I couldn’t have a skull on the jacket, so I fashioned a wee skull from felt and attached it to a string inside the pocket so the little guy wouldn’t lose it (he is only 1 year old– bless!)

Then I embroidered a little message on the back...

 The entire skeleton was painstakingly hand cut from felt and stitched on with literally hundreds of tiny hand stitches.  It was also positioned on the jacket to line up with the little guy’s body underneath – clever  J

The jacket is a long-line style, so I made the sleeves a little longer also so they can be rolled up to start with  and let down as he grows.  This way he may get two seasons out of it.  Even better.

I love the final result.  A fun costume that will transition well into a super cool, denim jacket - perfect for autumn/winter wearing.  It is well constructed and should take all the knocks a one year old will give it.

I haven’t time to make any more skeleton jackets ready for this Halloween (I am rather overloaded with orders at the moment) but I do hope for it to become a regular listing in my shop next year.

Here's hoping your Halloween preparations are in full swing.  Our little poppet is still too young, but I am looking forward to when she is old enough to have some fun...  :)

xx

Oak Leaf Pixie Hat Pattern

Many of you in the northern hemisphere who are enjoying autumn have requested a pattern for my Autumn Leaf Pixie Hat - so here it is!


The first hat I made was for our wee poppet which I crafted from one of my late Poppa's sweaters.  It had a lot of meaning for me and it made me smile each time I put it on her.

So find yourself a lovely old sweater, which is at least 80% natural fibre such as wool, alpaca, cashmere, angora etc.  It needs to have this percentage otherwise it won't felt nicely.


Then simply pop it into the washing machine on hot, followed by the dryer on hot.  When done it should have “felted” up so it won’t fray when you cut it.

Once you have this done, simply cut out the pattern and sew it up to make your very own snugly oak leaf pixie hat! 

The ties are made by braiding up lengths of yarn - and the templates for the oak leaf and acorn are simple to trace, cut and stitch on for a warm, cute hat for both little boys and girls.

This little hat somehow made me feel like I was going to enjoy Autumn, and enjoy it I did! 

This sweet little pattern is now available in my shop or if you don't fancy sewing and would like to purchase a ready made hat, you can order one here.


Thanks!

Xx

Tiny All Blacks Fan

Poppet cheers on the All Blacks!

Good to be back

The last few weeks have been a tad stressful in our household. 

Firstly our wee poppet came up in a sudden non-blanching rash (those are the scary ones), so we rushed her to the doctor, who then transferred her to Starship hospital for a full checkup.  After 7 hours and lots of tests they ruled it out as being a case of meningicoccol as first feared.

Then I managed to pick up a nasty bug, which left me barely functional and has taken me three weeks to get over. Thanks must go out to my friends and family who did an amazing job helping out when I was feeling so low.

So this is why I have been absent for a while.

Of course during this time the mountain of orders kept growing…  so much so that I made the decision last night to remove pirate jackets and capes from my shop until I catch up.  But don't worry, they will be back again once I get myself sorted :)

It is good to be back. xx

Elven-wear

Woodland elves are my favorite of the Tolkien folk.  When Elven cloaks were gifted to the hobbits for their journey I thought they were so magical and I dearly wished I had one!

The Elven cloaks famously fasten at the neck with a leaf and whilst out walking the other day I found myself admiring a wall covered in ivy leaves  These reminded me so much of the leaves of Lothlorien that an idea started to form... 

I surreptitiously plucked a leaf from the wall and took it home to study the shape and detailing of the veins so I could make a replica for my cloak.  

Forest green wool felt seemed a good choice for the base of the leaf clasp to which I hand stitched the details on with a fine silver thread. 

I was lucky enough to have found a good length of an absolutely gorgeous woven, wool blend in a lovely grey a month or two back.  I have been itching to make something lovely from it ever since. 

The fabric is fine yet warm, drapes just beautifully and is soft to the touch.  Perfect for a special cloak.

For fastening there is a loop and a vintage button which the leaf fits over for a seamless look.

The finished result is just what I had imagined.  

A functional, warm, sweet cloak, with a magical hint of the woodland elves.

xx