Birthdays in May

We have quite a few birthdays in May, so I just want to post a couple of pictures of my favourite presents that we made.

The first was for a little boy we know. When I asked his dad what he liked, I was told, “Toy Story and dinosaurs.”  So I created this T-Rex, complete with poseable limbs.

I have already posted about my love of Waldorf inspired dolls (I have since put eyes on Willow’s because it creeped David out apparently). So for a couple of birthdays that we ended up missing this month for one reason or another, I made some dolls. The purple haired doll I made a little differently with poseable arms. She has made it to her new home and is receiving much love apparently. The green doll is yet to find her home because I can’t seem to be able to coordinate a playdate with her new family. But hopefully we will get her to where she belongs very soon!

My other favourite was for Bel’s best friend. Her mummy asked for a skirt that would “flick out” when twirling. So I made a simple circle skirt and added a ruffle on the bottom (the first time I’d used my ruffle foot. It was so much fun!). Bel picked the fabric and we also made a matching headband using a yoyo.

The same friend’s party was a butterfly theme. When I pulled out Bel’s wings, they were ruined! They were the kind with stocking like fabric stretched over shaped wire. I never liked them as I constantly had to reshape them and she couldn’t fit through confined spaces with them on. Off we went to Spotlight so Bel could buy the fabric she has had her eye on for months. If I ever lost her in the shop, I was guaranteed she would be looking at the fabric.

I also bought the stiffest interfacing I could get. I drew some wings and cut two from the interfacing so it would be doubled up. Then I sandwiched the fabric, right sides together, between the two pieces of interfacing and stitched it all together leaving a gap for turning. I topstitched around the edges and then soaked the whole thing in ‘Stiffy’ fabric stiffener. Once that was dry, I had an amazing set of stiff but flexible wings. I attached a couple of pieces of elastic, made another circle skirt and a matching headband and we had a costume. Bel was thrilled! She actually made me teary when she put it on and gave me a big hug saying, “Thank you so much for my costume, Mummy. I love it so much!”