Cy Bear is being given a break this week, since today's subject is more in my field of operating the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Shop (www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com) then his.
Thanks to some invaluable help from a Facebook Group Friend, SamanthaF, who has kindly provided some patterns, I've embarked on some Easter type toys. Since that Festival is rapidly approaching - and I've been busy trying to re-organise the Shop itself all week - the time has arrived for me to really get down to the business of actually MAKING the toys, otherwise Easter will have come - and gone - before they become realities.
A dry run of one of the patterns has been completed - meet the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Chicken Toy.
Measuring 2.5 inches (6.4 cms) from floor to tip of tail, this little chap is definitely going to be the smallest Cuddly in the Shop. He/she is also 6.5 inches (10.6 cms) around his middle - from front to back, under the wings. I'm using some of the fleeces purchased to make our recent addition Puffin Toy's beak, together with Orange and Red Felts for the crop and feet. My pattern-maker kindly provided me with the template for a beak, but when I did this first, dry-run version, the finished product looked more like a duck's beak. So I decided to embroider the pointed facial area - which currently does look more like a nose than a beak, I have to admit. I shall experiment further before the finished Chickens are listed and offered in the Shop.
(Please forgive the rather unprofessional photos - but they've been taken merely to illustrate the creation process in this post - rather than the final offering! The patterns, in particular, are somewhat patchy - but I don't want to give away EVERYTHING! Our friend the Chicken is also somewhat out of focus - but what else can one expect from snapshots, as opposed to posed photographs?):
Currently, there have been three Chickens cut out. One is destined to be sent to SamanthaF - so that her children can play with it - together with the finished products of the other two patterns she was kind enough to send me at the same time.
(I caught her at a rather difficult time: she's in the process of moving house, and we all know how time-consuming that can be, so I was terrifically grateful that she was prepared to sit down and create this pattern, as well as the two others that accompanied the Chicken template. She also sent me a batch of several colourful cotton/poplin fabrics - saying she'd rather I had them (if I could use them - and I CAN!) than have to chuck them due to the upcoming move. There was no charge from Samantha - but we did agree, that if I was satisfied with the outcome, I'd send her a sample of all three completed Poultry Toys in return for her generosity. Now I need her "snail mail" address once she's settled in!)
The patterns from which I shall be working can be seen here.
The one for the Chicken:
There is one for a Duckling:
Finally, there is one for a Ducky Doll - something I hadn't thought about, but which could well be a "winner"!!
Now as you all know, I'm not normally a Dolly Type! But this little chap looks like he/she could overcome my aversion to Dolls, as it looks a pretty straight-forward type to have a go at making. (Normally Dolls can come with all sorts of arms, legs and neck attachments that are far too complicated for me to contemplate - given my lack of patience with such details!) This Ducky Doll is not so "afflicted"!!.
All the patterns were accompanied with suggested instructions as to how to put them together, too. I've read them with interest, been guided by them, but confess that so far, I've not followed them to the letter! I've tried, but suppose that I've got my own way of putting toy pieces together after all this time, and they don't necessarily conform to the suggested modus operandi! However, I'm extremely grateful to SamanthaF for the time she gave me in this exercise.
Here are the fabrics that are involved in this series of Toys:
I'm still working out how to present the toys eventually. While shopping in Kirkby Town Centre earlier in the week, I did find these baskets and thought they'd be handy "nests". Having completed the Chicken though, I think you'll agree that the Toy is likely to be "drowned" if put into either of these, even if I fill up the baskets with shredded paper, which was my original plan. (I got two others at the same time, in different colours - as they were being sold two at a time in four different shades),
They are going back tomorrow, and I'll see if another shape can be found in which to place the Toys when they are completed: maybe an egg shape, if one is available. Hopefully, by next week, there will be something more final to show you!
Until then, I'll close this bulletin from windy Nottinghamshire. Have a great week Everyone!
Isobel
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