Wednesday, November 30, 2016

1 Santa, 10 Hats, 1 (naughty) Cat

Greetings dear friends & readers
It is that time of year again when the run up to Christmas involves everyone wanting their orders completed . . .
I have been sewing so much I am sure there was smoke coming off my machine yesterday !!!

After I made the black/cream doll & the black/cream teddy bears for my lovely friend Christine, she asked me if I could possibly make a large Rustic Santa in the same colourway.
Thankfully I had made 2 bodies when I made my last Rustic Santa so all I had left to do was make Santa's clothing

Anything that I felt was too whitish got dunked in tea-dye to colour it a rich cream tone.
Next came my favourite part -  the embellishing . . .
Christine had asked for this Santa to Not have the ragdoll that the pattern provides ... instead she would like something else tucked under his arm please  ??

Now bearing in mind that Christine is a mad keen teddybear collector, when I came across these 3 in my stash, they seemed to foot the bill perfectly 

As I was unable to find any christmassy fabric in the black/cream colourway I patchworked a stocking using what fabrics I had on hand.
Then I filled the stocking with the 2 smallest bears, some cinnamon sticks & greenery


For the fluffy teddy I made a black/cream bowtie & a Santa hat in the same tonings

I also stitched a large rusty bell to Santa's hand

I thought this colourway was really quite striking ... when he was hanging up in my Cottage behind the counter for 3 days, I could've easily taken 2 more orders for him !!

In the midst of making Santa, I got a phone call from Christine, who had begun her christmas decorating.
Could you please also make me 5 black Santa hats & 5 white ones for my bears ??
As I had the fabrics on hand, these were no problem to run up. 
When I hand delivered them along with Santa, I got to "test run" a couple of them while Chris made us a coffee  .  .  .


I just love visiting Christines beautiful home & especially at Christmas when she decorates the entire two stories . . .


See what I mean about "mad keen bear collector"

I LoVe this vignette above


The photos I have shown are just a teeny tiny portion of only two rooms ... it is a wondrous sight to behold
You can read more about Christines Christmas House in this post from last year

Miss Pippi does not like it one bit when the sewing machine gets more attention than she does.
Early this week I heard an unusual banging noise & upon investigation, she was under one of my cabinets with 
"a wee (dead) friend"

Truth be told, I think it is Blackie that catches the birds, then leaves them & she brings them inside to play with a little longer & try to pretend it was her hunting skills that caught them originally

As you can imagine there were feathers galore to clean up !!
But as with all naughty children rascals, when you see them sleeping you can quite easily forgive them any naughtiness that may have happened

Bless their little souls.

Thank you for your visit today dear friends, it was so lovely to have you pop by,
I hope the lead up to Christmas is going okay for you all,
Remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

22 comments:

  1. Wow.......I sure would love to see Christines house in person, it looks fabulous! She must have quite a few of your lovely creations on display. Naughty Blackie and Pippi! I hate it when Simon catches birds too. But like you when they are sleeping they look soooo cute and cuddly that I temporarily forget what a little murdering poop he is!

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  2. Christine's house sounds like a feast for the eyes, would love to see it! You've certainly been a busy bee sewing up some lovely new treasures once again. Haha my ragdoll(Waffles) pretends to hunt but is actually far too lazy and kitty(sometimes called Maggie but mostly gets called kitty) loves to hunt but very seldom catches anything as shes deaf and her prey seem to hear her coming!

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  3. Hi Julie,wow your santa is gorgeous and i love the black cream colourway,it looks fantastic,i can see why Christine is so happy,well done my friend.

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  4. I am amazed....my maze has never been so..A's..!:).
    The whole Christmas thing is so wonderful. And, the
    Santa is simply amazing! He certainly looks the part,
    teddies under his arms, with hats on and all..Love it!
    All that it wants is a Magic Wand..waved over them to
    bring them to life! Imagine! :).

    So! We come to the 'star' of the show! HeHe! No! not
    the dead bird...Pippi!x Bless!x Legs in the air and
    that little pink tongue..what a brilliant teacher
    Blackie must be..! :).
    You never know Julie, she may be building up to a
    bigger bird for you for Christmas...A turkey say!!!
    Bless her furry paws! But she's still a 'basket' case
    though...! :0).

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  5. Wow Julie what can I say, you've done it again. All so superb. Dear Miss Pippi and Blackie wherever he is.It must be amazing seeing Christines home.

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  6. I adore your Santa! Those colours are an unusual choice but such a stunning and
    effective result. I think you are clever to use them, and you've given me inspiration.
    I love the little teds as well, very cute. Lol....I love the play mate for your Miss Pippi!
    It is a sign of love.....apparently....when the bring you gifts like that. lol As always, we
    can't help but love our furry friends especially when you see them sleeping.
    Cheers to you xx.

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  7. What a talent you have, girl Your Santa is gorgeous. And I love your friend's vignette with the deer. Precious. Now, about that prize...I'm never happy to see a dead bird but I know cats will be cats. I would hate to think what my Annie could do at our feeders. And yes, they can always manage to look too cute right after. Enjoy the Christmas prepping, Julie. Deb

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  8. Your stuff is far too lovely to be hiding away...get that Instagram/Etsy shop open now! love from Bossy-boots. xx

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  9. I so love your Father Christmas and his stocking full with teddies and cinnamon. Your friends house looks amazing, I'm going to go take a peek at your old post to see more of her house xx

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  10. Love, love, love your work. The black and cream Santa is amazing. Perhaps I can order one for next year? Do you make for overseas orders? Mind you we haven't officially bought our new house yet, getting a tad ahead of myself there :) Best get a roof over our heads before I start the loooooooooong decorating process.

    Jean

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  11. Beautiful Santa, Julie, what a striking fellow he is and I can see why the stocking of bears was the perfect choice!! Wow such gorgeous Christmas decorating, it looks like you could spend hours at Christine's home taking it all in :-)

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  12. Your Santa is just beautiful Julie, love the teddies you have added. Wow your friends house is amazing, I am off to look at the post of last year!! Ah cats will be cats!! She does look very cute alseep in the basket though.

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  13. lovely!
    i thought it unusual with the black & white theme for Xmas but it quite suits it, doesn't it? i guess we can colour it any colour that takes our fancy, not always the red & green
    Christine has some wonderful treasures there too!
    awww Pippi!
    thanx for sharing

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  14. Christine is my kinda girl! Love her bear collection and I am drooling over the bear delivering Santa....gorgeous!

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  15. The santa is beautifully made Julie and such an unusual colour theme request that you provided for really well.

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  16. Oh my goodness. Santa is adorable! He looks so wonderful in that colourway! I'm with Willie - see if Miss Pippi can find a turkey to bring home!

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  17. You are such a fine dollmaker, Julie! B and W Santa is perfect!
    Aw! Miss Pippi is so cute snoozing. I saw the snuggliest cat cup/bed yesterday at Homegoods. I like to buy Timothy beds even though he loves OUR bed best or laps!

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  18. Hi Julie, oh my I kinda like Christmas in black and white, your santa is gorgeous, Christine's house looks wonderful, that cat is so cute, and she was only doing what comes natural hehe. Have a great week Julie. Chris xoxo

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  19. Hello Julie,

    My goodness I just love Santa's rather flash pants. Much better than the usual black. There is so much detail in your work all the little extra's, No wonder you have repeat orders.
    Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

    Happy days.
    Bev.

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  20. Oh my your Santa certainly has his hands full doesn't he. He is gorgeous. LOVE the fabrics you used for his pants. All the detail....I could look at him for ages. Your friend Christine's home certainly overflows with the Christmas Spirit, doesn't it. So many pretties in every corner. Do hope your sewing machine hasn't blown up.......... Gorgeous stitching, Julie!

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  21. Those tiny bears tucked under the arms of your creation are gorgeous and totally finished it. I laughed at Miss Pippi and can imagine the feathery mess left behind. Lucky you love her and still tuck her up in baskets.

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  22. Hi Julie I love the black and cream. Forgive me for not getting back to you regarding the bunting. My laptop has stopped working and I have no access to my emails. I will have to leave it at the moment as a new computer may have to be my Christmas present.
    Regards
    Julie

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