monsieur jambon

Our healthy pig here is modeling his tasty loins. Mmm he looks good enough to eat for Easter dinner. In all seriousness, he's made from only one sock, and there is very little wasted. So now you can feel good when the dryer eats your socks!

glove frog

Small, cute and really quick to make. My husband says he looks angry- but most frogs do ;)
I admit that I hesitated to post this, because there is a small amount of wasted material (see step 12)- but you can felt this and save it for a small separate project. I used a non-stretchy glove that was wrist length- so you may have to adjust step one for your glove (and most likely you'll have less waste!) supplies:

• one glove
• needle and matching thread
• 2 pipe cleaners
• fiberfill/ stuffing
• beads/ buttons for eyes

click on the tutorial to print/ save, as usual it fits on a 8.5 x 11" sheet

dachshund pillow

The inspiration came from admiring Charley Harper prints (and a dog in an old blueprint magazine). I used 2 pieces of T-shirt transfer paper and a piece of canvas. Once I had cut out the separate pieces from the transfer paper I arranged them on the canvas like a puzzle (upside down in my case) and began to iron. Please be sure to not overlap the pattern pieces ( I assume it could mess you iron up). If you don't like the small gaps created by the seam, fill them in with embroidery, acrylic paint or a permanent marker.
The only issue I had was that the area you need to iron is huge and can make it difficult to peel off the backing. If this happens to you do the following: after you have ironed down the whole pattern according to the instructions, place the iron on one corner, wait 5 seconds, take off the iron and peel back that corner as much as you can. When you get resistance, place the iron over top that section for 5 seconds, and repeat this process as needed, making your way across the pattern. Once the iron on was set (and cooled) I cut an approximate 1" border, sewed it to a backing fabric, and added a little stuffing (mmm it's so soft). Click on the images below to save/ print

Printed Pillow

As soon as I saw the post by Sara aka creative Jewish mom on dollarstorecrafts.com I knew I had to try this out- and an old shirt was saved and transformed into a midcenturyish pillow. Follow Sara's tutorial here on how to make the "stamps". Because I printed mine onto fabric, I used a fabric medium that, when mixed with acrylic paint, I supposed to work better with fabric - or something. IMHO years of art school tells me that once the acrylic paint dries on fabric- it's not going anywhere- so I don't think it's necessary at all.

Some tips to add:

• at first draw very very lightly, this way you can adjust the design before you commit
  
• the thicker and more filled in, the better the outcome (see the acorn in the detail picture)
  
• use scotch tape on the back to make a "handle" before applying paint and printing -this will give your fingers someting to hold and make it less messy
  
• the more you use the stamp, the cooler the result

Fliegenpilz

Part of my reuse what I have, and not spend any more money, getting ready for Xmas decor. The sizes are approximate since I never used a pattern. These remind my husband of something from a Mario game- I will make him green and orange one next ;)

Click on the image to enlarge the tutorial (or save to your computer and reopen if the text is hard to read). Takes about one hour each if sewing by hand. You will need:

• red felt
• enough canvas (or any light coloured material)
• scissors
• thread
• beads
• stuffing/fiber fill
  
  

Herr Hase

A simple sock animal. I'm not so great at written instructions so I drew them up (click on the image to bring up a larger view). For this craft you will need:

• 2 white adult socks (mid calf in length)
• one black and grey sock for his shirt.
• 2 beads for his eyes (you can embroider eyes with black thread if you choose)
• white and black thread
• stuffing/ fiber fill
• one hour of free time (at most)