invasion...

of the ladybird/bug kind! i've been making these for a bit of fun, they're called 'pin bugs'. the boys have been helping with colour selection. i'm not really a soft toy person and i laugh and generally take the piss when people say they have 'personalities' but honestly, once the features are on, they really have. the pale blue actually looks like it's posing by looking just to the side of the camera...it really makes me giggle. oh, how small things amuse.

pinned!

i promised myself no working this weekend but that went to pot when i had an unexpected saturday morning to myself. i spent the time making a wedding sampler for a commission. then today i had an hour or so and made this little fella. he is a twist on one i noticed on the how about orange blog but that one is made with a bottle top which are tiny. i wanted a larger one like the one i made before (right here) i had a eureka moment in the bath this morning (the kids have got ladybird sponges, so I suppose it wasn't really a eureka moment) and decided to have go at a ladybird one. he's turned out rather well. he is made from a yogurt pot, has a black leather base, red silk body, has little red ties on his bum, and two yellow pins for his feelers. the eyes are french knots and his mouth a version of a 'y' stitch. he's had the frank test:

me: "what do you think this is, frank?"

frank: "a ladybird pincushion, of course mummy!" phew.

i hope y'all have had a great weekend!

a cushion for pins

my old pincushion that i've had forever is looking a bit weary these days so i made a new one from one of the kid's cut down yogurt pots. i saw a similar one on the howaboutorange blog that was made from a bottle cap, but i wanted a bigger one. this is made from a little piece of printed cotton, an old baby sock for the padding and a leather offcut for the outside. the leather is tied at the join for a cute detail.