Author Archive
Tinkerbell Fan Art
Posted on: June 18, 2017
I don’t crochet Fan Art dolls often, but every once in a while I like to challenge myself with a project that involves characters I love from movies, video games, or books. Last week I got inspired, and decided to try my hands on a Tinkerbell, the beloved fairy from Peter Pan.
When I said I like a challenge, I wasn’t joking. It took me three weeks to make her, with trials and errors, and even though I am very happy with the results I would modify a few things on the pattern if I was to crochet something similar.
The two challenges I encountered are the facial features, and the hair. I really wanted to give her eyes an almond shape but I wasn’t sure how to proceed. At first I wanted to make them just using felt, but I changed my mind and insted used a pair of 12mm blue safety eyes, white felt for the shape, and black felt for the contour. I added some plastic eyelashes to make her look more girlie. I feel that the eyes are a little too big, but it still look cute.
I don’t know why but I always thought that Tinkerbell had her hair pulled back in a bun, that tells you how much I pay attention to detail! She definitely have a bun, but the rest of her hair is shaped into a pixie cut style. I was tempted to crochet a wig to put on her head, but I opted for strands of yarn instead.. Lots of them! I did crocheted the bun however, which I embroidered afterward with yarn.
The wings on her back are very simple, I used double crochet and treble that I worked around a chain. I sprayed them with starch to keep them from flopping over. I will upload a tutorial next time if anybody is interested, they are very easy to make.
Voila! This was my attempt at crocheting a Tinkerbell. I learned a lot from it, and even though she is not perfect I still like her a lot. Practicing crochet on characters that inspire you is a lot of fun, it helps you improve your skills and gives you inspiration.
Happy crocheting!
Fuzzy Panda
Posted on: May 21, 2017
- In: Misc | My creations
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Two months ago I made a post about a panda bear pattern I had created for my ETSY shop, a cute little amigurumi crocheted with regular acrylic yarn. I enjoyed that project so much, I thought it would be fun to try a different version of the panda using the same pattern but with a type of yarn that would give it some fur. Both versions are cute, but the result is so different that it doesn’t look like it was made from the same pattern.
the second version of the Panda, so fuzzy!
The first version was made with Caron Simply Soft, which is labeled as a medium weight #4, and 100% acrylic. It is quite small for a yarn of that category, I usually end up with smaller plushes when I use Caron.
the first version of the panda
You can really tell the difference in size. The first version of the panda is about 5.5 inch tall, the other one is 7 inch. I used the same 2.75mm crochet hook for both plushes without any alterations in the rounds, but the yarns I used for my second panda are thicker, hence the result.
Big fuzzy panda and its little acrylic version.
I used two different brands of yarn to crochet the fuzzy panda. I usually prefer to work with the same brand on one project when I need different colors but in this case I couldn’t find both in the same collection so I settled for Butter Cream Angel Air in black, and Yarn Bee Tender Touch in white. The black yarn is 50% Acrylic, 28% Nylon and 22% Wool. The white yarn is 100% acrylic but still has a fuzzy feel to it, which is what I needed to create fur.
In order to create the fur, I gently brushed each parts of the panda with a pet brush before sewing the parts together. I think it is better to brush after the parts are stuffed with fiberfill, otherwise you might end up with stretched parts (it happened to me the first time I tried this method).
On top, the fuzzy yarn and at the bottom, regular acrylic yarn
the magic pet brush (which I never used on my cat)
Trying two versions from the same pattern was a fun experiment, and I cannot tell you which one I like best because I love both pandas. I hope you enjoyed this post and that it will inspire you to also try different type of yarns for your projects.
As always, happy crocheting!
Little Giraffe
Posted on: April 13, 2017
- In: ETSY Shop | My creations
- 1 Comment
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted on my blog. I have been so busy that I didn’t see time go by. Finally, I am able to take time off to get back to my favorite hobby, crochet. This month I worked on a little giraffe pattern for my ETSY shop, and I can say that I am quite please with the results!
This is my first time trying to crochet a giraffe, I wasn’t sure how I wanted it to look like, there are different ways to do it (long nose, big nose, tall leg or short legs) but I finally opted for something little kids could play with, one with a big nose, long neck and short legs.
I will admit that it took trials and errors, I had intended to make the head, neck and body separate but as soon as I finished the head I realized that it would be better to start with the body and seamlessly continue with the neck and head.
I tried to make long legs at first, but it didn’t look right. I ended up making them very short, I think it makes the giraffe look very cute and easier to play with. It ended up being about 12 inch tall, which is a good size but not too big.
This pattern is available on my ETSY shop. The skill level is easy, I put lots of step by step pictures to help along the way.
Now I am ready to start my next project, a different version of the Panda Bear I made last January. This one will be crocheted with a different type of yarn, and a safety nose. I can’t wait to get started.
Happy crocheting!
Hippo Hippo
Posted on: March 1, 2017
- In: ETSY Shop | My creations
- 3 Comments
Do you know this song? “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, Only a hippopotamus will do, Don’t want a doll, No dinky tinker toy, I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy”
Well, it’s not Christmas anymore, but one can wish for a hippo all year long! I was looking for ideas for baby showers and small gifts easy to make, so I made this hippo and wrote a pattern that I have made available on my ETSY Shop
As usual I used acrylic yarn, and a small hook to make the stitches really tight. He is only 6 inch and fits in the palm of my hand. I think he turned out really cute! All he needs now is a puddle of water to splash in it.
I really enjoy making small animals, I have a lion, an elephant, a monkey and now a cute hippo with big dorky eyes. My next project is a giraffe, soon enough I will be able to open a zoo!
Little wiener dog
Posted on: January 24, 2017
- In: ETSY Shop | My creations
- 9 Comments
The list of things I want to make this year is getting so long that I will need more than one set of hands to crochet all of them. I can never work fast enough, time always goes by too fast, and there are only 24 hours in a day. So I am taking it one project at a time, one step at a time, without thinking to much ahead or how slow I am. One of these many projects is a series about dogs. I just finished my first one, a little Dachshund that turned out really cute even though he gave me a little bit of trouble along the way.
I decided to start with a Wiener dog because I thought it would be the easiest to crochet, but I had the great idea to pick some left over yarn instead of a brand new one. I convinced myself that it would be enough to crochet the entire thing, until I ran out of yarn for the head. No problem, all I had to do was buy another ball to finish the project… Except that the craft store didn’t carry that color anymore, and I came back home empty ended and very frustrated.
I don’t know how much time I spent staring at my headless wiener dog, feeling defeated. There was no solution, I had to start over again from scratch, a lesson learned. This time I made sure to pick a brand new and large ball of yarn. I picked gold and decide to go for two colors instead of one, brown for the ears and tails.
His name is Frank, it suits him well. I crocheted it with a 2.75mm hook, and Red Heart Super Savers acrylic yarn. You cannot really tell his size from the photo, but he is about 9 inches long. I like to make my plushes small, they don’t take a lot of room.
I think I would like to make a hot dog version of my wiener dog, with little buns on the side and a thread of mustard on top.. Just something to add to my scrollable list. I wrote a pattern that is available on ETSY, the finished item will join my donation box. As for my headless wiener dog, I haven’t given up on it! Someday I will find the yarn, today, tomorrow or a year from now, but I will find it (when I do I will have a party to celebrate).
Little Panda Bear
Posted on: January 11, 2017
- In: ETSY Shop | My creations
- 3 Comments
It’s January and after a break during the holidays I am back in full swing. I just finished my first crochet project of the year, a little panda bear! He’s cute and tiny, only 5 inches tall. I decided to make two versions of it; one with regular yarn, and the other with wool to make him look furry. I haven’t crocheted that one yet, I need to go to the craft store to get the supplies. In the mean time, here is my first version:
I used a 2.75mm hook, and Caron Simply Soft in black and white. I like to use the same brand of yarn when I need different colors because threads have a different thickness from one brand to another. The patches are made with felt, and I used safety plastic buttons for the eyes.
He looks so cozy with his little scarf! This project was easy to make, it only requires basic skills such as single crochet, increase and decrease. It took me a day to make it (but I will admit that I work fast). I was tempted to put a safety nose instead of embroidery but the ones I have in stock are too big, so I will reserve that for the second version of this panda I am going to make soon.
The question now is where this panda is going to go? I am thinking about donating some of my plushes for children in need this year, I just need to find the right place. If you know any organizations let me know, and I will look them up.
In the mean time, happy crocheting!
Little bear and panda ornaments
Posted on: December 6, 2016
I recently made little pandas and bears ornaments inspired by a pattern by All About Ami that I found on Pinterest. I wanted mine to be smaller so I changed the pattern for the body and scarf. I also used a different size hook, and a different brand of yarn. Credit goes to Stephanie for creating this pattern.
To make these bears I used regular acrylic yarn, a 2.75mm hook, some felt and fiberfill for stuffing. I glued googly eyes but you can opt for plastic safety eyes or embroidery (I always recommend embroidery for small children).
I started round 1 to 5 like her pattern, then continued with:
Rnd 6 to 13: sc in each st around (30)
Rnd 7: [3 sc, dec] 6 times (24)
Rnd 8: [2 sc, dec] 6 times (18)
Rnd 9: [1 sc, dec] 6 times (12)
Rnd 10: dec 6 times (6)
Fasten off
For the scarf, I made a row of 55 stitches, and 1 row of half double crochet. I followed the original instructions for the ears.
To finish, I glued a little black pom-pom to make the nose. I think they turned out really cute! I love both versions of the ornaments, you can try both if you want to make small ones and larger ones. You can also check out all the cool free patterns she has on her blog, All About Ami.
Happy crocheting!
