Having finished the under wear for the new Ladies, Isobel began creating the dresses - beginning with the skirts - which are essentially pieces of fabric 36 inches long (91.4 centimetres) and 10 inches wide (25.4 centimetres). The bottom is turned up to make a hem, and Isobel - who actually doesn't like hemming that much - then tacks the seam and adds ric rac trim which she sews on with embroidered french knots. (Before proceeding, one of our "COLDHAMCUDDLIES" labels are fixed onto the back seam of the skirt, on the underside of the dress). The top of the skirts are then gathered and fitted over the body and sewn into the "waist" of each toy. Then having sewn up the fabric paws, she stuffs the arms and sews them into the bodice and then fits it over the skirt top - to create a look like this:
 |
| Fitting - or nearly - on to a pillow |
Then her creativity is allowed to let rip - this time on the white felt collars with which most of our lady toys are provided. Here is what she did for use with the yellow dressed toy:
Followed by the one for the Light Brown Chenille Coyote:
The Grey Plush Lady Wolf:
Last - but by no means least, our more familiar Chestnut Plush Lady Fox:
This results in our reaching the final stages of each Lady Toy - whether it be a Fantasy Fox (the yellow version), the Coyote, Wolf or Fox. The order in which Isobel tends to do this is to add the tails on first, followed by adding the Head. Finally, the collar is attached - and here is how the Coyote and the Fantasy Fox now appear:
By the time Isobel had done everything described here last night, she only had time to do these two. The other two will be done later today, and then she proposes to list them in our Shop (www.Etsy.com/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES) over the next week.
Some of them, together with other Cuddlies, are going to be taken for display on the shelves of "The Artful Buttoner" - the haberdashery outlet in our local town, Kirkby-in-Ashfield. Several Cuddlies have been on show there since just before Easter, and we've decided that it's time they came home, and other Cuddlies had a chance to be seen in the "outside world" - and possibly find Forever Homes for themselves! Several Cuddlies have been adopted from this venue - and who knows what will happen to the selected ones this time around. (Should any one of these four find a Forever Home while on show in the Town, it's not difficult for Isobel to pick it up and bring it home for me to participate in the Farewell Ceremony that happens whenever a Cuddly leaves us, and then for it to be packed up and mailed off to wherever it is destined).
I'll keep you posted, of course - and show you what the Wolf and Traditional Fox end up looking like next week. Meanwhile, wishing everyone a good one - and here's hoping our weather will improve somewhat. We're all feeling as though Summer will never arrive in this country!
Until the next time - your Friend, Cy Bear.
