She had arms, legs, two ears, the makings of two shoes and the pieces of a pretty dress.
Night by night the maker sewed her together with little tiny blanket stitches. First the arms, then the legs.
One exciting evening she carefully stitched in two dark blue eyes, a little brown nose and some whiskers.
By the beginning of November she was starting to feel more solid. Stuffing was placed inside her, from her head to her toes. Her ears were sewn on and flopped prettily down her face.
Arms and legs were attached securely to the body.
The weather was getting colder now and she felt chilly hiding under the desk. The maker found some gorgeous material from the market and started sewing up the dress, cursing the fact that she had to do it by hand as she had no machine.
It was an exciting day when the dress was pulled on over her head. It matched her ears and made her eyes shine.
The last little thing for the maker to do was to sew up the boots. They were the makers favourite bit so she saved them till last. She laced them up and placed them on the rabbit's feet.
From the makers hands had come Maggie Rabbit.
It was a happy and hard day when the maker wrapped her up in tissue paper to hand to a birthday girl.
But that was where she was intended to go all along.
And the maker was pretty sure she would be very loved.
This was my second time making a Maggie Rabbit. The pattern is from Alicia Paulson and can be downloaded as a PDF. It is such a sweet pattern and super easy. It is all sewn by hand, except the dress which can be sewn by hand but will take you just five minutes on a machine!
She is an adorable little bunny. My friend S. was delighted with her. I wouldn't say it is a speedy project but I did a little every night in front of the telly and was so pleased with the result.
The pattern suggests using national non-wovens felt. I think this can be found on etsy but I didn't have the time to get it shipped from the states so I got mine from The Eternal Maker who delivered it super quickly. The pattern suggests the colour 'sandstone' but I used 'hay bale' and I think it looked just fine!
Have you ever had a go at making toys?
14 comments:
Miss Maggie Rabbit is adorable!
She's darling!
Maggie is just lovely. I'm making a rabbit at the moment, for my daughter. A different pattern, but quite similar, with a little Liberty print dress. It'll be my first hand sewn soft toy. I hope it looks as good as yours.
Gorgeous.
She's absolutely beautiful!
Yes, we make lots of toys in this family. Your lovely rabbit has reminded me of the Beatrix Potter toy book my Mum bought when we were little. She made a Peter rabbit for my brother and Flopsy and Mopsy for my sister and me
so cute, I might have a go.
She is totally adorable & I'm sure she will be much loved...& I really liked the dress material, too:):) GORGEOUS!!!!
Fantastic! And I love the adorable way you told your story in this post. I'm sure S will treasure this sweet little bunny for always.
Beautifully recounted - what a super story ... and I just love those boots!
Great post, and adorable bunny!
Lovely rabbit, adorable boots and a brilliant name!
Maggie Rabbit is very lovely - I can see why your friend is delighted!
Yes, I've made lots of toys - remember the sock bunnies, cats and monkeys (not to mention the zebra and leopard)? I remember hand-stitching two dolls, from calico and fabric scraps, to send with my friend, when she visited her dad, little sister, new step-mother and new adopted sister in Maine, USA. The bodies were hand-stitched, hair and faces were hand embroidered, the clothes were hand-sewn and attached to the dolls' bodies, before being embellished with Eastern-European style embroidery. They looked really lovely when finished - I wish I had a photo. The little girls loved them. I still have the wonderful old book, from which I got the pattern. It is called "Toys for Your Delight" and is full of ideas, patterns and instructions for beautiful toys - from simple balls, to complex dolls and animals - all decorated with lovely embroidery. I was reading it the other day, thinking about making a third doll, for a special someone's Christmas gift....
Love the Bunny - I may have to download that pattern too!
She's so beautiful - delicate and pretty and huggable. So clearly a labour of love; such a great gift!
I love her Abi she is even lovlier cos your stitching was by hand. Real hardcore stitching that is. Glad ur friend loved her
Jo xxxx
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