My son loves looking through all my craft books when he is hanging out in my sewing room. There is a small section on crochet, especially how to crochet amigurumi and other fun little toys. A few days ago, he saw a picture of a crocheted robot matryoshka doll in a book called “Crobots” and fell in love with it.
Hand-stitched Robot Matryoshka Doll
I don’t know how to crochet – although I plan to learn one day, but agreed to make a “softie” version out of some red scrap fabric. He wanted his doll to be at least a foot high, which is much larger than the one in the book. We drew up a pattern for the body and face, and I got to work on stitching it all together. It turned out pretty close to what was in the book – even down to the special robot antenna on top of her head.
Making this took about 2 hours, since there is so much hand embroidery on the face and body. I hope he doesn’t want me to create a full set of stacking dolls for him in the other sizes.
As usual, it’s been busy at Keep It Thimble this week! But this week had not one, but two special events that I have been anticipating for a long time.
The first one was the kick-off concert for the Iron Maiden U.S. Tour in Charlotte, NC. My husband is a HUGE fan and I got him tickets to this for his birthday. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived in Charlotte just in time to see the Opening Act – none other than Alice Cooper. Fittingly, he ended his set with the classic song “School’s Out for the Summer.”
Iron Maiden – Charlotte, NC
Iron Maiden took the stage at 9pm sharp and rocked out for 2 solid hours without a break. For a bunch of dudes in their mid-fifties, it’s amazing how much energy they have. This tour was a retrospective of their music, so they played a lot of fan favorites. The stage show featured amazing pyrotechnics, a 10 foot tall Eddie, a phantom organist, a feast of other visual sights and sounds, and of course Bruce Dickson dancing and running all over the stage. Definitely worth the price of admission.
Sewing Expo – Raleigh Convention Center
We got home very late that night, but I was able to catch a few hours sleep before my next exciting event – the Sewing Expo at the Raleigh convention center! I have been waiting for years for the Sewing Expo to come to Raleigh and so I was thrilled when I found out it was going to be here in June.
Sharon (aka Liberty Rose) at Primitive Gatherings Booth
The expo featured several local vendors and some from places as far away as Oregon, Wisconsin, Florida and Texas. My favorite booth, hands down, was Lisa Bonegan’s “Primitive Gatherings” – packed to the brim with wool applique projects, wool, and patterns. And can you see who is in the picture I took at the booth – Ms. Sharon Stewart herself (aka, Liberty Rose). I caught her in the act of making a “few” purchases.
House Blocks @ Sewing Expo
The expo also featured a ton of quilting, sewing, and applique classes. Sadly, I didn’t have time to take any classes, but I plan to do so the next time it is in town. They also had a quilt show feature Quilts of Valor and several quilts from various McCall’s contest. My favorite display was the “There’s No Place Like Home” one which featured about 100 different blocks shaped like a houses. I thought this was a cute idea I might try for some type of online quilting activity. What do you think?
June has been a busy month for me, so the blogging has taken a backseat to my real world job. However, I have been busy sewing – which is great! Regular readers will know how much I love the Professional Tote pattern by Creative Thimble. I have made a lot of these totes and I truly consider it to be the perfect bag!
Professional Tote – California Girl Fabrics
My son finished school about two weeks ago and I wanted to make a special gift for his teachers. The Professional Tote immediately came to mind. I knew that one teacher liked green and the other blue, and that they seemed to favor more modern prints, which lead me to select fabrics from California Girl (designed by Fig Tree) and Ruby (designed by Bonnie and Camillle) for their bags.
Professional Tote – Ruby Fabrics
I loved the fabrics so much, I decided to make one for myself too. Even though I have made this pattern a ton, I only have one professional tote that I use (for the beach). and it would be nice to have one for work purposes. The center zippered divider is the perfect size for carrying my iPad.
Professional Tote – Ruby Fabrics
Needless to say, while I did have all the supplies bought well in advance, I didn’t actually cut them out and sew them together until two days before. However, the sewing goes pretty fast since I am so familiar with the pattern. Of course, mine (the gray one) was put on hold until the following weekend so that I could get finish the ones for the teachers. I took them in at lunch on the last day, and I could tell the teachers were thrilled with them – and that always feel good when people like your work!
What gifts have you made that really hit the mark?
Keep it Thimble 