The tale of two pouches

I made these zippered pouches as gifts.

The first one was gifted to my son's daycare teacher who was leaving for another job. He had gotten on really well with her, and she was great at her job. We were sad to see her go. Luckily, her successor is just as awesome as she was! 

The second pouch I made was a birthday gift for a dear friend of mine. I don't get to see her often anymore now that we no longer live in the same country, but this year we paid her and her family a visit to celebrate her day. It was great to be able to give this to her in person.

The outer part of both pouches is made with a thick layer of felt, onto which I machine appliqued some (very simple) felt flowers. I played around with the arrangement beforehand, and I secured them down with a small bit of glue before sewing them on. I lined each pouch with some quilting cotton from my stash.

Nice and quick, and very satisfying to make. I think I should make myself some too. You can never have too many pouches. Hahaha! 

Another type of doll...

I promised myself that I would only start a new project, once I had finished one on my Work-in-Progress list. Well, my little man got his doll, after months of it sitting in my WIP box. So time to start a new project...

I bought this book for myself for Christmas. My sister-in-law had made a beautiful Princess doll for her daughter for Christmas, and so I wanted to give this style of doll-making a try. My experience with doll-making being limited, I found the instructions of Tante Hilde straightforward and clear. You should check out her blog and marvel over the amount of lovely dolls this woman has created...

With a clear deadline in mind (visiting friends whose daughter would be the recipient of the doll), I started tracing and cutting the fabric for this doll 5 days before we had to leave. Stuffing a doll isn't as boring when you're watching a hilarious comedian, so after two short evenings the doll was stuffed and ready to be given hair and a face. In one evening I had given her dark brown eyes, and a soft pink mouth. Her hair is two-toned, brown and cream, and gathered into two pigtails on either side of her head. She was given a batik-like torso, because I didn't have enough skin-coloured fabric for the entire doll ;)

I made her a plain khaki skirt, trimmed with orange-blossom bias tape. Now she was ready (or at least we had to leave to visit the friends whose daughter was getting this doll). Into the car she came with us as we travelled north, through Friesland and over the border into Germany, where she was well received by her new owner!

However an outfit isn't complete without a jacket and shoes, so upon my return I made her a little fleece cardigan, trimmed in the same bias as for the skirt, and completed the look with a pair of green felt shoes. 

And now there's a little package in its way to Germany. 

I've learnt that there's nothing like a clear deadline to get my creative bug rolling. Now, to instil that sense of deadline for other projects...